Risk & Business Magazine Miller Insurance Magazine Winter 2018 | Page 15

REFERRAL MAGIC here are five of the most common questions I receive: 1. 2. How do I even ask for referrals? What do I say when I reach out to the person I was sent to? 3. I don’t want to appear to be pushy, how do I avoid this? 4. How do I remember to even ask for them in the sales process? 5. What are the best ways to follow up with a referral? These five questions in relation to referrals are quite common and here’s why: when something is new, we often perceive that it’s difficult to grasp or figure out. What I love about having a system to ask for and follow up with referrals is that it removes doubt and creates consistency. Let me quickly address the No.1 concern I hear when teaching others how to get more referrals: the fear of sounding pushy. This is a valid point and it often goes back to both fear of rejection and not having the right language and proper question ready when the time is right. One of the most overlooked areas to ask for a referral without any appearance of being pushy is when a client gives you a compliment. At this point you have earned the right to ask. Your best customers know other people. Your mission is to get them to introduce you to a few more people just like them that you can help and “wow” with your product or service. Here’s a powerful example that you can study, quickly adapt, and use each day with happy customers. Thank you so much for the compliment Bruce! Quick question: I get a lot of referrals. Who are a couple of people that you work with that might be interested in what I provide? You must be specific when asking for referrals. The mind thinks in pictures and groups. In the example above, I’m trying to get Bruce to imagine a person or two he knows from work that may be a good fit for what I do. Does this approach work every time? No. However, you don’t get, unless you even ask. If you make this a daily habit, and ask often, you are almost certain to receive a few introductions of value, that with quick and timely follow up will eventually become new customers. As a special thank you for reading this article, I have a one-page PDF titled, The 10 Referral Commandments. To receive a free copy in your inbox, simply send an email to: Tony@MindCaptureGroup. com, with the Subject Line: Referral Commandments and we’ll send it your way. Tony is currently the president of Mind Capture Group. His message is designed to help people ‘Capture’ more minds and profits. He is an in- demand speaker who’s given hundreds of presentations the past decade, a strategic business coach, and global event promoter with over 20+ years of experience in the personal development industry. His second book in the Mind Capture series went #1 in three different business categories with Amazon.com and received stunning reviews from a wide range of leaders in marketing, sales, psychology to academia and multiple New York Times bestselling authors. His latest book titled, TRAILBLAZERS: Leadership Lessons from 12 Pioneers Who Beat the Odds and Influenced Millions, will re-release globally on September 4th, 2018 with New York publisher Morgan James. His work has been featured in various media outlets ranging from Toastmasters International Magazine, The Detroit Free Press, the FOX TV network, ABC, to CNN Radio, NPR and Entrepreneur Magazine Radio. In addition, he has also served as a Faculty member with the U.S Chamber of Commerce. For More Information: [email protected] / 616-638-3912 mindcapturegroup.com 15