Will This Stack Get You More Referrals?

Alston

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I started 2017 in a lot of pain. Financially.

It was the kind of pain that predicts birth, growth or death. I lost 80% of my income due to bureaucratic changes in Connecticut's HIX.

I decided I didn't want to buy a black suit, say a few prayers and throw dirt over a business I birthed then nurtured for so long.

I put on my big boy pants and started pushing the big rock up the hill.

I put my shoulder on it and pushed. Then I pushed harder. The boulder barely moved. I got the message.

It was clear, 80% is too much to replace by simply working harder or longer.

So, I immersed myself in study. I read more business and marketing books in 2017 than I did in the previous decade.

After a lot study and after a lot of trial and error, I "stopped the bleeding" in November when I put the capstone on a multi-step process that generates high quality leads for Medigap and MAPD in the quantity I needed.

So, I'm shifting my focus for 2018.

The low hanging fruit is now in my "After Unit."

(This is Dean Jackson's term for what you do after the initial sale to turn a customer into a client into a fan.)

One of the books I read is Influence by Robert Cialdini. (It's also available on Audible.) He covers 6 principles of persuasion.

One principle is consistency.

You may have been trained to ask your prospect questions they are likely to say "yes" to before the close. The purpose is to get them in the habit of saying "yes" before you ask for the order. This takes advantage of the consistency principle.

If you ask a client for a drink of water near the beginning of your presentation, she or he may be more inclined to buy from you at the end of your presentation.

Cialdini did a couple of studies to test the consistency principle.

He asked subjects to rate whether they were good citizens or not on a scale of one to ten. Most rated themselves highly. (Who wouldn't?)

Then he asked them if they were likely to vote in the next election, most said "yes" because they were impelled to be consistent.

However, when he asked the same questions in reverse order, fewer people said they planned to vote.

(And fewer voted.)

So here is my stack (FYI it's untested):

Almost immediately post sale, shortly after my "thank you call" my client will get an emailed survey asking them to rate me on three metrics on a scale of 1 to 10. (Try SurveyMonkey: The World’s Most Popular Free Online Survey Tool )

They just bought, so to be consistent with that recent action, they have to rate me highly.

Then a week later, they will get a request to write a review for me on FB or the BBB.

Consistency principle in action again.

Then I'll send them a thank you note with a $10 Amazon gift certificate.

A month later, I'll leverage reciprocity (another of the 6 principles) and consistency.

I'll call them and thank them for the review. Then I'll ask them if they have any unanswered questions or concerns about their policy. I'll repeat the question until they say "no."

This is the right thing to do. Their questions and concerns should be answered first. It also is another "gift" so reciprocity comes in to play again.

Then I'll doorknob close them by asking for a referral before I hang up.

I'd love to hear if this works for you.

I think for most of us the "after unit" is the part of the business we give the least thought to. Most of us focus on getting leads and getting new customers. So, I think this is the low hanging fruit for most of us.

Do you have an "after unit: process you are willing to share?
 
You earn referrals during pre-sale, during the sale and post-sale. If you focus on generating referrals by only focusing on post sale, you are likely leaving so many opportunities on the table. Paying $10 Amazon coupon also will really alter what type of referrals you will get. In my opinion, it poisons the well.

My referral process starts from day 0. When a name and number comes to me( I have worked 100 percent in referrals and introductions for years), my objective is to make a sale, yes I have bills to pay, but also to generate 2 to 3 quality referrals/introductions per year in the next 10 years. If I just make a sale, and collect a commission but get zero referrals or loose out future business, that means I got a C+ in my business. So I am constantly trying to figure out what small part of my process I can improve on during pre-sale and during the sale. You can also reverse engineer this. Look at the sales you received a referral. Why did refer them to you. There is no shortage of insurance agents in CT? You have to figure out what parts of the business you exceled at. Go ask clients why they referred business to you. You will start to see patterns.

I am also pretty analytical. I believe each prospect of mine will eventually die and on average 150 to 200 people will attend their funeral. So if I can get 20% of that people on that future funeral list, which is really 2 or 3 names over the 10 years.
 
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I'm not trying to start anything with this-just curious because it doesn't seem achievable.

You expect any given customer to generate 2-3 referrals per year?
 
Yes, and I get more than that. However, you have to account for people who are simply not likeable. You can generate as many referrals as you want out of unlikeable people it wont lead to much success. And some people no matter what you do, simply will not refer people. There is nothing you can do with these folks. However this gets balanced out by folks who like to help you if they like you. Some will give 10 or 20 a year.

By the way, my math means that for any one client I will only reach 20% of the people who will show up for their future funeral in 10 years. In baseball terms, thats batting 0.200. Is it easy, no way, but setting the mindset is very important. I am no different than a pro athlete when it comes to mindset for referrals.
 
Thank you for the perspectives. It helps me see in concrete terms what the processes of referrals and relationships mean to a good salesperson.
 
I've never understood asking for referrals before you have shown you can provide value. Of course, I've never understood people who will give referrals before they know who you are.

I have no way to track it other then personal experience, but I assume the quality of the referrals goes up tremendously after the sale or at least after they understand what problems you can solve for them. Just getting referrals isn't worthwhile unless they fit in somehow.

Surveys are an interesting tool. Personally, I think they are over done but yet, I understand the need for them. If they are done to help you improve, they are great. If they are done to help you sell more, then they are a bad idea. Yes, it is easy to tell the difference.

Alston - Your process though, is awesome. Having a process, staying in touch, nurturing your clients and prospects is hard work but it pays off in the long run. So many people don't have a process in place for this type of thing. Those that do tend to drop the ball pretty quickly on making it happen. Sounds like you've got a plan and are moving forward.

Dan
 
a multi-step process that generates high quality leads for Medigap and MAPD in the quantity I needed.

Seems like you were looking for a few volunteers to test your leads. I raised my hand. Figured maybe you changed your mind.

Glad to know it is working for you.

Paying $10 Amazon coupon also will really alter what type of referrals you will get. In my opinion, it poisons the well.

I agree.

Any kind of cash incentive seems to be counter-productive.

I've never understood asking for referrals before you have shown you can provide value. Of course, I've never understood people who will give referrals before they know who you are.

Agree with this as well.

I have never specifically asked for a referral but the sig line in all my emails starts with "Referrals are ALWAYS appreciated"

I get quite a few every year without overtly asking. Not 2+ per client, but enough to keep my wife happy.

When I started in the life insurance business about 100 years ago I was taught to press hard for 25 "referrals" with every sit . . . whether I got the sale or not. Some folks actually gave me names even though they did not buy.

Always thought that was odd.

And FWIW I never sold any of those referrals either.

Dan is right. Alston has developed an incredible follow up system that is apparently working for him. Congratulations!
 
Paying $10 Amazon coupon also will really alter what type of referrals you will get. In my opinion, it poisons the well.

I made that mistake before.

Now I don't mention the gift when I ask for referrals or reviews. I just send it with the thank you note.

I think it works well that way. People don't feel bribed, they just feel appreciated.
 
Seems like you were looking for a few volunteers to test your leads. I raised my hand. Figured maybe you changed your mind.

Glad to know it is working for you.

Thanks.

I haven't forgotten about those who volunteered to be beta-testers.

I'm just not quite ready to roll it out to other states and other states.

I recently realized how much of the content will need to be rewritten for other states and for other agents who sell less MAPD and will want more focus on Supplements.

A big part of the system is my daily emails. I need to be able to write them in a way that allows them to be easily edited to suit each agent's preferences. I originally thought all I'd need to do is swap out the contact information.

I never planned to roll it out before this month. I knew I'd be so busy with the AEP and the OEP. Connecticut's OEP didn't end until 12/22.

(Yeah, I'm still selling individual health. I hope to stop soon.)

I hope to reach out to you in February.

See my response to walthamny re the incentives.
 
Surveys are an interesting tool. Personally, I think they are over done but yet, I understand the need for them. If they are done to help you improve, they are great. If they are done to help you sell more, then they are a bad idea. Yes, it is easy to tell the difference.

Dan

I recently read an old Harvard Business Review article that said that one survey question could predict the growth of a company. The tried variations of the question on several different industries and almost always found their refer-ability metric was highest in the companies that would have the most growth.

The question was something like: How likely are you to recommend company X to a friend?

They called the metric something like "net refer-ability"

It was the ratio of those who love the company - answered 8 through 10 on a scale verses those who answered 1 through 3. (Don't quote me on the exact numbers.)

I'm still testing this, but I'm reasonably confident that if I use surveys sparingly, and in concert with other "touches" I can make them work. They'll get DM, lumpy mail and phone calls and most will be email subscribers.
 
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