Over the years, many of the people I have trained were asked why they don’t ask for more referrals during a seminar, they will usually tell me that they feel they don’t do as well as they would like to with the referrals they get, so it’s not a priority to them. They’ll even go on to tell me that they appreciate that other salespeople do really well out of referrals, but they have not been able to even get results similar to them. It seems everyone else has got the message, but they have not. Referrals are only as hot as the client that gave them to you. As the client cools, so does your power of referrals.

It would be fair to say that perhaps the most underused, and also one of the most underrated selling tools is the referral. On the surface it may seem that there are two schools of thought about referrals. However, this far what happens in the real world.

The only way a referral stays HOT after the first week, is only when the salesperson has done such an extraordinary job, the referral stays alive in the mind of the referrer, and it’s the referrer that keeps the referral potential alive for an extended time beyond the 72 to 96 hours. And lets face it, that scenario is usually something that happens once in a month or less – even with the best of the sales superstars.

Just like every other spectrum of sales, some are able to understand the value of referrals and work them accordingly, while others tend to put little value on referrals and work them accordingly. In fact, it seems the better the salespersons ranking and income, the more avid a supported of this lead gathering process they become. And it’s a known fact that the best salespeople in any organization are the ones that sell more on fewer leads and are also generally the ones that have the highest conversion ratio.

Gulliver Giles, heads up the sales team for the Jay Abraham’s Asia Pacific office, says he can tell you first hand how quickly referrals can go cold. Most times, in his experience, they go cold faster than 72 hours, at times, even 48 hours can be too generous. In our conversation on the subject, Gulliver passionately stated, “It’s hard to think that a referral can become so hard to work just a few days after you receive it, but if you delay making contact the referred person forgets what the referrer told them, misunderstood it or tried to analyse things without having all the facts, and the contact is no longer a workable lead. I know I have to get to those referrals as a priority, even delaying contact with other urgent matters, if I’m to be successful.” Now that advice comes from a man that spends his day selling successful outcomes, then working hard on his clients to ensure their success as well. How do I know that. I’m one of his clients, and at every instance possible, Gulliver makes me feel special.

An alternative to the referral, is also what many refer to as the second best type of referral. It’s called a testimonial. This is a referral type that can stay warm for months, or at times, even years. A testimonial is simply a written alternative to a referral because the referrer has committed things in writing. The testimonial can have a similar effect to a verbally provided referral, because it no longer relies on the emotion of a “HOT” buyer to transfer the feeling but the emotion and expertise of the seller to TRANSFER THE FEELING. And an experienced salesperson will use the testimonial to it’s desired effect and help create a positive selling environment that will transfer into a sale.

Over the years, many of the people I have trained were asked why they don’t ask for more referrals during a seminar, they will usually tell me that they feel they don’t do as well as they would like to with the referrals they get, so it’s not a priority to them. They’ll even go on to tell me that they appreciate that other salespeople do really well out of referrals, but they have not been able to even get results similar to them. It seems everyone else has got the message, but they have not. Referrals are only as hot as the client that gave them to you. As the client cools, so does your power of referrals.

An alternative to the referral, is also what many refer to as the second best type of referral. It’s called a testimonial. This is a referral type that can stay warm for months, or at times, even years. A testimonial is simply a written alternative to a referral because the referrer has committed things in writing. The testimonial can have a similar effect to a verbally provided referral, because it no longer relies on the emotion of a “HOT” buyer to transfer the feeling but the emotion and expertise of the seller to TRANSFER THE FEELING. And an experienced salesperson will use the testimonial to it’s desired effect and help create a positive selling environment that will transfer into a sale.

Copyright Profit Maker (Aust) Pty Limited and Peter Collins, 2009, Sydney, Australia

Far too many sellers either don’t work referrals or worse still allow them to go cold through ignoranceReferrals have a limited life span