Ask for the referral: "Mr. Prospect, if you like what we've put together, I'd appreciate your recommending me to your family, friends and business associates. Can you suggest anyone that I should give a call?" Then, you take out your pen and wait. This technique works, but it's wish-and-a-prayer stuff. From the prospect's point of view, there's no strong reason to give you a referral. After all, he just bought something. That should be enough.
Do something with your prospect. Do something that motivates them want to tell others about you. Golfing is an perfect example. This works, but it takes a major investment of time.
Give them a gift -Virtually every successful agent gives his best clients gifts around Christmas. There's an entire industry that has built up around the gift-giving needs of agents--diaries, calendars, books on family values. Back in the 70's the Life Insurance industry produced a book about family values. It was widely used by Million Dollar Round Table Agents to start discussions on family values, but it was expensive to give, and many copies of the book were never opened by clients.
Offer to give them a membership to a web site if they like what they see. - This is a winner. Even if your prospect or customer doesn't want the membership, they'll remember that you offered to give it to them. If do they like what they see, they'll remember you every time they log in. And, people talk about websites. They discuss what they do on them, and they tell their friends and family.
Imagine this: "Bill, I just wanted to tell you that my kids loved that web site you told us about yesterday. Jenna helped Little Billy draw a picture and put it in an e-book. Dawn really liked the book about monsters. She feel asleep for the first time in two months without having to turn on the flashlight. I really appreciate your giving us a subscription to it. By the way, our friend Marsha Greene stopped by yesterday while Dawn was listening to the book on monsters and she asked me how I found the site. I told her that you gave us a free subscription, and she said 'That's the kind of insurance agent I want. She asked me to give you her number. Got a pencil? It's . . . ."
Assuming that you like the idea of giving a membership to a web site, what type of site should you select? If you're also a licensed broker, you could give them a membership to a site where they can research or trade stocks. If you're bread and butter is families and estate planning, a site that is useful for families is a good choice.
You'll also want to keep costs down: Find a site that has a high perceived value that allows you to give a deep discount.
How to offer the subscription: Don't just give it. Give it value. Say something like this, "Harriet, I'd like to give you a membership to one of my favorite websites. Here's the URL. If you like what you see, don't buy anything. Call me, and I'll set up an account for you. Better yet, ask them to look at the website while you are speaking with them. Then, when they say they like it, tell them it would be your pleasure to set up an account in their name for a year.
After you offer the subscription: Follow up. Now, you have something besides insurance to discuss. If they like the site, you can even offer to buy a membership for some of their friends, family and business associates. Ask them who they know who would enjoy the site. The referrals will come.
Alan Jordan has written hundreds of magazine articles, six business books and several children's books. He is also the creator of http://www.LetsBeCreative.org which offers quality content for children in written, audio, audio-visual formats. The site offers free content, plus much more for an annual membership of $20. Businesspeople may buy bulk subscriptions to the site for as little as $1 by clicking on the Gifts menu item or writing to gifts@letsbecreative.org Your gift has a perceived value of $20.
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