The Power of Asking for Specific Referrals

I don’t know about you but I’ve tried all sorts of approaches in order to get better quality referrals. And, I must admit that I’ve not always had the results I’ve been looking for.

Then I learnt to the power of specificity. I noticed that some people were getting a lot more referrals even though they were asking for some bizarre contacts. Just over a week ago, one of my fellow BRE (Business Referral Exchange) members in South Birmingham, Richard, asked for a referral that was beyond bizarre. Richard is a director of a tool-manufacturing firm. His firm made a one-off product for a veterinary dentist – a tooth-file for horses!

At this particular meeting, Richard wanted to market these horse tooth-files to more veterinary dentists. So he said something similar to this:

“Who do you know who can introduce me to a horse dentist?”

Now let me tell you this much about Birmingham - she is not known for her equestrian heritage. Therefore, you could imagine how surprised I was when Richard received four quality referrals. Moreover, on the following week, another member, Peter, actually found another veterinary dentist who was willing to meet Richard. How bizarre!

So, here’s something to chew on. What’s your million-dollar referral? How long have you been holding back on asking because you thought there was no chance that you would get any referral?

Want to find out more about how you can boost your business referrals, then why not book yourself for the Referral Sales Summit on Tuesday 27th June 2006 in Birmingham, UK?