A discussion about sales, sales tips and advice, and about those who land the deal

We're talking to sales expert Bob Burg, who is the author of "Endless Referrals", about creating sales leads through referrals. 

We just finished talking with him about sales professionals who make excuses about not working hard to get referrals from their customers and prospects.  Read the two-part interview over at TopLeadGenerators by clicking here.

Our next question for Bob: "Why are referrals such a good source of leads for sales professionals?"

"While I’d like to say, 'Let me count the ways’ and list all of them, let’s take just a real quick few.

 

1. Referred prospects are easier to set the appointment with. (Why? Because you’re going in on a borrowed “trust” factor.)

    

2. With referred prospects, price is less of an issue (Why? Because you’re going in on a borrowed “trust” factor.)

    

3. With a referred prospect, it’s easier to close the sale/complete the transaction. (Why? Well, I think you know by now) J.

    

4. You are automatically positioned as a “referral-based salesperson.” (In other words, referred prospects are already trained; they’re already of the mindset that that’s how you do business. That you are worthy of referrals. That you are the type of person who works by referrals. That is your method of operation. It’s simply what you do; you work via referrals. After all, that’s how he or she met you. So providing you with referrals at the end of your presentation seems only natural to them. When this is the case there will be much less hesitation on their part, much less reluctance to refer you. I believe this benefit might just be the biggest benefit of all of a referral-based business.)
5. A referral builds the loyalty of the person who gave you the referral, thus they will continue to do so. (Why? Because of what experimental social psychologist and bestselling author Robert Cialdini, in his book, Influence: Science and Practice, call, “The Law of Consistency.” This Law says that, "Once we make a choice or take a stand, we will encounter personal and interpersonal pressures to behave consistently with that commitment. Those pressures will cause us to respond in ways that justify our earlier decision.” The author continues, “We simply convince ourselves that we have made the right choice and, no doubt, feel better about our decision. It is, quite simply, our desire to be (and to appear) consistent with what we have already done." Of course, as professional salespeople, we have to work to continually earn those feelings toward us.)
6.  The additional time you’ll now have with which to work. (Why? When your business is dependent upon always having to prospect for new business, you’re spending the majority of your time taking actions that do not directly result in making money. Indirectly, they might, but not directly. With a strong referral business, you cut out much of the “grunt work” and constantly, and consistently be positioned around prospects who desire to do business with you and desire to refer you to others. Isn’t that a much nicer way to work?)

And yet, we sales professionals repeatedly fail to put referrals as a top priority in our daily sales duties.

Great advice, Bob.  Thank you for your insights!

We'll be talking to Bob throughout this weekend and next week, so check here and over at TopLeadGenerators for more of Burg's insights and wisdom.