The Prospecting Professor: Getting Referrals

April 21, 2006

Getting Referrals

Miriam Lawrence, of Automatic Referrals, has a good post on how to get "back-door" referrals. In the same vein, here is a note that can be used...whereby your client can contact a potential referred prospect.

This note can be especially effective using email. Here is how it might work. The client sends an email to the referred prospect...and copies you on the email. You wait a few days, no longer than a week, and contact the referred person by email directly, asking them if you might call them on the phone. In this conversation, you will make initial introductions and set up a face-to-face meeting.

Here's the body of the note:

Dear Prospect:

This is just a note to introduce Miriam Lawrence who will be getting in touch with you soon.

Miriam has done some work for me in the investment and insurance areas.

Certainly, neither Miriam nor I are assuming that you would be in the market for her services; however, I felt very positive about my experience with her, so I would like to introduce the two of you.

Probably, like me, you are not eager to talk to another person in this business, but in this case it might be well worth your time to make an exception.

Best regards,

Of course, this doesn't always work. Emails are very easy to ignore...especially when the referred prospect is a busy-type who might be getting 100+ emails daily already. In that case, a handwritten note may be more memorable and effective.

How many handwritten letters did you get today?