Eliminate Your Barriers to the Most Powerful Client Attraction System by Bill Cates America's Referral Coach This is part two of a two-part article. Every broker knows that the most enjoyable and the most effective way to build a book of business is through referrals. Yet most brokers never take full advantage of their incredible gold mine of happy clients. How many of these reasons have you used to keep yourself from reaching true top producer status? "I don't feel I've served my client enough to ask yet." "I don't leave enough time on my appointments." "I forget." "I don't like to ask for help." "Asking for help in unprofessional." "I don't want to make my clients feel uncomfortable." "I've had a bad experiencing asking for referrals." "I was never taught how to get referrals. All my manager did was tell me to get on the phone and make cold calls." Are you stuck in Wimp Junction? If you look closely at each reason (or should I say "excuse"), you'll see it usually boils down to the fact that you're not comfortable with asking. And you've made the decision (usually unconscious) to remain in your comfort zone - Wimp Junction! Just remember that your comfort zone is 5 to 6 sizes too small for the success you'd like to achieve. The bottom line is:if you're not fully using the incredible power of referrals, you're being run by your fear. Like most fears, this one is a ghost. In fact, it's really a projection onto your potential referral source. It's a trick your unconscious plays on you. Since you're feeling awkward about asking for referrals, you think the other person will feel awkward being asked. If you've established a relationship of mutual trust by delivering great value and service, and if you ask in a respectful way, then your clients, and even prospects, will entertain your request. In fact, they many be extremely happy to help you. The truth is, in many cases the referral process actually strengthens your relationships with your clients, because it gets them taking a stake in your success and the success of others. Please don't let fear hold you back from this most powerful way to build your business. Your prospects prefer to meet you through a referral, so it needs to be your preferred method of prospecting. Asking for Referrals is a Form of Service Just after delivering my Unlimited Referrals Seminar to a group of brokers in Baltimore, a five-year veteran named Walter asked me if I could meet with him privately for a few minutes. He told me he knew he should be asking for referrals, but was having trouble embracing the process. Walter was in the top ten in his office, but he was doing it mostly through cold calling. He said he was suffering in "cold call hell" and he needed relief quickly. Walter's problem was that he had difficulty asking for help. So we discussed the benefits his prospects and clients might get from engaging in the referral process. We concluded that clients benefited in many ways when they gave referrals, such as:their decision to use Walter was validated;they became a hero to their friends and colleagues;they felt good when they helped Walter;and they benefited by keeping Walter in the business (as their needs changed, a more successful Walter would be their to take care of them). Walter finally understood that asking for help with not really just for him, but was a way he could help his clients help others. Referrals are, indeed, a win/win proposition. Now Walter asks for referrals, not just for himself, but for the people they can serve together. In less than four months Walter turned his practice into a pure referral-based business. He's now number two in his office and number one is running scared. " Asking for referrals should not be a me process. Make it a we process. Help your clients bring your value to others they care about. Be on a mission to serve." - Bill Cates You Must Make it a Habit If you want to establish asking for referrals as a habit, here are a couple of suggestions. First, bring an agenda to every meeting with prospects and clients. As you prepare the agenda, determine if this may be a good opportunity to ask for referrals. If it is, put it on your agenda so you won't forget. And make sure you manage the appointment well so you have time to bring it up. Second, get a friend, colleague, or your manager involved. Tell them you need their assistance in helping you establish a new habit. Set some goals and ask them to hold you accountable. Let's face it, we're usually slippery with ourselves. We need others to hold us accountable to the new habits we wish to adopt. A Note to Management The only way you'll get your reps to fully use the referral process is to create a referral culture in your office. It's easier for you to manage the cold call process, but this leads to burn-out and you lose good people who would probably be successful if they were taught how to master the referral process. Teach your people when and how to ask for referrals. And encourage them to allow you to hold them accountable to new behaviors. And celebrate their successes - big time! Help them become master referral prospectors and everyone will reap rich rewards. Bill Cates is the author of Unlimited Referrals and president of The Referral Marketing Institute. He works with financial service companies to build a more committed sales force with their reps to attract higher quality clients through referrals and other powerful marketing strategies. To learn more about Bill's great books and tapes, go to Bill's web site or give him a call. EMAIL:BillCates@ReferralCoach.com PHONE:800-488-5464 WEB SITE: www.ReferralCoach.com © 1999 by Bill Cates "The Referral Marketing Institute"