Article: Referrals: What To
Do Once Your Foot's In The Door
RainToday.com, June 2007
By Vickie K. Sullivan
To many professional service firms, referrals are precious.
They come with rave reviews from a trusted third party. In
some cases, they have already helped establish a need. Just
close the deal and celebrate, right? Not so fast.
While referrals are great, they don't clinch the deal like
they used to. These buyers are open and interested but still
need to be convinced of how your value applies to them.
You're Not The Only Referral
To start with, there are two kinds of referrals.
- One is when your champion introduces you to someone they
think needs your services. This scenario opens the door;
the rest of the conversation is similar to a cold call:
find the need, show your value, etc.
- The second, more valuable kind is a buyer who is looking
for a resource, was given you name and has called you.
For the purposes of this article, let's focus on the second,
more valuable kind of referral.
Buyers who are ready to move begin their search with their
network. They will go to trusted colleagues and ask, "Who
do you know that does..." They will gather a variety
of recommendations and one of three things will happen: some
will be dismissed immediately; some (such as those given by
a superior) will get top billing; and some look good but are
unknown.
So, even if you're on the top of the list, you are just
one of many options. Here are three things to keep in mind
when talking to referrals that will help you rise above the
competition and turn your referrals into future clients.
1) Do Some Homework
Unlike cold calls, referrals are contacting you and willing
to return your call. When you first talk with them, you have
a short window of opportunity to convince them that they should
talk with you further instead of with their other options.
To make your first impression count, find out as much as
you can beforehand. Checking out the company is too easy thanks
to the Internet. The two best starting places on a company's
website are the "About Us" page and the media section.
Do this when you get the referral, so you’re not caught
off-guard when they call. If you didn’t know about the
referral and the call is unexpected, then schedule a time
to talk.
Talk with the person who referred you to get the inside
scoop. The are the one who has the relationship with the referral,
and they may have valuable insights to offer.
After that, call the referral and begin your conversation
with the strongest connection. If you’re an industry
insider, begin with a comment about industry trends or dynamics.
If you’re not, that’s OK. The strongest connection
doesn’t necessarily have to be about business. Even
the most task-oriented person will take a moment to root for
their favorite sports team or chuckle about the person who
connected you.
Now is not the time to narrow in on specific logistics or
how you work. You want keep a flowing dialogue about ideas
and you don't want to set up a yes/no construct that can prematurely
kill the conversation and a budding relationship.
2) Talk Shop
Sales 101 says, "ask plenty of questions." That's
still true with referrals. But these buyers expect different
questions from you. They already assume that you have a basic
level of competence, or you wouldn't have been referred in
the first place. They are curious about your services; you
have their attention.
The biggest mistake you can make here is to make the same
inquiries everyone else does. Buyers with several credible
options will judge you by the quality of questions you ask
them. If all the conversations begin with the basic questions
about needs, then all of the professional service providers
sound like the same vendor.
Think about it: how would you feel if you had ten, fifteen
interactions, all with different people, that sounded the
same? Tedious would be an understatement. And when we're bored,
the mind blurs. It's difficult to remember which vendor said
what.
The purpose of the questions is then two-fold. First, it's
to set up a conversation that convinces them of your uniqueness.
It is with these conversation starting questions and in the
ensuing small talk that you can establish the inside track.
Second, is for the referral to see you as a peer instead
of a "hat-in-hand" vendor. You want to create a
platform that sets up stories that demonstrate your approach,
your thinking and your prominence without appearing obnoxious.
To start out strong, don't use the usual "What is your
biggest challenge?" opening. Instead, come armed with
questions that will spur conversation. Ask about the impact
the latest trends have had on their business. Ask about their
views on some of the industry's challenges. Talk shop. Compare
notes. Trade war stories.
When the buyer gets that you have fresh new thinking, you
become the benchmark. The buyer will see the questions other
sources ask as "too basic" and therefore not as
good. You are now on top of their list.
3) Listen, Learn, Connect
Another great thing about referrals is that they make buyers
more willing to talk candidly. Referred prospects feel that
you've been vetted, so they are more comfortable in going
beyond the party line once you have proven yourself. And this
"inside scoop" of information is critical on two
fronts.
First, you can often hear about their possible objections.
Any heads up on obstacles will allow you to answer their question
before it becomes a concern.
When you get a whiff of a stumbling block in the initial
conversation, you have the perfect opportunity to preempt
the concern. You can do this by trading war stories about
clients who had the same possible objection to moving forward
with you or another provider, by explaining what made them
go forward anyway and by showing that their story had a happy
ending.
Importantly, at this stage, the prospect's objection hasn't
been linked to you. You don't have a dog in this fight, so
it's easier to distance your work from their concern. Addressing
the objection before it gets connected to your project prevents
the concern from gaining momentum. Once their concern has
been linked to you, it can be set in stone. And you're rolling
that rock uphill.
The second way you can use the inside information you gathered
is to link your work to a needed solution. The mistake here
is in what gets linked. It's very tempting to jump in and
provide your solution to the prospect's problem. Don't. If
you've already provided value from talking shop, it's not
necessary. Referred buyers are not looking for instant solutions;
they are looking at how you would approach their problem.
Instead of offering a solution, help them diagnose where
they are. If you have any distinctions between point A and
point B, now is the time to bring them out. This will create
a link between what you do and what they need, without solving
the problem. Prospects need to see the mental picture of how
your work will impact their priorities. Then they are open
to working with you on logistics: how your project will unfold,
the timelines, the investment, etc. Logistics come last.
Conclusion
Referrals are still good as gold. They trump cold calls.
They allow us to focus on a specific situation instead of
searching for interested buyers. However, the referred prospect
has more options; we can not mistake curiosity for commitment.
By talking shop and applying this approach, we can narrow
the buyer's alternatives to one--us.
Since 1987, Vickie K. Sullivan, President of Sullivan Speaker
Services, has generated millions of dollars in speaking fees,
book advances and ancilliary income for her clients. Sign
up for her free market intelligence at http://www.SullivanSpeaker.com
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