In order for people to send you the perfect referral you have to make it clear to them who is your perfect client. To achieve this you have to narrow down the possibilities and step away from the idea of, “my service or product is perfect for everybody.” A good way of knowing who your perfect client is would be to look at your current client base.
Your perfect client is one who is enjoyable to do business with and one of the clients that buys from you the most. Let’s look at some sample customers from a hypothetical database to determine which one would be the ideal client:
Joe buys from you $10,000 a month, but he is very difficult to deal with.
Brian almost never buys from me, but when we actually do business together he is a pleasure to interact with.
Michael buys less than Joe but more than Brian and he is great to work with.
- Michael might be your perfect client.
Now that you know that you want more clients like Michael try to describe Michael as a customer. Michael is a male, in his mid 40’s; he owns a small business and caters to high-end customers. There are many Michaels out there and you want to make sure that if your friends or colleagues run into a Michael they send his contact info your way. To achieve this first double check that you know your perfect client:
So who is your perfect client? Take a moment and fill out the following information, to clarify your description of your perfect client.
Gender:
Age Range:
Financial Status:
Occupation, etc:
When you get a chance to ask for referrals make sure to communicate these characteristics. Of course you can always remind referral sources that you would be more than happy to work with anyone who might be interested in your services.
By providing a quick and detailed description of your perfect client you will save not only your time but the time of the potential referral source and the referral.
Since people retain 50% or less of the information that they are presented each day you have to be efficient in getting your message out.
When it’s time to ask for referrals deliver your speech in three sentences. Sentence number one will talk about who you are and your type of business. Sentence number two will talk about your perfect client and sentence number three will extend a “thank you” and ask “what can I do for you?” Here is some further detail about asking for referrals in this way.
About sentence one: present yourself only with your first name, this will automatically allow the listener to feel more comfortable around you. The name of your business is not important (yet) after all, the recipient will probably walk away with your business card and see the logo there.
About sentence two: describe only the three main characteristics of your perfect client, and be sure to repeat the most important one at least once. This way you will help the recipient remember at least one important thing.
About sentence number three: mention how much you appreciate future referrals and ask how you can help them.
Here is an example of what I might say when asking for referrals to my business:
Sentence 1: Hi. I’m Sofia. I help companies generate more business by marketing to Hispanic customers.
Sentence 2: Small to medium size retail companies in California find my services extremely beneficial. Working in California is great.
Sentence 3: Allow me to thank you beforehand for future referrals that you might send my way and please let me know how can I be of service.
The perfect time to hand out your business card is during the first sentence. This allows the recipient to quickly check your name to make sure he/she heard it correctly and pay close attention to what comes next.
Don’t be afraid to ask for referrals. Referrals are an important part of doing business. Be clear about the type of person that is a relevant client to you and about what you can offer to this person.
Try to give the first referral and be sure to follow up with a thank you note to people that send you referrals.
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