So, you’ve met new people, focused on their interests and how you could add value to their lives – but not yet through buying your business products or services. The relationship should be at the point now where they feel good about you – they know, like and trust you; open to doing business with you directly or at least referring you to others that could provide you with more sales.  

 

If the person is a direct prospect, make the appointment. Once you’ve helped them buy the appropriate products or services, ask for referrals. Depending upon their situation for not buying, you can still ask them for referrals and often will give you them.  

 

Asking the Right Prospects for Referrals

The ideal situation is to have the prospect meet you somewhere with the knowledge that this is what you will be meeting about – referrals.  

 

To do this, you may ask someone that you’re in the process of expanding your referral-based business and would like to partner with “your friends” such as that person; and see if you can meet with them over a quick coffee and discuss the names of such people that might be of assistance.  

 

This approach is effective for many reasons:  

1. Posture - Where you’re asking someone for assistance to whom you’ve already proven to be of value even if it’s not through your products and services – referred them to people, sent them relevant information, increased their quality of life.
   
2. Partner - This term people like to hear, having a “part” in the success of people that they know, like and trust.
   
3. Quick Cup of Coffee - This assures that the referral source won’t have to have a lot of time taken up.
   
4. Might - This relieves any pressure that person may feel to give you names of everyone that they know.  

If the person is agreeable, you then meet with him and ask for the referrals the right way in order to get the most amount of them. Asking correctly will help you obtain both the quantity and quality of referrals.  

 

Remember never to ask questions that are too broad when asking for referrals. You need to be specific, and a person doesn’t want to go through their mental Rolodex to figure out who would be a good one for you to obtain future business sales.  

 

Help the Prospect Isolate Their Database

The best idea to help you obtain high quality referrals is to have your prospect isolate their people. This way by limiting the field, you are providing much more opportunity for your referral source to come up with names, in which then their natural memory will kick in and they will begin associating other people with those that they’ve already listed.  

 

Consider Hobbies, Clubs and Organizations

For example, if the prospect is a golfer and he or she mentions that they play in the same foursome every week, that’s three people that could be good prospects. If that person is in the Rotary club, they could mention another three to four people. Then you can ask about any other business or social organizations that they belong to until you begin to receive some names – remember, the more you know about the prospect going into the meet up, the better.

 

Find out who their accountant, banker, chiropractor, dentist and electrician are for example – this is called the Yellow Page Rolodex.  

 

Once that prospect gives you a couple of names, it’s smooth sailing. The hardest one is the first, after which they will relax and will start listing several once the parameters are set. Then you can go back to each one and have them qualify individually.  

 

If you do this on a consistent basis, you’ll receive a massive amount of referrals from people who are not yet even doing business with you directly. The more that you receive, the more that you’re in a position to receive from that to who you were referred; where the pipeline will always be full.