Seth Godin Understands how to Get Referrals

Up until now, whenever I’ve mentioned Seth Godin, it’s been to take him to task on the subject of the “Death of Selling”. Today, Seth made lots of sense with his post on Getting Referrals.  I’ve also written a post on getting referrals.

Now that you’ve read both of those posts, here are three important tips to keep in mind:

1.  If  your salespeople aren’t comfortable asking for a referral, ask them if they’d be more comfortable making cold calls.

2. When asking for referrals, never allow your salespeople to actually “ask” for referrals.  Instead, have them ask, “who in your circle of friends, might need my help?”

3. If your salespeople have gone through the trouble of asking, make sure they get introduced or else the referral won’t know who they are.  When that happens they are still making a cold call.