My client Rob ferociously slammed the door behind him and said, “Stop harassing me about giving you referrals. I’m not haggling my clients for you and I’m already $%&@$ busy already.”
This is the story that used to play in my head when I thought about asking clients to refer me to their customers. Sure it never happened, but it could happen at any time, right? Our work has always been stellar, and our clients always extremely happy. But the thought of groveling to a client for a favor like this always seemed like such a drag.
Mindset is Everything
I heard a marketing expert, Dean Jackson, speak several months ago about the secret psychology of referrals and it changed my mindset about asking for referrals, which allowed me to get more high quality referrals over time. And we’ve found that the same is true for telecom agents.
If you’re a telecom agent, referrals are a big part of your business. But many are shy about asking for them. Most agents think they are asking their clients for a favor when referring them business. And every agent knows that their “Favor Bank Account” has limits on it. But a closer look shows that correctly reframing this presumption can drastically change how you approach referrals in your business.
It's Kind of Like…
Have you ever seen a movie or read a book that you just HAD to tell others about? Do you remember how good it felt when you told someone about the movie or book, and then they read it or watched it, and LOVED it? Didn’t it make you feel great? Didn’t you get a kick out of helping out a buddy? Referring things to others makes us FEEL good. Same for your clients.
Let’s go deeper, shall we?
Importance of Social Status
Most successful marketers, and all successful politicians, know that humans are, at their very core, social creatures who are always seeking to raise their status above that of their colleagues. And when someone recommends a service or idea to others, and that person actually follow through with it, it raises the status of the first person in that social circle. Speaking in Darwinian terms, they brought the meat (value) back to the tribe.
So in reality, by providing your client the opportunity to recommend your premium telecom services, you are actually doing THEM the favor. You’re allowing them to both FEEL GREAT and raise their own social status in their social group.
Transfer of Value
So the next time you consider asking your client to refer your telecom agency, reconsider how you view the transfer of value in this interaction. You’re not “sucking value” out of them…you’re the one giving the value. When you view the transfer of value from you to them, you’ll be more confident in asking for the referral and will therefor close more business…if you do it right…
Combining confidence with technique is the secret to success.
Now that you’ve got the confidence, click HERE to learn the 3 Step Process to orchestrating more referrals into your business.
