Question for you, how often do you use current clients to get new clients? The answer should be often.
The first thing we think of when it comes to using existing clients are referrals, which is a great place to start. However, as Dale Carnegie Training has noted, 91% of customers say they would happily give referrals, but only 11% of salespeople actually ask for them.
Let me ask another question. Why would you not ask for referrals?
The only thing I can think of is pure laziness. Not only should you be asking current customers for referrals, you should be finding ways to incentivize your clients to do so.
I’ve written before about a seller I knew that would go into his customer’s offices and hold his cell phone up and video them answering the question, “Why do you like working with me?” Then, he would go in to new prospects and play the video talking about how much his clients enjoy working with him and the results he has produced. He’d float his current client a few extra spots or some tickets and in 5 minutes he had a new tool in his tool belt.
Asking for referrals should be something you do with any client that renews. If they’ve run a campaign with you and it was at least successful enough for the client to want to continue doing business with you a second time, clearly they are fairly happy. This is a good time to ask if they know of any other decision makers who might benefit from taking a meeting with you.
Now, if any names are given, you have a warm lead to call on that will have at least one person telling them it has worked for their business. Plus, think about the hidden benefit of getting a referral from a client – aren’t they now more likely to continue doing business with you when they’ve started to have you reach out to other people they know?
In addition to referrals, there’s another way to use current clients to gain new business. I assume most of us do this often, but simply telling one client about the success you’ve had with other clients, or better yet, other clients within the same vertical, can go a long way.
Back before we had any way of attributing success from radio campaigns, I’d often have conversations with prospects that would take them down a road of realizing how many clients we have on the air that are seemingly always on with us. If they say they listen to the station, I’d ask if they could name any of our regular clients. Usually a few are mentioned and then I would have some others I would specifically ask about. Once we established there are quite a few “regulars” that advertise with us, I’d ask something along the lines of, “Why do you think these companies continue to do business with us?” That’s when a moment of reality can hit and they realize these companies wouldn’t continue buying ads or digital or sponsoring events, if it wasn’t helping them grow their business.
Referrals and success stories are two of the absolute best ways to reel in new business. People want to be in good company and feel comfortable with what they’re buying. Getting a call from someone they know and trust about the success the’re having and/or hearing about other businesses in their industry that are having success are two ways to get a prospect feeling more at ease. But just like getting the order, you have to be willing to ask. Be in that 11% and immediately elevate yourself above 89% of your lazy counterparts.
Dave Greene is the Chief Media Officer for Barrett Media. His background includes over 25 years in media and content creation. A former sports talk host and play-by-play broadcaster, Dave transitioned to station and sales management, co-founded and created a monthly sports publication and led an ownership group as the operating partner. He has managed stations and sales teams for Townsquare Media, Cumulus Media and Audacy. Upon leaving broadcast media he co-founded Podcast Heat, a sports and entertainment podcasting network specializing in pro wrestling nostalgia. To interact, find him on Twitter @mr_podcasting. You can also reach him by email at Dave@BarrettMedia.com.
