7 Tips for Effortless Prospecting

Wouldn’t it be great if you never had to door knock again?  It would be even better if you still got all that new business you usually get from door-knocking without actually having to bruise your knuckles on another door. 

Ah yes, that would be a perfect world indeed. Aren’t you lucky then to be reading this today, because your perfect world is here right now!

The door to this perfect world is called referral prospecting and its key is called The Referral Book. Here’s how it works;

1)    Get yourself a notebook and write “Referral Book” on the cover. Make it look good. My “Referral Book” idea worked so well with one of my clients, they had them specifically printed for all their salespeople with their company logo and “Referral Book” embossed on the cover.  After the first month of using them, they discovered that their sales had increased by 10% and this increase was directly attributed to the Referral Book. Even better, because they maintained a steady increase each month thereafter, they made using the Referral Book a performance standard.

2)    Carry your Referral Book with you on every sales call and make sure it is in clear sight.  Your customer’s curiosity may become aroused and they may ask you what it is, giving you a perfect entrée to discuss referrals with them. Even if they don’t notice it, having it in plain sight reminds you to use it.

3)    Ask every client you see to provide you with referrals, whether you’ve successfully done business with them or not. They may know someone who needs what you’ve got, even if they don’t need it themselves.  Don’t just stop at one. Just because they’ve already given you a referral in the past, doesn’t mean you can’t ask them again.  In fact, because you’ve obtained a referral from them in the past, you absolutely SHOULD ask them again, because they’ve already displayed a willingness to help you.

4)    Don’t just limit yourself to asking clients for referrals.  Ask anyone who may know someone who conceivably may be interested in your product or service....friends, family members, people at your church, club, gym, pub.

5)    Write in as much detail as you can get about the referral.  Their name, company name and phone number are just for starters. If you can find out more specific information by asking questions, then absolutely do so. The more you know, the better, when the time comes to contact the referral.  Keep track of the date the referral was given to you and most importantly, keep track of the person who gave you the referral in the first place.

6)    Action the referral as soon as possible after obtaining it. If the referee happens to contact the person they have referred it’s possible they may mention they’ve given their name to you.  If you don’t bother actioning the referral for a month or two, it can make you look either lazy or disinterested or both. When calling to make an appointment with the referral, mention the referee by name.  i.e. “Hello Joe, Andrew Davis at Diversified Technology suggested I give you a call...”

7)    After you have contacted the referral, thank the person who originally gave it to you and let them know the outcome, even if it’s not positive. Sending a small thank you card is a nice touch and also a memorable one.  It demonstrates that you value their help and may just encourage them to help you with more referrals in the future.

Prospecting doesn’t have to be a chore and a bore.  With your referral book doing your prospecting for you, your foot is already in the door. Of course, if you wanted to keep knocking on a few doors and making a few (hundred) prospecting phone calls each week, in addition to using your Referral Book, you’d be putting yourself way out in front.