The Importance Of Referrals In A Business

05/04/2011

... And One Last Thing!

By Andy Lopata, Business Networking Strategist

In a meeting with the members of a prospective client’s sales team, they told me confidently that they are ‘referral-aware’. They knew the importance of referrals to their business and their sales team was constantly reminded to ask their clients for recommendations and referrals.

There is, however, a difference between being ‘referral-aware’ and having a referral strategy. A few careful questions later, they realised that perhaps they weren’t as strong on referral-generation as they thought and a lot of potential new business remained untapped.

The truth is that even companies who understand...

...the importance of word of mouth marketing are missing out on a substantial amount of new business. Sales are being left on the shelf simply because people aren’t asking for the connections they need. Current approaches to referral-generation are old fashioned, ill-conceived and unlikely to achieve anywhere near the potential a strong referral strategy could.

Who else do you know...?

Where a referrals strategy is in place, I have discovered that, more often than not it’s one that’s been taught for years by sales experts. In 2008 I gave a talk to over fifty wealth managers from across Europe, the Middle East and Asia at a major investment bank. I asked the audience to put up their hands if they had a strategic approach to generating referrals. From everyone present, just one hand went up.

Before I even asked, I could guess exactly what that person’s strategy would be. I knew that the wealth manager in question would be asking for referrals at the end of sales meetings. He would be asking if his prospect liked the sound of what he was offering, whether he clearly understood the benefits and who he knew who would also benefit from such a service.... continued on page two >

 

 

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