As we all know, the ideal referral is one that has been pre-sold before you call. They are hot and to buy from you because your 'referrer' has already done your selling job for you.

Yes, those kinds of referrals are magic -- but they are also very limited, because they're HARD to DRAG OUT of your existing clients.

Why?

Because most times your clients are uncomfortable recommending your full services. What if the friend they refer you to pays you a lot of money ... for NO results?

Then how would your 'referrer' feel? (Awful. They'd hate you and themselves.)

So why not ask for a referral which is much easier for your client to give?

Ask them to let you know if any of their business associates and friends would like to receive a

FREE GIFT

The Free Gift is an audio CD or a Special Report or tip booklet filled with excellent advice -- or a free evaluation tool they can use to calculate their Return on Investment.

Now your clients aren't being asked to recommend a potentially disastrous, money-losing proposition.

Instead they are simply providing their friends and business associates with a valuable resource, that comes free, without obligation and without pressure.

Between the two types of referrals, which do you think your clients will be more willing to provide you?

The BEST Free Gift to give is an Information Product. The best information product is probably an audio cd or tape to play in the car. The speaker talks about a problem which your prospect also has, and then talks about a solution in general terms -- then suggests that they contact YOU to talk over their SPECIFIC problem.

A Special Report or Case study, or a DVD can also work, using the same formula -- Problem ... General Solution ... contact you for Specific Solution.

We prefer to use a CD because it is more likely to be listened to (while your prospect is commuting) than a report or DVD being looked at. CDs are also quick to produce and cheap to duplicate.

You can have several CDs ready to send, each one describing a different problem, with a different general solution ... but ALL end with the suggestion to call you to talk over a specific cure for your prospect's specific need.

With this referral method you have removed all of the concerns and obstacles for your client, and opened the doors to unlimited opportunities for converting those referred prospects into future customers.

By offering a Free Gift, you can get names from the most suspicious of clients -- and go back and ask for more names again, and again. You're doing everybody a FAVOUR.

Your present clients provide you with lists of 'suspects' ... some of which your Free Tools turn into 'prospects' ... then into 'expects' who buy from you.

And THOSE new clients then give you a NEW list of 'suspects' to whom you can send your lead generating CDs and tip booklets ......

So that you create a never-ending supply of sales leads to follow and never have to cold call again.

Note: The Quality of these referrals is not as good as those which you get from the 'classic' referral method that asks for the name of a person you can approach to give your sales pitch.

But by asking for a much less threatening referral, you will gather far more names. And you DON'T need to give your client a sales talk on why they should (reluctantly) hand over the names of their friends so that you can start aggressively selling to them.

Instead, you can gather these referrals with a quick phone call or even a letter. (You'll get a much poorer response to a letter, but you'll get NO response to a letter which asks for a 'standard' referral).

Article Source: http://www.mykidsinheritance.com/articles

Roy has sold ad space, trained and managed ad space sales executives for over 20 years. The adsalespeople web site has been helping with advice, encouragement and sales tools for over eight years. It's at: www.adsalespeople.com

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