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The Worst Way to Ask for Referred Leads

By: Robert D Clarke-HelpUXL

How Not to Ask for Referred Leads
Robert D Clarke, copyright 2006.

"Experience is the name everyone gives to their mistakes."
- Oscar Wilde

Highlights

Vague referral requests
Eliminate anybody
High pressure words

Introduction

Results from standard referral requests often fall short of our hopes.

How the World Asks

Picture a situation like this. You make the sale, provide your services/product, then ask for a referred lead.

'Can you think of anybody who needs my services?'
(by far the most popular choice) or perhaps,
'Can you think of anybody who wants my services?'
(second most popular)

Watch your customer's eyes. (Of course, you always look your prospect in the eye, right?) I virtually guarantee they avert their eyes. Start counting mentally. One. Two. Thr...

Your listener returns eye contact, and says, 'No, I can’t at the moment, but if I do, I’ll keep you in mind. Give me some of your cards.'

You hand over five cards, and return to your office. (Gotta be there when the phone starts ringing off the hook, after all.) And your phone? Silence.

Two Major Problems

First Problem

There are two major problems with the statement, 'Can you think of anybody who needs my services?'The first problem is the word anybody. I’ll prove it. Join me in an exercise.

On the count of three, picture in your mind, all individual faces of the entire population of the United States of America. Ready? 1-2-3. Go. How well did you do? Okay. Okay. After all, there are 370 million people in the country. Try an easier country, Canada for instance. Only 37 million. Go. No way, you say? Fine. Picture each individual person in the State of Utah or the Province of Alberta? No? Okay, last chance. How about each person in Tucson, Arizona? Come on, there can't be that many people.

An impossible exercise? Precisely. Yet, what word do people use when asking for referrals? 'Anybody'. This means the population of the whole world. 'Anybody' doesn’t work. 'Anybody' cannot work. 'Anybody' is too big, too vague. It provides no focus. Get rid of it.

Second Problem

You now recognize that 'anybody' is the worst word you could choose. (Someone, somebody, anyone are equally useless.)

Yet, despite a total lack of focus, one individual in a thousand might find a single face to refer to you. So, you create a second problem. You make your request, 'Can you think of anybody who needs...' even worse, and throw in a high- pressure word.

Can you identify it? Needs. Think about it. This question automatically assumes a sale to the name provided. It forces your listener to make a decision on someone else’s behalf. Can you remember when a salesrep asked you this question? How did you feel about it? Uncomfortable at best, right? (Hands up. All those who love being high-pressured into a decision. Hmm... That many.)

The Only Option

Thus, your listener responds with the only option open to them. 'No, I can’t at the moment, but if I do, I’ll keep you in mind. Give me some of your cards.'

Let me illustrate with an example. Assume a salesperson is requesting referrals from me.

Bob, can you think of anybody who needs my services? Yes. Jack. He helps build effective teams.

Have I not just committed Jack to buying whatever the salesperson is selling? I haven’t asked Jack if he needs, (or even wants), the salesperson’s service. Try explaining that to gung-ho sales rep. As far as they are concerned, Jack is a done deal.

From now on, when you hear, 'Can you think of anybody who needs my services?', recognize it as the most popular and least effective phrase when requesting referrals. The Kiss of Death. I doubt you could kill your hope of referred leads faster or more effectively.

You will hear, 'Can you think of anybody who needs my services?' many times in the future. Just ensure you don’t hear it from your own voice.

Summary

Many people have difficulty receiving referrals because their referral is vague and high pressured. Eliminate 'anybody', 'needs' and 'wants' from your requests for referred leads.

Excerpted from "How to Increase Sales at No Cost"
Robert D Clarke, 108 pages, paperback, copyright 1994. Online version copyright 2006.

Article Source: http://articleaddict.com

_____________________________________________________ Robert D Clarke In Business to 'Help YOU Excel' with word-of-mouth advertising. What I want for you is to never make another cold call. Author of 'How to Increase Sales at No Cost' Learn Great Word-of-Mouth Ideas helpuxl.com

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