The Etiquette of Referrals

by Judy Baker on August 4, 2011

As a business owner, you want to both give and receive referrals. Here are actions you can take to encourage the process.

Say thank you

When you get a referral, take the time to thank the person who gave it to you. If you’d like to know more about this strategy I recommend a witty article by Elisha Weinberg, an acupuncturist from Seattle ,Washington. She stresses the idea and practice of gratitude. I agree that giving thanks and recognition is a sound practice.

Make it a habit to give and receive quality referrals

My friend, Joanne Black, author of No More Cold Calling, has built her very successful business on this principal.

Follow-up with referrals. It is good manners to contact the person to whom you were referred and to update the person who gave you the referral.

Educate your referral partners on what you are looking for and what makes for a good referral for you. This could be a story about why others would refer clients to you. The better you are at stating the benefits of giving referrals to you, the more likely you will receive referrals. Some of the reasons people give referrals are they want to be seen as a resource, they want to help others (their clients and you). The more value your referral source provides to others, the more loyalty they create with their friends and business associates.

Make it easy

Be specific about who you want to be referred to and why.
Tell everyone you know that you work by referral.
Add a line to your invoice reminding your clients that you work by referral.
Ask for referrals.
Share your contact information electronically. You could send an email with your contact information to clients and referral partners and suggest they pass your contact information on to their network.
Write up the testimonial you want to receive, send it to your client for review and approval. Encourage your clients to share stories about how you helped them with their network.
Be clear about what you want people to know and share about your business.
Have a smart phone? Capture comments made by your clients as a short video clip that you can post to YouTube, share it via email, show it on Facebook, and put it up on your web site or blog.

How Can You Increase The Number of Referrals You Receive: Get a System

According to Michael Port, best-selling author and business coach, it is a good practice to ask for referrals. In his book, Book Yourself Solid, he gives tips on how to create a referral system. System is the key here. In fact he devotes all of Chapter 12 to referral strategies. The power of a referral system: you increase the likelihood you will receive referrals, you have an organized way of approaching the process and it is simple to repeat the steps over and over again.
Monitor where your referrals come from. If you find that the majority of your referrals are coming from one or two sources, what can you do to reward them and encourage business to flow to them.
We all know that word-of-mouth (see my post ) is the best form of advertising. It doesn’t cost you anything. Peer reviews are considered to be more reliable than paid advertisements
Put together a brief tip sheet that demonstrates your expertise. Give copies of it to your referral partners (either a hard copy or a link to an electronic document).
Give your business cards to your referral partners. I have a client who displays the business cards, announcements and flyers from other businesses in her network. This is an easy way to show her support and to trigger referrals to those businesses..
If you know a friend or client serves the same or a complementary audience, come up with a plan to help each other by sharing referrals and making recommendations to one another.
Amplifying the reach of your referrals
A one-to-one referral is great. Instead of telling just one person about you, your happy client can tell everyone in their network and in your network at the same time. If you’re on LinkedIn, request referrals from the people in your network. You can have referrals on your web site, on Facebook, on your company page, on Twitter, review sites like Yelp, you get the idea.
You can post written testimonials, audio recordings, or best yet, a short video clip where your client is giving you an endorsement.

Ask for Referrals and Testimonials

Yes, this is here again for a reason. This might sound like a no-brainer. Yet many of us fail to ask for referrals and testimonials. Get over it. If you have happy clients, let them tell their friends and associates. They look like heroes and so do you.

The Best Time To Ask For A Referral

When you have just delivered outstanding service or products your client.
When your client asks you for help.
You know someone who knows someone you want to do business with.
Remind your referral partners to recommend you to their friends and business associates in their network. For instance, one of my clients was about to attend a national conference for speakers. We were working on his speaker kit at the time. He took samples of his materials so he could show them off at the conference. We discussed the fact that this was an opportunity for him to refer business to me. He was prepared with the tools to do so easily.

These are just a few ideas to help you improve your referral IQ. I’d love to hear your ideas for giving and receiving referrals.