Issue 6: Put Yourself in Your Client’s Shoes

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I sometimes think that if we all just spent a day in our client’s or our referrer’s shoes we’d improve our ability to win business 100%.
 
Here’s a case in point:
 
A couple of weeks ago I was doing a talk for a local professional body on "How to thrive in a downturn". Before the talk I was approached by someone who introduced himself as a financial advisor. I passed a casual comment that there weren’t many financial advisors in the audience, but a lot of bankers. The next words out of his mouth were: "do you think you’ll be able to pass me some business?"
 
What on earth was he thinking?
 
Under what possible circumstances would I refer people I know over a sensitive matter like their finances to someone I’ve only known 30 seconds?
 
To make matters worse, when I asked him what was special about him that I should refer work to him above all the other financial advisors I know, his answer was "Oh, good question. I dunno really. I guess I give a better service".
 
Well, if that doesn’t convince you…
 
So what should he have done?
 
If we ask someone for a referral we need to understand exactly what’s going on in their head when we ask. And we need to know what will go on in the head of the person they refer us to if and when they do so.
 
Now it’s sometimes hard to put yourself fully into the perspective of a client. We’re a funny bunch us professionals – they way we think and act is often very different to the ways our clients think and act. But with a referrer it’s usually a bit easier. Often they’re a quite a bit like us. We’re a lawyer and they’re an accountant. We’re marketing consultants and they’re executive coaches.
 
So let’s do that for a minute. Grab a piece of paper and ask yourself the following question:
 
Imagine someone has asked you to refer them to someone you know. What would make you more likely to give them a strong referral?
 
Think about it for 5 minutes and write your answers down. Really. You’ll get better results than if you just give it a minutes thought and try to remember what you thought of
 
If you’re like most professionals, your list will probably look something like the following:
 
You’re more likely to give a strong referral when:
  • You have a positive relationship with the supplier – you like them
  • You have confidence in their capabilities – you know they’ll do a good job
  • You trust that they will act in the best interests of the people you refer them to
  • You can see that their service is really needed by the people you’re referring them to
  • You don’t have to work too hard to give the referral (i.e. you don’t have to remember tons of details about the referrers business or think too hard yourself about who you should refer to)
  • There’s the possibility of reciprocation – perhaps a referral passed back to you in the future
  • There’s the possibility of some other form of incentive – perhaps a referral fee if appropriate
Here’s the obvious follow-up: for the people you ask for referrals (or would like to) – how many of those factors are in place?
 
By thinking through this list, we can get guidance on who we should be asking for referrals, and how and when to best do it.
 
For example, do the people you ask for referrals really know enough about you and your track record to refer you with confidence? Giving you a referral to people they know well is a high risk activity. They’re putting their relationship on the line. If you screw up, their reputation will suffer too.
 
Maybe you need to do more to "prove" to them how good you are. If it’s a current client you’re asking for a referral you need to wait until you’ve delivered something of value to them and they’re more than happy with your work.
 
If it’s a partner you know from business networking or social events, then some of it can come from the interactions you have with them when you meet. You may mention recent client cases for example. But it’s often quite difficult to get your competence across in words – after all, you would say you were good, wouldn’t you. It may be better to find a way to showcase your expertise. Invite them to an event where you’re speaking for example, or introduce them to one of your delighted clients.
 
What about your intent? Referrers need to know you will do everything you can to help the people they refer you to and that you’re not just in it to make a quick buck from referrals. How can you get that perception of ethics and client focus across to them? At minimum you need to avoid making the derogatory remarks about clients that some professionals sometimes make to seem "macho".
 
One of the most overlooked factors is helping your referrers to recognise when people they know actually need your services. What are the externally visible signs they should look out for? What are the "trigger events" that precede a need for your services? For example, a rapidly growing company may soon outgrow it’s one-man-band accountant and be a good introduction for a medium sized firm. A recent takeover may trigger the need for HR consultants to deal with the restructuring that follows.
 
You can go through a similar exercise to identify what a potential client would need to see before accepting and acting upon a referral given to them. So for example, they need to trust the referrer and believe they are a credible source of information in the relevant field (someone is far more likely to listen to a referral for a painter and decorator given by a builder than by an accountant for example).
 
Putting yourself in your client’s and your referral partner’s shoes like this can give real insights to help you identify who you should be asking for referrals from, and help you ask for those referrals in a way that’s much more likely to be successful.
 
This is one of the exercises I’ll be helping participants at the More Referrals, More Business Workshop with in detail. When I’ve done it in the past it’s often resulted in a real mindset shift that’s helped participants make big gains in the number and quality of referrals they get.
 
At minimum, it avoids them coming across like the financial advisor who spoke to me.

Recommended Resource: The Pomodoro Technique

If you’re anything like me, you’re constantly juggling priorities
and deadlines and struggling to keep on top of a ton of key activities.

And since starting my own business, I’ve found that there are many
more things that need my personal attention – and no PA or team to
delegate to.

So I’ve found that my personal productivity has become critical to my business success.

I’ve recently discovered a simple method for becoming more productive – especially with creative tasks like writing, or strategy development or product creation – the Pomodoro Technique.
 
It’s based around attacking tasks in short 25 minute bursts of activity – and isolating yourself from interruptions like email and the phone during those bursts. It gets it’s name from the use of a simple kitchen timer (those funny tomato shaped ones) to manage the timekeeping.
 
The technique is documented in a free book available at www.pomodorotechnique.com
 
It’s well worth looking into if you want to get more out of your time, and especially if you need to engage in creative work.

Quick Tip: Secure commitments while you’re in the room

That’s a fancy title for an almost embarrassingly simple tip.
 
If you’ve been on any of my consultative selling training courses you’ll know that the most important step before any client meeting is to identify a "commitment objective" or "advance" that you aim to achieve in the meeting. This could be an actual sale, or it could be an agreement from the person you’re meeting to introduce you to the Economic Buyer for your service, or it could be a follow-up meeting to jointly agree the details of your proposal.
 
Whatever it is, you must plan it in advance, and design the structure of the meeting to make sure your potential client is provided with everything they need to know and feel to be comfortable agreeing to that commitment.
 
But what I find an awful lot of professionals do – especially when the commitment is to a follow-up meeting – is fail to actually ask for the commitment in the meeting.
 

It’s particularly important if the client has asked you to do something like write a proposal. You must get an agreement to review it with them in person. If you can’t get that agreement then your chances of them buying from you are pretty slim.

The absolutely best time to ask for a commitment to the meeting is when you’re with them face to face. Yet so many people forget. Perhaps they’re so flushed with the excitement of being asked for proposal, or they just didn’t plan for it. They agree to doing the proposal, the meeting closes, and they leave.
 
Later they realise that they can’t do a winning proposal without the client’s further involvement. So they try calling and emailing and struggle to get through. When they eventually do, the client most often says "Don’t worry, just send me a copy and I’ll look it over. It doesn’t have to be perfect". So they send the proposal in, it isn’t quite what the client was looking for, they don’t feel a sense of ownership, and thewhole thing kind of fizzles out.
 
It’s far, far better to ask for the follow-up meeting when you’re face-to-face with the potential client:
  1. It’s harder to turn someone down face to-face
  2. You’ve built up a degree of rapport in the meeting
  3. They’ve just asked you for a favour when they’ve asked for a proposal – so they’re likely to reciprocate by agreeing to a meeting

Leave it until later and you’ve lost the rapport, they’ve lost the sense they’re asking for a favour, and it’s much easier to turn someone down over email.

 
So you must make sure you ask for your commitment when you’re face to face.
 
That’s it for this month. December’s edition will come out just before New Year – but I won’t hold it against you if you leave it until you return to work before reading it.
 
Have a relaxing holiday
 

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