Money Does Grow on Trees
Growing up we did not have a lot of money and the first time that I saw Rule #11, it reminded me of one of my Mom’s favorite sayings. Whenever she was annoyed with me asking for things, she’d say: ” You must think that money grows on trees?” What I’ve come to learn is that Mom was actually correct, IT DOES grow on trees - specifically ‘referral trees’.
Salespeople do a poor job of asking for referrals. I know because I was one of them.
We generally make three main mistakes when asking. They are:
We are the worst at GIVING referrals
Could part of the reason that we don’t get more referrals be that we are not giving them?
Salespeople (the ones we have head trash around anyway) are notoriously out for themselves and approach referrals as a “what can you do for me” type of interaction rather than starting with the other person in mind, and more importantly, not expecting anything in return.
The ‘golden rule’ around referrals is: If you want more, give more (giver’s gain mentality.)
We wait until it is far too late
The vast majority of new sales reps that we train say that they typically wait until their product or service is delivered before approaching the client about a referral. This is way too late!
When we ask, “why then?”, we get answers that fall into the category of “we want to do a good job, then ask at the right time.” While this is fine, there are several issues with this approach. The main one being that there is never a ‘right time’ - the time is actually now!
When we analyze it, most of our clients like us best at the moment they realize that we can help them. This is a perfect time to bring up the topic of a referral, however. Be sure to read #3 below so that you do it the correct way.
We are too vague in the way we ask
Most referrals that people ask of me sound like this: “Hey Jim, the next time that you need _______, I’d appreciate it if you would keep me/us in mind.” And I simply nod my head up and down and say, “OK,” which is what most people do. My next move is to promptly forget what was said so that I can put more important information in those brain cells.
If we had a better referral conversation with an understanding (up-front contract for those who know Sandler) of what would happen next, we would drive more productive referral conversations.
If we are specific in what we are asking as well in what we are asking our referrer to do (make an in-person intro, introduce by email, schedule a conference call, etc…) we would immediately drive more referrals, and a referral-based business is what most sales reps desire.
THIS is what causes money to grow on trees.
