Friday, August 13, 2010

Referrals – May WE Contact YOU?

Another great tip from Dan Sullivan of Strategic Coach.

He tells me that he issues a sheet of paper and asks attendees to draw five circles; in each circle they are to write the name of one of their colleagues who, they think, might benefit from Dan’s program

Then he asks if they’d mind writing THEIR name on the sheet of paper and handing it in.

Note that at this point we have six names, that’s all. No email addresses, no phone numbers, no incriminating information.

Of course Dan has your contact details.

The question is “May we contact YOU to discuss these colleagues with YOU”, not “May we contact your colleagues?”.

Spot the difference?



Who wants to subject one’s colleagues to a flurry of unsolicited sales calls? Not me.

Who would be willing to help Dan out with a bit of background information? Me!

During the follow-up call, the salesman already knows that each of the five names is a potential sale, and he also knows that each of he colleagues is probably a close fit to your profile.

It becomes quite easy then to build up a warm picture of each colleague, and the sales pitch, in the end, is ‘They seem like a good fit; may we contact them?”.

No contact has yet been made; all we have is permission to contact them at a later date.

Meanwhile you are most likely to contact them and tell them what has transpired, so they are pre-warned and pre-warmed when the follow-up call does arrive, and there’s little time waste din beating the bush for details; the essential stuff is already known.

I’ve not attended one of Dan’s seminars yet.

But I think I’ll register for his next freebie – in Toronto, ON September 15, 2010 8:30 a.m.–11:00 a.m.

Talk to Me!

No comments: