How to Get Referrals: It’s as Simple as Asking

Getting referrals is the absolute key to long term growth and stability in your insurance agency. Referrals are the life blood of the most successful agencies and the best part is: All you have to do is ask.

The idea of asking for a referral may sound freighting, but it’s a very rare occurrence that a customer actually gets upset. You are probably fearful that you may offend them or come across as an over aggressive sales person. From my past experience I would estimate 95% of the time I have received very positive results from asking clients.

The key to referrals is you need to understand who you are talking to. You will need to adjust your style of speech, your demeanor, show your gratefulness and appreciation of their business, and reaffirm that you are the best solution for their insurance needs. That may sound more difficult then it really is, but I promise I can show you in a few easy steps how to build referrals.

Show Them You Are Grateful to Have them as a Client

Thank you customers for their business consistently. Your clients will appreciate a card, a friendly email, a small gift, or even gift certificate from time to time. These don’t need to be large gifts since they are truly unexpected and clients will greatly appreciate you going above and beyond what is necessary.

By showing your clients that you appreciate them, it will make asking for referrals much easier. They will be more inclined to tell their family and friends about your services. Also, never forget to thank a client for a referral! Even if it’s a couple people down the line from the original referral, you still wouldn’t have gotten that referral had it not been for the original customer who passed your name on. Sending a gift or gift card is an appropriate response for a referral that results in a sale. If it doesn’t result in a sale, a card, phone call, or letter will do just fine. Either way, your clients will appreciate your thank you.

Also, always make sure they know how valuable you are to their safety and financial security. Its not uncommon for an insurance client to wonder: “Why do I pay all this money for IF and MAYBE?”. Make sure your clients understand what you are doing for them, why it is so important that they be insured, and how you are trying your hardest to save them money. In the end, you will find your clients will stay with you longer, shop around less, and call you fewer times for customer support and billing questions.

Matching the Style of Conversation

When you are on the phone or in person, which are the perfect times to ask for referrals, always make sure to match the tone, pace, and overall behavior of the person you are talking to. If they are quick and professional, it may not be the best time to approach them. If they take their time and talk in a soft personal tone, then match their tone and casually ask if they know anyone who could use your services. Whatever the overall demeanor of the person is at that time, you need to try your best to match it and make them feel comfortable.

The worst thing you can do is come across as impersonal and money hungry. Always maintain a personal and caring tone in your communications with clients, unless a strict business language is appropriate such as when someone is 60 days late on a bill for example. Coming across as a human being may be more difficult then it sounds, since the bottom line is, you are a business person trying to make a profit off of them.

Don’t Risk it

This rule applies to a whole range of situations. First off, if they are one of your best clients and have a large policy with you, do not practice your referral asking techniques on them. While they may seem like the obvious choice since you probably have a solid relationship with them, they would also be the worst client for you to lose. Practice your referral asking techniques on new clients, small clients, or clients that you don’t particularly like.

Once someone has sent you the first referral, then you can consider them a safe choice to ask for more. However, you still need to be cautious or avoid your top end clients until you have established a long trusting relationship with them, or until they have sent multiple referrals.

Second, use your better judgment before sending out referral letters, cards, etc… to all of your clients. This may seem like the catchall approach to asking for referrals, but you need to know who you are asking before you ask.

Face to Face Referrals are the Best

If you have the luxury of meeting most of your clients in person, use this to your advantage for referrals. When meeting with a client, you have a wonderful opportunity to tell them how much you appreciate their business. Use this time to reiterate that if they have any friends or family looking for insurance, to please send them your information.

Conclusion

The simplest rule to remember is that if the situation doesn’t feel right to solicit referrals, don’t bring it up and don’t mention it in your communications. Follow my tips from above and asking referrals will be simple and pain free.

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