Add value by communicating that you work by referral on your voicemail
I was reading in Paul McCord’s Creating a Million-Dollar-a-Year Sales Income: Sales Success through Client Referrals
He illustrates that there are 2 main benefits to your clients when you work primarily with referred clients:
- Because you do no have to spend as much time looking for new customers, you can better meet your client’s needs, and
- You have more time to keep up with changes and innovations in your specific industry, which means you can serve your customers better by offering the most up-to-date solutions.
This is an enriched perspective on referrals, which are typically thought of as primarily benefiting the person receiving them. However, this view articulates the added value the client him- or herself receives, beyond simply the delivery of the product or service.
I don’t think I’ve run into any business or sales professional who doesn’t believe they mostly work on referral. Unfortunately, many of them cannot produce specific numbers to show that this is true. Nor do they have a clearly-defined process for receiving (and giving!) referrals, except what may be mandated by one of the formal networking groups out there, like BNI or LeTips.
As a point of entry, Paul McCord says that the professional who really does generate significant income from referrals needs to “be the part” by consistently educating and reminding clients the value they add to them by working primarily by referral. On page 65, he offers a checklist of basic business communications where, “as you change them to reflect your new referral-based business model,” you can check them off.
One of those communication channels is your office and cell phone messages. Paul McCord (page 59) offers a specific way to do this to reflect this additional value you offer your clients.
I’m duplicating the example here:
Hello, this is ____________ and today is (date); I’m either on the other line or meeting with a client. My clients and the referrals they send me are my most important assets, and I take great pride in my professionalism and their confidence in me. I’ll return your call today between ________ and ______ or ______ and ______. If you’re a new referred client, please leave your name, your number, the best time to return your call, and the name of the person who referred you. If you’re a client calling to refer someone, please leave his or her name and number and I’ll contact him or her today at one of the aforementioned times. Thank you.”
What do you think of this approach?
(photo credit: Mary Gaston, CC BY-SA 2.0)
