How to maximise the successful outcome of your referrals

If you’re like me, receiving a third party referral can be a bit of a mixed blessing because following up on the referral can be a bit nerve-racking. It’s not supposed to be, but…
A proper referral should be a warmed up business opportunity, but in my experience it can go either way – the person is either warmed up and ready for your call, or, you can almost hear the frown in their voice after you introduce yourself. After some prompting they may mumble something about ‘seeming to recall so-and-so saying something about it’.
The last kind of call is hard work and usually a waste of time… or is it? I think it depends on the attitude you take into the call. Let me explain…
This morning I had three referrals to follow-up and I was starting to get that nervous feeling as old, and less than pleasant, memories of other referral calls re-surfaced to cloud my mood.
But for some reason I took a conscious decision to change my attitude and not be prejudiced by past experience. I decided I would smile when I talked (at the very least) and I would make a real effort to be pleasant and even humorous.
My advantage was that while the person I was calling was a stranger to me, and visa versa, we both had the person who referred me in common, and I could make use of that somehow.
When I made the first call I smiled and sat straight up and said ‘good morning’ in a bright and breezy voice. I told her who had referred me and said: “I see Jason’s done a great design for you? Do you like it? Jason tells me you’re now looking for some great copy and promotions to complement the design?”
It worked! She was friendly back. A successful call.
The second person was more guarded – even in the face of my ‘charm’ – so I felt a bit deflated, but pushed on regardless. My persistence paid off because she laughed at the end (I don’t think it was because she was glad to get rid of me). Another success.
During the third and final call I said something like: “I’m the communications consultant that Mark has foisted on you…” Immediately the other person responded with a laugh. You could hear he knew about my call but, more importantly, was excited and enjoying life himself. A third successful call.
I was astounded!
The lesson was simple.
Make an effort to have fun. Enjoy the call. Like the people you’re going to be speaking to. The end result was three out of three.