Leverage Your Process for More Referrals and Introductions

Would you like to get referrals without even asking for them?  Would you like to get referrals much sooner in your new client relationships?  If so, then you need to think “process” over “products.”  Just selling a product or signing someone up will make you some money, but it’s unlikely to make your referable and create word of mouth … at least not quickly in the new relationship.

A New Economy?

In their book The Experience Economy, Joseph Pine and James Gilmore examine what it takes to create word of mouth—what it takes to get your clients telling others about you. And to make their point, they use the metaphor of coffee beans. It goes something like this:

If I were to travel to South America and buy a pound of fresh picked coffee beans, it would cost me about 25 to 90 cents a pound.  Coffee beans are a commodity.  If I went into a grocery store here in the states, a pound of coffee grounds would cost me about $6to $12per pound, depending upon the brand and part of the country.  Coffee grounds are goods.  If I purchased a cup of coffee in a diner, I would be paying about $90 per pound of beans.  Brewed coffee is a service.  Then there’s Starbucks.  Starbucks is an experience.

The premise behind Starbucks was to recreate the Italian coffee experience in North America. I think everyone will agree that Starbucks has been wildly successful.  Commodities are interchangeable. Goods are tangible. Services are intangible. Most financial professionals play on the level of goods and services. You talk about the products you sell, and you talk about the service you provide.  Nothing wrong with that.  Those are important topics.  However, you’re missing opportunities to create word of mouth if you don’t deal on the level of experiences.  Experiences are memorable.  Experiences hit the emotional side of the brain that helps with the buying decision, stimulates word of mouth, and generates referrals.

And Your Process Is?

Do you have a clearly defined process through which you put most of your new prospects and clients?  Do you help them think big-picture?  Do you educate them?  Do you get them thinking in ways they haven’t thought before? Do you question their assumptions? Do you lead them to make the right decisions and stop procrastinating?  Do you use the same process virtually every time, or do you wing it?

Take a moment to think about the process you put your prospects and clients through from the instant you first contact them all the way through to when they become a client and beyond. Are you creating “memorable experiences?” Are you giving your prospects and clients something to talk about?

Leveraging Your Process

Here are five steps that will ensure you get the most out of your process, to make sure your clients are happy, and to generate word of mouth:

• Have a clearly defined process that is repeatable, and be clear on how your clients benefit.

• Name your process.  When you name your process, it becomes yours. No one else has your process. Clients can only get this process from you. This is a way to distinguish yourself in this crowded marketplace.

• Illustrate your process with graphic design on paper. This brings your process to life. It helps you explain your process to your clients and centers of influence.

• Communicate to prospects, clients, and centers of influence why/how your process is beneficial.  Get in the habit of talking about your process on a regular basis.

• Bring it to life with stories, anecdotes, and case studies. Remember that you can’t give specific numbers of performance, but you can talk about the peace of mind, goal setting, and other benefits of your work.

So, if you want to become referable quickly in your relationships, and remain referable throughout, your new mantra is “process over products.”  A good process will lead to many product sales, over and over again, throughout your relationships.