I know referrals work. You just have to get them from the right people. In this episode, I am sharing three ways to get high quality referrals that will help you build your sales pipeline.
Ask Your Happy Customers
- The most common way to generate referrals is by reaching out to customers who are thrilled with your service and asking for an introduction to their network.
- Here is the surprising part. While 90 percent of customers say they are willing to refer others, only 11 percent of salespeople actually ask.
- If you are not asking, you are leaving opportunities on the table.
Request Referrals from Non Buyers
- Do not overlook the conversations that do not end in a sale.
- Even when someone tells you no, that does not mean the relationship is over. It is still perfectly reasonable to ask if they know someone who is dealing with the challenges your product solves.
- When you position it around helping others, the request feels natural and value focused.
Leverage LinkedIn Connections
- You can also take a more proactive approach by using tools like LinkedIn Sales Navigator.
- Look at your customers’ first degree connections and identify people who match your ideal client profile. Then ask for a specific introduction.
- This method takes more effort, but when you are intentional about who you want to meet, the results can be powerful.
"Your goal is to get them to be able to be your evangelists." — Donald Kelly
Resources
Keep track of your sales activity and boost your results with the Prospect Pro sales tool.
Join the LinkedIn Prospecting Course to improve how you use LinkedIn and book more consistent, high-quality sales appointments.
Visit Blue Mango Studios for help in creating podcast production content.
Sponsorship Offers
- This episode is brought to you in part by Hubspot.
With HubSpot sales hubs, your data tools and teams join a single platform to close deals and turn prospects into pipelines. Try it for yourself at hubspot.com/sales.
- This episode is brought to you in part by LinkedIn.
Are you tired of prospective clients not responding to your emails? Sign up for a free 60-day trial of LinkedIn Sales Navigator at linkedin.com/tse.
- This episode is brought to you in part by the TSE Sales Foundation.
Improve your connection on LinkedIn and land three or five appointments with our LinkedIn prospecting course. Go to the salesevangelist.com/linkedin.
Credits
As one of our podcast listeners, we value your opinion and always want to improve the quality of our show. Complete our two-minute survey here: thesalesevangelist.com/survey. We’d love for you to join us for our next episodes by tuning in on Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, Stitcher, or Spotify. Audio provided by Free SFX, Soundstripe, and Bensound. Other songs used in the episodes are as follows: The Organ Grinder written by Bradley Jay Hill, performed by Bright Seed, and produced by Brightseed and Hill.
The Sales Evangelist