When to Ask for Referrals 

Well, you know what, I’m a little torn by the idea of asking for referrals at the sale because a lot of times you haven’t really earned the right to ask for the referral just yet. The just paid you a bunch money for your product and service and now you’re asking for a referral?  They don’t even have that relationship yet with you or have an opinion about your product or service.

What you can do is lay the foundation for asking for a referral and letting them know that at some point, you’re going to be so happy with this product, this service that I’m going to be asking you for a referral.   Ask for 5 – 7 friends they believe would be interested in this product or service.

So that’s how I usually pre-frame the conversation about asking for referrals. This came to me years ago when I bought my first gym membership. I went to a Bally’s and sold a lifetime membership.    He was a really pushy salesperson. At the end of the sales process, after he just worked me over and had signed my life away with their contract, he said, “Do you know five people that could use a gym membership? Here. Here’s a piece of paper, write them down. Write them down right now,” and he was really aggressive about it and I was like, “Oh my gosh,” I was just worked over to buy the membership, which you should never make your prospect feel that way. They should feel great about buying your product and your service.

Second, now I’m getting forced to do another action that I don’t feel really comfortable with. So that started me just figuring out that that probably wasn’t the right approach. Had he said, “You know what, after about 30 days, I’m going to make sure that you really enjoy your experience here and then I’m going to ask you for five referrals of some friends that you believe would like working out here.”  That would have been a much better approach because now, I’m like, “Okay, I’m off the hook,” but I know something is coming in the future and so I’m going to be starting to think about my friends and family that may want to join.

Now again, don’t just rely on your customers that wake up in the morning and say, “Oh my gosh, I want to give Tom a referral today.” Nobody’s thinking that. But if you lay the groundwork in saying, “In 30 days, I’m going to be asking you for a referral. Hope I earn that right to be asking you for that and I will be asking.” So you’re planting the seed.

Does this seem like something you can implement in your business?  Please post a comment below, I’d love to hear from you.

These blog posts are based on my IMPACT Sales System designed to double your sales in 90 days.   

If you’d like to speak with me personally on how to create an Impact in your business please schedule a free consulting call here:  www.TomJackobs.com/strategy