Most people make this common mistake because they have only ever been trained to look at customers for Referrals.

Of course we can get referrals from existing customers, especially when we do a great job. Most people fundamentally like to help and are only too happy to speak well of us.

These clients, however, although readily available are not often the best or most reliable sources of regular high quality referrals.

They are primarily interested with their own businesses and because they are our clients they would prefer if we focused on them otherwise we are generating a conflict of interest. Surely we should be focusing on their needs rather than asking for referrals.

Hence, our referrals from these individuals are often left to chance and can we build our business on chance?

Therefore, asking for referrals from existing clients is often an awkward and unreliable process.

Some people proactively try to get referrals from new customers.  Most of us at some point will recall an individual who, during our fist meeting has requested 3 or 4 of our friends whom we would refer them to. Personally I find this a bit shocking.

So they want me to refer them to my network ( people I have built up my reputation with over years ) and I do not know if they are any good at what they do  In fact our entire relationship so far has been them trying to sell me their products. I suggest they prove to me they are good at what they do first.

While not a true referral ( in fact it gives referral marketing a bad name )  it is possible to find referrals for cash or “introducers fees “. On an ethical level this is not something I agree with at all and in fact it makes business sense not to do it.  Individuals who are often clients are incentivized with cash for referrals. Yes this can provide referrals, but an individual who is motivated by money will not necessarily be referring you a caliber client.

A truly effective referral partnership will only see referrals handed over when the prospect is proved to be of the required quality, pre- filtered, ready to buy and prepared to deal with only you rather than your competition. Yes it’s possible! When clients are referred in this manner we become more efficient with our time. We waste less time with prospects that are not serious who we have to “sell to” and more time with clients ‘ready to buy”

Prospects referred for cash will rarely be filtered because the “introducer” is simply “throwing mud at the wall” hoping some will stick. They do not care about how much time you are wasting only about their fee.

The best sources in the long run are actually people to whom you refer business ( because they are good at what they do ). When you help another business person to get business or hit their business goals you are in fact cultivating a business relationship. You are motivating someone to help you.

If this individual shares your target market i.e. you have similar clients but you are not competitors you have perhaps found someone who could be encouraged to build a reciprocal referral relationship.  When they get business there is every chance it’s also business for you and visa versa.

With a well developed business referral network you can potentially get more highly qualified referrals from one or two Referral Sources than all your customers combined.

Why? often these professionals are better sales people then your clients and they will often spend more time in front of your prospects then your current client base. The secret is to ensure you educate your partners on how to refer you, what make as good referral, how to assess the needs of the prospect, how to introduce you into the equation and then provide a testimonial and introduction to you.

This may appear a lot of work on the face of it but then if you are also doing it for them how much time will you save in the long run?

Is it possible to be a client and Referral partner?  Absolutely this is the best of both worlds.

Ultimately, you can get referrals from existing customers just make sure you keep their interest at heart and keep them happy. Bad word of mouth travels much faster than good word of mouth.

Someone who is happy with your service will normally tell about 3 people.

Someone who is unhappy with your service will normally tell about 11 people each of these in turn will tell another 3 each.  This becomes a ratio of 3:33  . In fact in this day and age with social media the “bad” experiences can be much more visible than this reaching the hundreds of thousands for the really annoyed customer

If you must ask your existing clients for Referrals at least ask how you can also help them so it becomes reciprocal and you can help them get business also.

For busting other networking myths checkout “Truth or Delusion” by Dr Ivan Misner, Mike Macedonio and Mike Garrison