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We are human… therefore, we have made assumptions about the client acquisition process that guides our actions. Some of these assumptions serve us and some of them don’t.
I’ve just launched my newest online academy designed to help you multiply your best clients to achieve incremental growth. In the upcoming series of articles, I want to dedicate our focus to the 4 essential strategies required to achieve this objective.
The first strategy has to do with your thinking, beliefs, assumptions, and overall mindset. I call this a Referral Mindset.
What follows are 5 of the many mistaken assumptions that limit referral success. I invite you to see if any of these apply to you. Once you’ve finished reading this article and find yourself eager to improve your skills, confidence, and results in leveraging referrals and introductions, look no further than The Cates Academy.
5 Mistaken Assumptions That May Limit Your Referrals
- I have to wait several months or even a year before I can ask for possible introductions. You are becoming referable when value has been delivered and value has been recognized. Sometimes just scheduling the appointment is valuable to your new prospect because they will (finally) put much needed attention on their financial planning. The key is to pay attention to the value-recognizing statements your prospects and clients make and to check in from time to time, to get your clients to reflect on the value they perceive.
- Clients aren’t thinking of folks they can introduce to me. They just focus on themselves. I’ve seen this written many times by so-called “sales experts.” And it’s simply hogwash. Have you ever received an unsolicited referral? And have you ever promoted the possibility of introductions that turned into one right on the spot or shortly thereafter. True, your clients are not thinking about you and who they might introduce to you all the time, but as long as you’re super referable, many will recommend you to others without you bringing it up at all.
- If I just serve the heck out of my clients, I will get all the referrals and introductions I need. This is actually half true. Great client service and great client relationships are critical elements to a successful business, but usually only lead to incremental growth. If you want to speed up your growth or grow in a certain direction, you must find a way to be more proactive with purpose. Being appropriately proactive can turn incremental growth into exponential growth by helping you multiply your best clients.
- Asking for help is a sign of weakness. No! What misinformed person told you that? Any psychologist will tell you that asking for help is a sign of high ego strength. And in this particular case, we’re asking for help to help others. We believe in our value and sincerely want others to make their own educated decision around our areas of expertise.
- Asking for referrals or introductions will make my clients feel uncomfortable. The truth is this: Some of your clients will not feel comfortable with the introductions process. But if you approach the conversation in the right manner (Using our V.I.P.S. Method™) none of your clients will feel uncomfortable with you bringing up the topic. The worst thing that happens is that you ask, they prefer not, you back off gracefully, and you’ve planted a very fertile seed that can take root later – when they are ready.
There are many beliefs and assumptions that inhibit results in this area for financial professionals.