The Referral Process–Step 4

Over the past few weeks, I’ve been explaining the easy, eight-step referral process in increments. Today I will be going over step 4 and if you’d like to review the previous steps I’ve already covered, simply click on each of the following links:  step 1, step 2, and step 3.

• Step 4.  Meet with the Referral

Now comes the move you’ve been waiting for: your first meeting. You might close the deal on your first call, but it’s unlikely.  Instead, you’re probably going to be getting acquainted with your potential new customer and gathering information to help you prepare a proposal. Now, what if you could get your referral source to go along?  That would make it a real powerhouse meeting.  It would add to your credibility and instantly deepen your relationship with the prospect.

If you do close the deal at your first meeting, you might think the referral process is over, but in fact it’s just started. Before you start turning cartwheels on your way out of the building, call your referral source, tell her what a great referral it was, and thank her for it.  Then, when you’re back in your office, set your “thank you for the referral program” in motion.

If you don’t currently have a “thank you for the referral program,” you’ll need to create one right away because thanking your referral sources is extremely important if you want to ensure that they keep sending referrals your way.  To learn more about referral incentives for your sources, you can check out a couple of blogs I wrote on the topic:  “Simple Recognition Is Sometimes the Best Reward” and “A Win-Win Way to Reward Referral Sources.”

If you’re interested in learning  more about the easy, eight-step referral process, be sure to check back next week because I’ll be explaining steps 5, 6, and 7.