How to Jumpstart Stalled Referrals: Tips from HIU
I'm a word nerd. I read and write from the time I get up in the morning until I set my head on my pillow at night. And I get abnormally excited to find the Health Insurance Underwriter (HIU) magazine on my desk each month.
Why? Because every month I find numerous nuggets to either love or loathe, and I also find that many of these articles speak to the larger insurance sales market—not just health insurance agents. Consequently, HIU teaches me something new every month.
Case in point: this morning I read an article called How to Jumpstart Stalled Referrals by Bill Cates. I wasn't familiar with this stalled referral thing—I thought people either referred you or they didn't. Wrong!
A close cousin to referral objections is what I call 'stalled referrals'...has this ever happened to you—a client agrees not to keep you a secret...and then does. It's a common occurence. What can you do?
What you can do, says Cates, is talk to the would-be referrer about it. Cates provides a sample conversation that starts with the agent talking to the client about their successful professional relationship and asking the client something like, "Of all the things we've done, what do you feel is the most valuable or important part of the work I do with folks such as yourself?"
Of course, asking the client to revisit what you've done for them is a good way to confirm your value and prepare you to follow up with something like:
About six months ago, we discussed the possibility of you introducing me to some of your colleagues who were on the verge of retirement and would benefit from my professional advice...I'm just curious about what's happened around that. Have you mentioned me to anyone? Can we explore this a little?
The client will probably say something like, "Oh, I forgot..." or, "I guess I haven't brought it up like I said I would." To help the client from feeling like ashamed for not having mentioned your services to said colleagues, Cates suggests talking with the client about who could best benefit from your services, and then creating a way for the client to make these "important introductions" on your behalf. Of course, it should go without saying that these conversations must be approached delicately and your conversation with the client should reflect their personal communication style—otherwise, you'll just be shooting yourself in the foot.
Cates closes his article with this teaching point:
It's never too late to go back to people and ask for referrals, as long as you've stayed in touch with them and continued to build a valuable relationship. When you have stalled referrals, you can go back to them, and, in a genuine way, figure out what's up.
What do you think of Cates' tips? What referral methods work for you?
[related reading]:
Asking for Referrals: Your How-to Guide [InsureMe Agent Resource Center]
Building Solid Client Relationships [InsureMe Agent Resource Center]
Comments
I one of the sales classes I took, the speaker told us that we do not need to be afraid to ask for the sale (the close). I think that this definitely carries over to asking for the referral, whether it is once or three times.
Posted by: Laura Gates | June 26, 2006 11:04 PM
You know, at first blush, asking for referrals can seem plenty uncomfortable and most of the time I didn't like doing it. But, like most things, if you don't ask, you'll never know.
Of course, to start, I only asked for referrals from people I had good relationships with, which is what we recommend in our article, Asking for Referrals [linked above].
Practicing the referral speak with C-level clients will allow you to work up the confidence and experience that will help you unwaveringly ask your heavy hitters for the favor.
Posted by: Megan Mahan | June 26, 2006 11:11 PM