Small Business Coaching on 4 Ways to Generate Qualified Referrals

By Allison Babb

Whether you join a networking group or you're trying to get your clients to refer others to you, one thing's for sure, when the referrals show up, you want them to be qualified referrals.

Let's face it, it's great when more people show up to do business with us, but it's also disappointing when you we out that they're not really your ideal prospect.

So what are some strategies for generating qualified referrals so that when they show up, you're both thrilled to have found each other and the referral is eager to do business with you.

Get clear on who you want:  The very first step would be to get clear on who you want as a referral.  For example, if you are a CPA, and you ask others to send referrals to you, how do you describe your ideal referral?  The description has to be so clear that the person referring others to you can easily identify who you're looking for.  So instead of saying "Anyone looking for a CPA" it may be clearer to describe the specific person and also the problem you solve for them.  For example, "Solo entrepreneurs who are struggling with their business accounting."

Make it easy to refer:  In my opinion, one of the easiest ways to have someone refer to you is to have something that you offer for free.  It's much easier to tell someone to "Hey, I just had the best experience with my CPA, and she has a free consultation/free report/free tip sheet on … that's really valuable.  You can get it by…"   If the referral shows up to get the free offer, they're obviously interested in your topic or area of expertise which qualifies them for your services.

Connect with someone who has your clients:  For example, a photographer can collaborate with a bridal store and send referrals to each other.  You're providing very different services but to the same type of client.  The bride/groom shopping at a bridal store is also in the market for a photographer.  So when you refer business to each other, the referrals are very qualified.

Make it systematic:  There are several ways to generate referrals for your business and there's one key to getting qualified referrals consistently.  That is to make it systematic.  Making it systematic means creating a process within your business flow that is tied to generating referrals.  There can be more than one system as well, depending on the ways in which your clients come through your business. 

So, for example, a house-cleaning business can send a thank you card to their client and the card also suggests or asks for a referral.  It's systematic because it happens reliably upon completion of a service or, say, every 3 months.  And you can even add an incentive such as $20 referral bonus or discount for each referral received.  Or you can send the same referral coupon out each time you invoice a client – again, making it systematic.

If you enjoyed this article, you'll love Allison's client-generating products to help you get a steady stream of new clients and a more repeatable/predictable (and growing!) income month after month!