Sometimes hard problems CAN have easy answers.
Well, “simple” perhaps, because it requires effort and work.
Sometimes, as an Account Executive or Business Development Rep, the grind of prospecting and pipelining new opportunities made me feel like Fred Baker from those old Dunkin’ Donuts commercials where he zombies about saying, “Time to make the donuts.”
No one day is ever like the next in sales but having a disciplined sales practice does make calls meetings, and prospecting rather routine. Being a person that needs some creativity in my life and a way to “shake things up,” I’d often tire of a regimented sales process (I know, that seems counterintuitive to what I teach, but each person has to have their own “selling mix” too).
When I was having a rough patch or particularly tired of the relentless pursuit, I would ramp up my referral efforts.
Asking for referrals should be part of your regular sales process but like everyone, sometimes I didn’t prioritize working for referrals and introductions and needed to circle back to double down on referrals.
Here are some “simple” guides to helping you UP your sales referral game:
Sales Expert Amy Franko gives you a 3 step plan to build your Referral Plan Network in her blog post.
She elaborates on these three steps –
- Leverage LinkedIn
- Create a Loyal Client Network
- Create a Peer Network
The Queen of Referrals, Joanne Black shows you how to heat up sales results in this post –
- Make them a priority
- Consistently ask for them (referrals) in your sales process
And lastly, in this post (and video), there are TWO things you need to do to prepare for and ask for referrals … you’ve got to click the link to see what those two things are!
If you’re feeling like your New Business Development efforts are a little stale, perk them by plucking up your referral game.
Until next time, stop hoping and start SELLING!
-sks
