Ask These 15 Questions to Get Referrals

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Your best clients love you. Even better, your loyal clients love you. They want to help you succeed. They don’t know how. The first step is letting them know you are taking on new clients.

You might tell them: “I want to work with nice people. I want more clients like you.” This can get the creative juices flowing for generating referrals.

Some people are born salespeople. Others are really bad at selling. Imagine the scenario. A client tells a friend they should do business with you. The friend asks: “Why?” They reply, “My advisor is looking for new clients. I thought I would ask you.”

The friend, realizing there are no “benefits to the prospect” says something like: “Are you hustling for them? How much do you get paid for each new client you bring in?” They are ashamed, embarrassed and upset and decide never to do this again.

Your client needs some prompting and training. They don’t need to do all the heavy lifting themselves. If they come up with names, that might be enough. They might bring the two of you together, get the friend to call, introduce you personally or somehow take that next step.

There are many ways to prompt clients to suggest referrals and inspire them to look for situations where you can help. To get the ideas flowing, here are some questions you can ask.