3 Reasons Salespeople Don’t Get Referrals (And How to Change That!)

I love to buy.

That may sound like a weird statement coming from a guy but it’s the truth.

I like buying clothes, gadgets, and anything Apple. I am also happy to pay for great services.

I love having a professional house cleaner, an amazing mechanic and a very knowledgeable hair stylist.

That being said, I regularly see a serious gap in almost all of my buying experiences: Nobody asks for the sale behind the sale.

What is “the sale behind the sale”? It is the coveted and seemingly elusive referral.

Here is a crazy stat for you: According to QuickLinkt Solutions, 72 percent of marketers don’t leverage referrals.

That’s insane!

If you want get better at winning the sale behind the sale, start with these three tips…

1. Thinking Too Small

Simply stated, the salesperson gets so excited about making the sale that is right in front of him or her, asking for a referral is not even on their radar.

Every person you know or sell to knows at least 10 people who want or need what you are selling.

Don’t depend solely on online marketing to always bring in the customers.

Be the marketing!

2. Lack of Confidence

I sense that salespeople feel as though they are overstepping the relationship if they ask for a referral.

If a salesperson actually does ask for a referral, they do it with a tone and manner which sends this unspoken message:

“Gosh, I hope I am not bothering you with this and if I am, forget that I even asked.”

I could do a whole rant on this one. People don’t want to buy from someone who doesn’t have confidence and they certainly won’t want to refer friends and family either to such a person either.

Why should you have confidence when asking for referrals? Here are a few reasons:

• They just bought from you so their emotional altitude is high and people like sharing that high.

• You earned it. If you have a customer who is purchasing and you provided a fantastic experience and a great product, you flat out deserve to ask.

• According to Texas Tech, 83% of satisfied customers are willing to refer people to you! That means that eight out of every 10 customers will gladly send referrals your way.

3. Poor Communication

Typically, referrals get asked for with a question that sounds like this:

“Do you know anyone who is looking for a ________ (new car, home, landscaper, etc.)?”

That is actually a difficult question for customers to answer and you’re making them work too hard!

Instead, your referral question should contain these elements.

• Start your referral question with, “Who do you know that…?” This automatically causes your current customer to access their internal friends and family list.

• Next, ask your customer to identify people who are dealing with pain points that your product or service solves.

Here are some examples:

“Who do you know that complains about their house being outdated or is dreading going through a remodel?”

“Who do you know that feels like they are getting ripped off by money grubbing mechanics?”

“Who do you know that wishes they had a trustworthy house cleaner?”

People love helping other people. So rather than ask who you can sell your product to, ask who is having problems that you can help solve.

And remember, people don’t talk about what they want as much as they like to complain about what they currently have.

Your job is to leverage those complaints into referrals!

Once you ask for the referral, set a follow-up call to allow your customer time to think. I recommend giving them at least two days and then make sure you follow up with them on the request!

If you know a salesperson who recently complained about a lack of good leads, please share this with them so you can change their world. (See what I did there?)