How many times have your sales people asked for referrals and one of the following scenarios has happened?
- The person they asked can’t think of anyone.
- They just got names of people to contact, but little to no background information on why the contact would want to talk to them.
- They did not ask the person who gave them the referral to contact the prospect and give them a “heads-up” before your salesperson calls. So, the referral turns into just another cold call.
- They’ve gotten referrals that don't match the type of prospects and clients that you want to do business with.
You’re concerned that your people are missing opportunities to get in front of more new prospects and close more business faster. You’re seeing them get frustrated that they’re not seeing a good return on the time and effort that they spend asking for referrals.
Your sales people could be running into these challenges due to a number of reasons, including:
- They're not clear on what they're looking for when asking for referrals from clients and referral partners.
- They're not coaching their clients and referral partners on effective ways to refer new prospects to them.
- They don't have a clear process and format for asking for referrals.
Coach your people to look at who they’re asking for referrals from, as well as their process and techniques for asking for referrals. This enables them to have better referral conversations with their clients and referral partners. In the end this will help your team to get in front of more new prospects more often and grow your sales faster, and you can start concentrating on other top sales prospecting methods.
