New clients often tell me that they are not getting enough referrals. They are usually reaching out, connecting with partners, and asking people who were happy with their services to refer others to them. Some even send out letters asking for referrals with incentives for bringing new clients to them. They feel that they have done everything they could possibly do to get referrals, but it isn’t working.
Most of these clients feel that asking for referrals make them feel really “sales-y”.
In all my years as a coach, I’ve found that there’s one thing that consistently earns referrals: value. If you want to be recommend by others, provide something of value that they can give away. For example, some of the things that you can provide them to give to their associates include:
- Useful spreadsheets and assessments
- Reports
- eBooks
- Articles
- Business tips
- Invitations to events, webinars, and teleseminars
- Checklists
- Task lists
- Any sort of easy-to-use kit that achieves a mini-result
These small 1-2 page “giveaways” must be VALUABLE to the end user (aka your potential client). They must focus on a specific RESULTS DRIVEN topic and not be a list of your services.
These items give those that would refer you something valuable to share. This way, instead of asking for favors for yourself, you give your referral partners the chance to do favors for people they want to ingratiate to them.
You give them a value-added giveaway that they in turn can give to their own clients. And when your clients spread your giveaway through their networks, this will inevitably bring in new clients.
Giving your referral partners and clients something valuable to give away creates a situation in which everyone wins. They get a great item that they can use to help their partners and clients, and you get to earn your referrals without feeling really “sales-y”.
But… remember the 80/20 rule. 80% of the content is you giving, 20% of the content is you taking. In other words, 20% of the text on the page should be your super specific call to action.
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[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Terri Zwierzynski, Solo-e Feed. Solo-e Feed said: RT @JenniferDavey: Need More Client Referrals? Try This Tactic. http://ow.ly/1a7NLi [...]
Thanks Jennifer for that reminder. Sometimes we go another way – we even forgot the 20%! We just keep offering information and helping people that we forget to tell people what we do. It’s a good idea to write down your goals and have a strategy to meet those goals. Having it in black and white (not just in our heads) seems to make it more real and more attainable. Do you agree?
Maureen – I ABSOLUTELY agree!
The clearer you are on your goals, the easier it is to achieve them.
I totally agree with you.
I have an Ezine I had been sending out since 2003, and a lot of my referrals have been from people who thought it was valuable and sent it on people they knew needed the information or my service.