Do this: List your 3 favorite clients or customers. Now list the number of referrals that you have gotten from these 3 in the last 12 months. Surprised at such a low number? It’s not uncommon at all.
Why do salespeople fail to get more referrals from their clients & customers?
3 words: They Don’t Ask
There are a few reasons salespeople don’t ask for referrals but none more prevalent than that 4-letter “F” word: FEAR. Fear of rejection. Fear that your client will say, Nope, can’t think of any. Many salespeople let the possible answer keep them from asking the question – it’s crazy! Some don’t feel it’s “the right time” to ask, others don’t want to look needy or greedy, but most just flat-out fear the rejection. They can’t stand the fact that someone could possibly tell them NO.
So they avoid hearing NO. They don’t hear it – ever. That’s an easy problem to fix – just don’t ask. Salespeople would rather wait for clients to buy more (hope), wait for the phone to ring (never happens), make cold calls (ridiculously low win &) & do anything they can to keep from having a client tell them NO.
Let’s put this into perspective. You have a client that buys from you, a client that values the work you do & has for some time. They know other people that do what they do (& buy what you sell). Why in the world wouldn’t you ask them who they know? Why wouldn’t you ask them to help you meet these people? As Ricky Ricardo would say, “It’s so ridiculous!”
We need to work on the 6 inches between your ears – aka: Your attitude. What you believe. It’s about being worthy. If you really believed that you were worthy of referrals from all of your clients you would carry yourself as such. You would ask. You would get more referrals. You would even get referrals without asking. It starts between your ears.
Start here; Take the 3 clients you listed above. Make it a point to ask these 3 clients who they know that you should talk to about what we do. One more time – sounds like this: “Who else do you know that I should talk to about what we do?”
But be careful – they could say, “Can’t think of anyone.” Who cares? Next!
