The Referral Code

Unlock a Constant Stream of Business Through the Power of Your Relationships

Larry Pinci, Phil Glosserman

• Publisher: Morgan James Publishing
• Year: 2010
• ISBN:
  9781600379239
• Topic: Betriebswirtschaft
• Subtopic: Marketing
• Index: Marketing

Learn to leverage your existing relationships to connect with potential new customers and clients using the easy-to-implement strategies in this book. While many companies allocate significant resources to marketing and advertising, referrals are the easiest, most effective path to more business and greater income. Unfortunately, many people underutilize this powerful asset because they misunderstand the referral game and lack a system for generating warm business leads. Providing great service or products is simply not enough to motivate most people to refer you. Without an effective referral system, you are missing out on business and income that could be yours. The Referral Code shows you exactly what it takes to receive a constant stream of qualified referrals through your existing relationships. You'll learn how to: * Have people refer you, happily, willingly, and more often
* Avoid the 3 biggest mistakes that sabotage referrals
* Receive referrals that are warmed up and expecting your call
* Attract referrals regardless of the current market conditions
* And more " The Referral Code lays out a simple, highly effective system for motivating your clients, friends and associates to connect you with the people they know who need what you offer." —DanielH. Pink, author of Drive

Chapter 1

feet to the fire

Click, click, click, click, CLICK, CLICK. Debby instantly recognized the sound of Jennifer’s heels echoing down the hallway as she approached her office from the conference room. Her footsteps were brisk and pounding. Debby knew that could mean only one thing: Jennifer was fit to be tied—again.

“Hold all my calls, Debby,” Jennifer barked as she slammed her office door shut. Catching herself, Jennifer opened the door, forced a smile, and added, “please,” then closed the door again.

Debby had become all-too-familiar with Jennifer’s outbursts. They began a month earlier, when the company, in the midst of a major reorganization, brought on a new executive VP of sales.

Inside her office, Jennifer closed her eyes, clenched her fists, and swallowed the expletive she felt like screaming.

The last 18 months had been nearly picture-perfect. She had met and married the man of her dreams, moved into a beautiful townhouse, and taken a promising new job as a senior account executive at PITS, short for Pacific Information Technology Solutions. She loved her job at PITS, that is, until a month ago, when she met Roger Needleman, the new head of Sales. Since then, Jennifer’s attitude had spiraled downward. In private moments she had started referring to the company as ‘the pits.’

Jennifer was an accomplished salesperson with nine years’ experience in high tech. She was smart, great with people, and had a salty edge that often caused her to be dubbed as one of the boys. Jennifer was a closer. When she met with a prospect, chances were good that she’d leave with a sale under her belt.

Jennifer never had to work to find prospects. Her previous two companies provided her with qualified leads; Jennifer simply reeled in the catch. When PITS recruited Jennifer a year ago, she inherited 16 accounts, most of which were in the mortgage industry. In exchange for a very comfortable livelihood, all she had to do was service, renew, and up-sell her existing accounts, and land new service agreements with their subsidiaries. Piece of cake!

Then the mortgage industry took a nosedive. Five of her accounts were acquired by larger companies, who quickly cut back on expenses by bringing their IT services in-house. Two other accounts went out of business. Four of her clients downsized and cut back on services. For the first time in her career, Jennifer’s pipeline was draining.

Needless to say, PITS sales were down—way down. The company was in trouble, and rumors of impending cutbacks and layoffs circulated daily. In an attempt to turn things around, the board of directors shuffled the deckchairs in the executive suite. They recruited Roger Needleman, a tough, authoritarian, old-school sales exec from the industrial maintenance industry, of all places. Roger was from Texas and had spent the last fifteen years driving a sales force to cold call their way into manufacturers and sell them service contracts for industrial equipment.

Jennifer had a bad feeling about Roger when she read his bio in the companywide email announcing his appointment as executive vice president of sales. The manufacturing and high-tech industries were worlds apart. The bio referred to Roger as ‘hard-driving.’ Jennifer thought, I have plenty of drive myself, thank you—I don’t need some Texan industrial equipment jockey telling me how to run my show!

Her worst fears were confirmed in a meeting when Roger was introduced to the company. He gave a tough-talking speech, warning employees not to get too comfortable, and to get ready for change. He promised to ‘hold the sales department’s feet to the fire.’ What a way to inspire the troops, Jennifer thought.

The troops didn’t like it either. In secret bitch-sessions behind closed doors, they gossiped and speculated about how ‘Old Needlenose’ might hold their feet to the fire. They talked of updating their résumés and jumping ship, if only the economy were in better shape.

Jennifer sat in her office silently recounting today’s sales meeting. Roger had rolled out his strategic plan to save PITS. He talked and talked and put all kinds of numbers and graphs on the whiteboard. At the end of the day, Roger’s grand plan could be summarized in two words: cold calling. He expected every sales rep to make 75 cold calls a week and turn in weekly call sheets.

Until now, enforced cold calling was not a part of the company’s culture. Judging from the looks in the room, no one was happy with the new plan.

Roger bellowed out, “I’m a big believer in accountability. The numbers never lie. We’ll soon separate the performers from the non-performers. Tough times call for tough measures. Those who aren’t with the program may not be around for the company Christmas party, heh-heh-heh.”

Jennifer cringed when she heard Roger’s signature sarcastic chuckle. He used it whenever he wanted to ‘inspire’ someone into action through fear. The chuckle would soon come to grate on Jennifer’s nerves like nails on a blackboard.

Back in her office, Jennifer took a couple deep breaths and considered her options. She knew that Roger’s cold-calling regime was doomed to fail and that she would never comply with it. She could call a headhunter, but then she would feel like a quitter.

She looked up at her bookshelf and noticed the book, Sell the Feeling. It reminded her of what she did best: connect with people, discover their needs, and help them get what they want.

What should she do? What could she do? It was clear that she wouldn’t buy into Needlenose’s demands, but she wasn’t about to give up on the position she had carved for herself at PITS. Even though she had been there for only a year, she was considered one of the company’s ‘rock stars.’ It would take a lot more than a down market and some hee-haw sales executive to ruffle her feathers. Jennifer was a’possibility thinker.’ Maybe she could create some alternative arrangement with Needlenose.

She decided to call her husband to see if he could offer her any advice. He too was in sales and would probably have some ideas. She called Neil’s cell phone, which went to voicemail.

Strange, she thought. He almost always picked up when she called.

Before she could leave a message, her office phone rang. It was her assistant.

Annoyed, Jennifer answered, “Debby, I thought I told you I didn’t want to be disturbed.”

“I’m sorry, Jennifer, but Mr. Needleman just called. He wants to see you in his office right away.”

Jennifer sighed and rolled her eyes. I wonder what this is about, she thought. Maybe he wants to hold my feet to the fire.

Chapter 2

a celebration cut short

great job. Way to sell the feeling! Neil congratulated himself as he slipped into his car after another successful sales meeting. He had just bagged a’big fish.’ The CEO of a biotech company had signed on to have Neil manage his personal investment portfolio, valued north of 20 million dollars. Neil couldn’t wait to call Jennifer and tell her the good news.

What a great run, Neil thought. Over the past year and a half, he had met and married a fantastic woman, moved into a beautiful home, and grown his business beyond his wildest dreams.

Neil was a changed man. No longer the cynical wannabe despairing over his latest sales slump, he had changed his approach to selling and his entire mental game. And it all started with a clumsy sales pitch he had delivered to an old man who turned out to be the greatest mentor he could ever have hoped to meet: Sam Martin.

Sam was the catalyst that turned Neil’s business—and his life—around. When Neil landed on Sam’s doorstep with his slick sales presentation two years earlier, Sam threw him out on his ear.

“You’re selling the wrong thing,” Sam told Neil, who scratched his head in confusion.

Partially out of ego, partially out of desperation, and partially out of curiosity, Neil continued to call on Sam. Eventually, Sam offered to help Neil discover what was missing from his approach to selling. Neil accepted the offer, and over the next year, Sam taught Neil all about selling the feeling.

During their first coaching session, Sam told Neil that people buy based on feelings.

“To create sustained business success,” Sam said, “you’ve got to sell the feelings that motivate people to want what you’re selling and do business with you.”

Sam’s sales process made a big difference in Neil’s game. Neil began to communicate with his buyers in the language of their thoughts and feelings, rather than his own. As he began to relate to people better, his confidence and his closing ratio skyrocketed. Within nine short months, he surpassed 31 salespeople in his company to claim the number-one spot.

Sam also worked with Neil on his mentality. He taught him to be at-cause- in charge of his own thoughts, beliefs, attitudes, and actions.

The positive changes Neil made in his business spilled into his personal life. What he learned from Sam about connecting and communicating with people made a big difference when he met and wooed Jennifer.

Neil felt a tremendous sense of gratitude for Sam. He was still amazed that their chance encounter had led to such profound changes in his business and life. It felt like fate.

As Neil basked in the glow of today’s sales victory and his ongoing happiness and good fortune, he turned up his CD player and began singing. Little did he know that his fate was about to change again.

At the corner of Main and Fifth, a blue van ran a light and came careening into the intersection, just as Neil was making a left turn. The van slammed into Neil’s right front fender and sent his car spinning into the opposing lane. Neil’s airbag inflated.

A moment later, another car crashed head-on into Neil.

Within minutes, the police and paramedics were on the scene. Unconscious and caught in a tangled mass of steel, leather, glass, and plastic, Neil did not hear his cell phone ring.

When Neil’s phone went to voicemail, Jennifer hung up.

I’ll talk to Neil about my problems with Needleman when I get home, she thought.

Chapter 3

the pep talk

On her way to Needleman’s office, Jennifer ran into Patrick, one of PITS’ top salespeople. He looked as if he had just swallowed castor oil.

“You must be next in line for Needleman’s pep talk,” Patrick said, pursing his lips.

“That bad, huh?”

“You’d think Needleman would want to build bridges with the sales team— get to know us, ask some questions, get the lay of the land. Nope. Get ready for ‘The World According to Roger.’”

Patrick’s tone became sarcastic, “Did you know that Roger developed his grit by working as a roughneck on Texas oil wells and as a Navy drill sergeant? Did you hear that Roger developed his sales savvy selling vacuum cleaners door-to-door? And, as you’ll soon find out, Roger rubs elbows with some mighty impressive people.”

“Thanks for the warning, Pat. I’ll compare notes with you later.”

“Just wait till ...