How to encourage referrals when the work you do isn’t super remarkable
Not all work is flashy. Some work just isn’t super remarkable. And that’s okay. To be clear, I’m not saying the work you do isn’t impressive. It often is impressive. It just doesn’t always get significant numbers of people talking about it for one reason or another.
This includes B2B services companies, especially the likes of tech services (e.g. software development, industrial automation, engineering design/development, …).
You’re often behind the scenes:
- making things work,
- improving efficiency,
- supporting product development.
It doesn’t mean the things you do aren’t useful, or important, or valuable. Quite the opposite.
It just means people don’t naturally shout from the rooftop the impressive (and often grueling) work you’ve done for them.
A few main reasons:
- the personalities of your clients tend to be more subdued / introverted,
- the sometimes-sensitive nature of the work you’ve done for them,
- or simply that they don’t know that others have a need that you can help with.
Actively seeking referrals is hard. And in this scenario, it’s even harder. You don’t want to push on a rope. You can only hope to encourage.
Some food for thought…..
Three steps to actively encourage referrals:
- Recognize the trigger
- Position yourself (prepare) to encourage a referral
- Plant the seed with a conversation
Keep in mind that a referral can be external (from one company to another) or internal (from one group or division to another group or division within a single company).
Recognizing the referral trigger
So how do you know when it makes sense to encourage a referral?
Here are 4 scenarios you’re likely to come across. When you recognize them, you have the potential to encourage a referral (without being annoying).
- They’re impressed by what you’ve accomplished for them
- They switch companies
- They want to help a peer/friend
- They’re an influencer
They’re impressed by what you’ve accomplished for them
When you do a truly bang-up job AND your client has expressed it to you, you’ve got an opportunity to encourage a referral.
I don’t mean that they give you solid feedback, and I don’t mean that you just know you’ve done great work for them. You might know it, but if they don’t believe it, and they’re not saying it, it doesn’t count.
Conversely, if you don’t think you did a particularly amazing job, but they do, that still counts.
In other words, they’ve told you, in an unpressured setting, with direct language that they truly appreciate what you’ve accomplished for them. They’ll tend to use words like: “impressive” and “in awe” and “that’s amazing”.
Given that sort of language, they’ll feel compelled to connect you with others that need help. But just because they feel compelled to refer you to others, doesn’t mean they know who to connect you with, or how to do so.
What does that mean for you?
It means you need to help them help you.
You should be prepared to succinctly share with them the information they need to make a connection.
They switch companies
People switch companies…. a lot.
In order for this to be relevant, the person that recently switched companies has to trust you enough to believe that you’re most likely going to make them look good. They aren’t going to stick their neck out for you otherwise, especially when they’re new.
Company-switching is a good argument for connecting with people in ways that don’t get cut off when they switch companies (e.g. LinkedIn).
Here’s what you want to keep in mind: while they knew you from their past company, they also knew how you could help them through that old lens.
You may be able to do similar types of work for them that you did in the past, but there also may be new opportunities to help them in ways that they don’t even know about. Keep that in mind as you engage them.
So, how do you encourage a referral in this scenario?
If you have a solid relationship, do you have a way to connect with them in the future if they left the company?
Once they do make the switch, do some up-front research / analysis on how you think you can help in their new environment.
Assuming you’ve had a natural relationship all along (in other words, don’t bother if you’ve not interacted with them in the past 2 years or more), encourage a conversation. Be direct about your motivation.
Don’t assume your research told you everything you need to know. Assume that it probably didn’t. Use what you learned as probing points to dig deeper into what’s not available online.
As topics come up that align with ways you can help, make sure they’re aware of that reality, and ask if there’s anything you can do to help. Be ready with supporting evidence that you can in fact help in these ways. If you’ve got a decent website, you should be well-positioned with starting points.
Timing does matter. You want to give them enough time to settle in, but not so much time that they’ve already gone off in a different direction without considering your company.
They want to help a peer or friend
I don’t think there’s a ton you can do in this scenario. You can plant a seed, but you have almost no control over the timing (the peer/friend does).
There are lots of people out there that encourage top-of-mind nurturing campaigns (I philosophically disagree with the word “campaign”, but that’s what people tend to call them). I’m not saying this tactic can’t work, but I think it’s a LOT of work to do it well, and I think it’s the sort of thing that’s better suited to companies with more than ~100 employees, or those that do things that support larger numbers of customers. Staying top-of-mind requires a certain cadence because you’re trying to push information asynchronously to when it may be of interest.
Having said that, you can plant a seed if you want to give it a shot and the timing feels right. Don’t force the conversation, but rather keep it in mind and infuse it into an organic conversation.
Something you can do to position yourself is to make sure your website has the right supporting / validation information on it so that if someone is referred to you and they check out your site, it’s obvious to them that you can help.
They’re an influencer
I don’t mean the social media kind, although if you’re doing work for that kind of influencer, that could work as well.
I mean:
- Are they good at (and enjoy) showing / explaining to others what’s been accomplished?
- Are they not afraid to cross corporate boundaries?
- Are they well-respected?
- Do they know a lot of people?
- Are they a champion of your company?
If so, then you may have someone you can actively work with to encourage referrals.
Feel them out over time. Under what conditions would they be interested in connecting you with others that need your help?
Positioning yourself / preparing to encourage a referral
Once you understand the trigger you’re working with, but before you try to have a conversation, you want to be ready to succinctly share:
- What your ideal customer looks like
- How you can help
- How they can connect you
What your ideal customer looks like
For whatever that means for your company. This is likely some combination of:
- What they do as a company
- Problems they experience
- Role(s)
- Industry vertical(s)
- Company size range
- Geography
You need to distill this. Don’t give them a page of info and expect them to digest it. Simplify it for them, and make it specific to what they’re likely to care about. They don’t need to know all the segments you can possibly help. Share examples of specific companies that you’d be interested in connecting with.
How you can help
How you can help depends on:
- what the company does, and
- needs that you’re trying to get referred for.
This is where a solid understanding of your niches, and corresponding website content come into play. Be ready with links to relevant pages on your site.
How to connect you
Keep it simple. If they have a need, just have them introduce you as someone who might be able to help them. That’s it. Nothing complicated.
They don’t need to sell for you.
They’re doing enough selling simply by making the connection. They’re transferring trust in your direction.
Planting the referral seed with a conversation
Deciding when and how to initiate is very nuanced and situational. You have to be able to read the room.
In general, lean toward infusing the topic of referrals into a larger conversation that you’re already having naturally with your client / customer. It’s more likely to flow more organically as opposed to a dedicated referral conversation.
When you’re in a conversation with your client, be ready for this as one of your topics. Be authentic and vulnerable.
Something to the effect of:
- Would you be comfortable connecting me with people that you think we could help?
- Does anyone come to mind off the top of your head?
- Is there anything I can share with you to make it easier to connect me?
- Do you feel like you have a good sense of what our ideal customers look like? If not I can succinctly define them for you if you’d like?
- Would it be helpful for me to make your life easier by sharing a draft of some wording you can use to make a connection if someone does come to mind?
So now what?
Now that your awareness is heightened, create a short list of (~10) people that come to mind that fit these scenarios. Is the timing right for any of them? Is there content you need to create? Do you need to add clarity to your website?
Feel free to reach out if you’d like to chat.
