Sales

How to Connect with Referral Partners

Referral ScriptAs a real estate agent, your vendor network is a coveted source of referrals. Property managers, financial advisers, contractors and other home trade professionals are all great partners. Not only do these professionals have contact with potential clients at key stages of the decision cycle to buy or sell, but they can also send you more quality referrals because they understand the difference between a qualified & unqualified lead.

While you likely have some contacts already, its important to formalize the relationship and always establish new connections. If you aren’t sure about how to approach potential referral partners – here’s a simple script to get started:

“My name’s _________ and I’m from __________ (Your Office). I’m calling because I’m putting together a list of businesses and to help my clients with their ___________(home/new area/finances). Clients always ask me for recommendations – so I’m providing them with my list and promoting these businesses through my marketing. I heard great things about you from _________ and was wondering if I can include your business in my list of recommendations?”

If Yes…

“Great! These referral relationships are so important for helping our businesses grow. And I want to ask that if in exchange for me promoting your business & referring my clients to you – if you’d refer people you know that are considering buying or selling to me?”

You can adapt this script to elaborate more on the relationship you’d like to build, but whenever you approach potential referral partners make sure to highlight:

  1. That you’re looking to build long-term relationships
  2. Your high level of service, and that you’re wanting to connect with businesses that have these same standards
  3. The benefits of the relationship for both parties

While this script is simple – its a powerful tool for connecting with professionals that can grow your client list. Who are your most valued referral partners?

Exceeding Your Sales Goals

How to Ask (2)

I recently read a pretty frightening statistic that ⅔ of all salespeople miss their quotas. It got me thinking about how reps can improve their performance – and naturally – it got me thinking about referrals.With referred clients being 4X more likely to close, salespeople can drastically improve their performance by focusing on a sell-by-referral strategy.

 

The reality is that we drop the ball when it comes to referrals. In fact, despite over 80% of past clients being willing to make a referral only 29% actually follow through. So what happens? We simply hope that referrals will come our way, instead of actively asking for referrals. As salespeople we often don’t ask for referrals because:

  1. We fear rejection
  2. We don’t have process in place
  3. We focus on chasing cold leads instead of following up with past clients.

 

So, how should we ask for referrals? A successful strategy should address these three issues.

 

We’ve all referred friends & family to our favorite restaurant, pediatrician or gym – so we shouldn’t think clients are uncomfortable sending referrals our way. Be confident in the service you provide, be specific when asking for referrals & make sure to follow up with quickly.

 

Building Your Referral Funnel

we love referralsSick of cold calls? Door knocking? Chasing unqualified internet leads? I’m always surprised to hear from sales professionals that they hate these prospecting methods but are still spending time on them. While there are so many strategies for building a client list, none are as effective referral selling.

 

Referral selling is when you leverage your client list and professional network to acquire new clients. It’s basing your sales funnel on relationships, instead of increasing advertising budgets. Referral selling has the ability to drastically improve your closing ratio – a referred client is 4X more likely to close – but it does require a few prerequisites. So if you’re ready to increase referrals, here’s our advice on adopting a referral selling mentality.

 

1.Be Referrable

If you want to increase referrals, the first step is providing an awesome client experience.

 

2. Make Referrals a Priority

Think of referrals as a constant business development strategy – not a one-time sales tactic. Developing networking and relationship skills should be center to your sales training.

 

3. Get Infrastructure in Place

Like any sales or marketing effort, you’ll need the infrastructure in  place to be successful. Have a simple, easy to use method for tracking referrals and keeping in contact with your referral network. Start tracking metrics – like new referrals, time to close, and average number of referrals received.

 

4. Reach Out

Start networking with clients and professional connections. Attend networking events, send newsletters to past & current clients, stay involved with your large accounts, and follow up with contacts that that have sent you referrals in the past.

 

5. Overcome Fear

So often sales professionals don’t ask for referrals because we’re afraid of rejection. Getting over this fear is fundamental to increasing referrals. Realize that most clients are comfortable making a referral – and if you’ve perfected #1, you have nothing to to worry about.