About this episode…

You’ve likely purchased a product or used a service based on the opinion of a trusted friend or colleague. And in most cases, individuals who are happy with someone they worked with or something they purchased will share that information—whether in a one-on-one conversation or en masse via social media.

And the reality is that such “referrals” work! The data collected in countless surveys reveals that, on average, 90% of individuals feel more confident in working with someone who was recommended. Plus, they are nearly twice as likely to “convert” to clients and have a 30 to 40% higher retention rate than customers gained by other means, such as cold calling or advertising.

While the stats tell us that asking trusted clients to refer us is the right thing to do, many feel uncomfortable or simply do not attempt to do so because they really don’t know how.

So how do you turn the tables and get clients to refer or make those introductions for you?

To answer that question and much more, we invited Bill Cates, the foremost expert in the art and science of acquiring new clients through referrals and personal introductions.

As the president of Referral Coach International and the founder of The Cates Academy for Relationship Marketing™, Bill has helped financial advisors move from incremental growth to exponential growth by communicating more compelling value and multiplying their best clients by accessing the power of referrals.

In this episode with Louis Diamond, Bill shares his best tips to create your own referral process, including:

• What it really takes to get referrals—and how to make you and your firm “more referable.”
• Getting over feeling uncomfortable when asking for referrals—and how to keep the focus on the client.
• The value of your client-facing “why”—and how that can be the real game-changer in your referral process.
• Turning a referral into an introduction—and the script that Bill suggests you learn and tailor to your business.

Thousands of financial advisors are using Bill’s Relationship Marketing System™ to enhance client engagement, create more effective personal introductions, and communicate more relevant and compelling value. Plus, Bill has not only coached some of the most successful advisors in our industry, he is also a coach to our team at Diamond Consultants.

As Bill shares, success comes from adding value. And it’s that value that will help to drive introductions – not just referrals – to potential clients in a way that is both natural and effective.

As a side note, we found Bill’s training to be extraordinary and I’m sure you will, too—so be sure to listen in.