1.  Do homework/research in your company to find out which of your existing clients gives you referrals on a regular basis. Make a list of these clients. Find at least 5 to start with. This may take you some work if you have never done it but persist until you come up with at least 5.
2.  Prioritize this list based on which client refers you the most prospects.
3.  Starting with your top referring client do the following:

a)  Immediately send them an acknowledgment/award for being your top referring client.  This can be flowers, gift card, cake or anything that would make this particular client feel very well acknowledged. Note: You can contact their assistant or receptionist to let them know you would like to acknowledge their boss and find out what the client really likes and does not like.

b)  After the acknowledgment is sent, check to ensure that the client received it and that they are very pleased with it.

c)  Set an appointment to meet with the client with the purpose to strengthen your partnership with them. Up to this point, they may not have realized they are your partner and this action will strengthen this idea. When possible this meeting should be done in person. Lunch or coffee works very well for this type of meeting. In the case where the client is not local to you, a phone appointment will work as well.

d)  In the meeting, your purpose is to strengthen the partnership. This starts with a survey to find out what is it about your company products and/or services that causes the client to actively refer prospects to you. Make sure to take very good notes of this information. As a Quality Control point, also find out if there is anything the client feels that needs to be changed or improved about your products or services.

e)  Look for any way possible to strengthen what you find out in “d” above. In fact, you can ask the client “Is there anything you feel my company should do that would strengthen our partnership and cause you to provide additional referrals?” Ensure to take very good notes of this.

f)  Based on what you find out, write a simple follow-up plan that will strengthen the partnership based on the information the client has told you. Make sure that you actively follow up on all of the points in your plan.

g)  Keep the client informed of all the results you have achieved as you complete the plan.

h)  Follow the 8 steps you have learned from the Webcast “How to Properly Take Care of Client Referrals.”

4.  Take the next client from your prioritized list and follow the same steps in point #3 of this exercise.  Do this for the top 5 referring clients and continue this pattern for all clients that refer you prospects on a regular basis. This becomes part of your “Partner” program.
Having a Partner Program will help you to create & strengthen relationships with your existing clients that last a lifetime. This is a vital part of your success in Sales and Business.
Nick Terrenzi
Senior Partner
SELLability – The Pro Sales Network
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