June 2, 2008

The Referral Guide Sheet

Educate people on how to send you referrals.

Do you know what kind of clients you most enjoy working with? Don’t say, “But, I can help everyone!” That may be true, but it doesn’t make it easy for the people you know to send you business if you don't articulate who you work with a bit more concretely.

Here's a simple solution.

Write a ONE PAGE guide on how to send you referrals. Call it "How to Refer YOUR NAME." In it write the following things:

Start the document with someone like this (I lifted this off my own referral guide sheet - feel free to use it or adapt it to your liking):

I treasure your referrals. If they are anything like you, I would love to work with them, and are most likely the people I would work well with.

I have found that a prospective client who is referred to me is more prepared to appreciate the value that I can offer and is very satisfied with the results I provide. Because of that, I will happily offer you a special thank you gift (You can describe your referral gift here if you prefer, such as two movie tickets, dinner for two, etc…. I don't because I customize my gift for each person) for every qualified referral you send my way.

Please use this hand out as a guide when you refer me to your colleagues and friends.

Then describe three easy-to-remember types of CLIENT SITUATIONS (problems and challenges) which you can solve and that your referral partners can easily identify.
Tell them the most effective way to refer you clients: IE - send them to your website, call you directly, sign up for your monthly class or whatever works best for you and your business.
Include how you’ll follow-up with their referrals so they can rest assured that you will take good care of their friends and colleagues.
Also consider adding that you're available for speaking engagments as an alternative way to refer you and your services and list one or two of your favorite topics to speak on, if this is appropriate to your business model, as another way to introduce you to their network.
And don't forget to include your contact information

Give this to people who have expressed interest in supporting your business growth - past clients, current clients, friends and colleagues. Don't send them out in a mass mailing. Hand them out as you go along when the time is right. I give them to clients as we wrap up our work together, when a friend or colleague asks me what's new in my business or when meeting with a potential networking partner.

This is a very simple, low-tech marketing material piece but it really works to make it easier for others to help you grow your business. When people like your work they want you to succeed and will be grateful for a step-by-step guideline for how they can best do this.

To your success,

Karin

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Filed under Blog, Materials that Work, Resources, Words That Work by Karin