Waypoint Insurance - Risk & Business Magazine Waypoint Insurance Fall 2016 | Page 20

TROUBLE GENERATING REFERRALS? Trouble Generating Referrals? Look to Your Inner Circle C olin’s sales numbers for the quarter were sharply down. Lately, he felt he was struggling with his prospecting. He asked his manager, Anita, for help. “There’s a lot we can talk about when it comes to prospecting,” Anita said. “But let’s start with the simplest question first. Are you asking your current clients for referrals?” Colin frowned and shook his head. “You know, I’ve never really been very comfortable with that,” he said. “I tried asking people a couple of times, and it always felt awkward. It never seemed to generate any opportunities.” “Let’s think about whom you’re asking and how you’re asking them,” Anita said, smiling. “I think you’ll find generating referrals can be a lot easier than you might think.” 20 | FALL 2016 TAKE ADVANTAGE OF EXISTING RELATIONSHIPS If salespeople took full advantage of the relationships they have with their existing clients, most, if not all, would find cold call prospecting to be unnecessary. Don’t overlook existing clients and customers as valuable sources for new business. If you are providing them with exceptional (or even just very good) service, they should be comfortable referring you to others, assuming that you take the initiative to ask for the referral and that you ask in the right way. AVOID PRE-PROGRAMMED RESPONSES Making a generic referral request such as, “Who do you know that might be interested in __________?” will likely prompt a pre-programmed answer that sounds something like, “I can’t think of anyone at the moment. ” To avoid triggering a pre- programmed response, you should frame your question in a manner that is relevant to the client’s sphere of influence—the client’s “inner circle.” If you know that your client is an avid golfer, for instance, and his golfing foursome typically includes other local business owners, you might frame your request as follows: Tom, I’m wondering which of your golfing buddies could benefit from a commercial insurance program similar to the one we implemented for your Westbrook operation. Who is the most likely candidate? ASK WHY If your client comes up with a name, ask why he selected that person. Then find out as much as you can about the new prospect. The more you know about the prospect, the warmer the subsequent call will be.