Ask any small business owner who’s trying to grow their business, and they will tell you that they’ve got two main goals: make more money, and get more clients. While there’s many ways to do both of those things, one of the most effective ways to get more clients, make more money, and keep them around a long time, is to work on securing more referrals.

Referrals are often tough for small business owners though. There’s 3 main common reasons why referrals are the last thought of part of the plan, but coincidently, there is also 3 solutions to these problems.

It Feels Sleazy

I get it – small business owners hate sales. They love what they do, they’re technicians of their craft, but when it comes to asking people for a sale, it’s like water to oil. They’d rather not ask at all, and spend more money, time, energy, and effort trying to come up with other ways to bring more clients in.

Instead, take your favourite clients out for coffee. You can identify who these best clients are by making a list of the ones who spend the most money with you, but are also the most enjoyable to work with. That crossover of traits is just the type of people we want more of within our business.

When you take them out for coffee, simply ask them: “Hey Jane, you know — I really enjoy working with you, and you’ve had such great results. You’ve come so far in the time we’ve been working together, and I’m really inspired by how dedicated you are to this. Is there anyone else in your family, or any of your close friends that could use our help getting started, just like you did?”

When the question is genuinely asked like this, from the perspective of showing the client what a VIP they are, there’s nothing sales-y about it. It’s simply — you rock, you’ve done great things, you’re a great person, and I want to help more people just like you. I don’t know about you, but I’d feel great if someone told me that type of thing!

If they have a name they’d like to pass on, fantastic. Invite them to open up a 3-way text chat, or to call the person right then and there. Try not to let the conversation end without getting contact information for this person, as that severely decreases the chance of this conversation ever coming to fruition.

Don’t Know Who To Ask

Besides using your best clients as your first markers, all of your other clients will also have opportunities for people within their networks that could use your help. We just need to find them.

Create yourself a master list of all your current clients that you’re working with. Next to each name, start to list details about their family, their friends, where they work, and what they like to do outside of your business.

Inside of this list, you’ll start to identify where there might be some great opportunities to strike up a conversation about. You might notice that a family member is one that they routinely are talking about, and now all they need is an invitation. This would be considered a hot opportunity, so time to act!

You want this conversation to appear as natural as possible, so simply just do that – strike up a conversation with your client. When the time is right, lead into talking about the person of interest. This will open up the conversation and an opportunity to provide an invitation to bring them along.

If I owned a spa, and my client was always talking about her sister who loves going for facials, I would start the conversation asking questions about her sister. Then, when the time is right, I’d simply ask: “Jane, you mentioned a few weeks ago that your sister was down south for the last few months. Why don’t you invite her along to your next appointment, and we can do a sister facial session, and freshen up her skin after the long winter abroad?” Now you have an opportunity to meat a new prospect, all from a conversation.

They Don’t Give The Contact Information

This is a common problem when asking for referrals. Sometimes, the clients don’t want to seem rude, so they might mention that they have a person who’s interested, but not surrender their contact information. That’s okay — it doesn’t mean the opportunity is completely lost.

Follow this protocol for following up with the conversation after you part ways:

• Later that day, send a message.
• The next 2-3 days, send a message.
• The following week, send a message.
• The following 14 days, send a message.
• In 30 days, send one last message.

It doesn’t need to be a message that makes you uncomfortable to send. It can be something quick – “Hey Jane, did you get a chance to chat with your friend? I have a space tomorrow that I can set aside for you both if you want to come in together! It’d be super fun, what do you think?”

Remember – your attitude on this will show through. If you’re scared, nervous, or you’re projecting your own feelings about following up on the potential lead, your client will be able to see that. Your job here is to solve their problems, and that means you need to take the first step – talking to them. If you wait for the client to initiate everything, you’re playing a passive game, and that’ll leave you frustrated and broke.

Referrals don’t need to be a tedious thing. They need to be tracked, strategically planned, and genuinely executed. Your clients love what you do, and they already talk about you to their friends and family. By providing them an opportunity to bring their favourite people along, you’re strengthening the relationships you have with your clients, and getting new opportunities to help more people along the way.

That’s a win-win.

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