If your production slips, don’t blame others. I have found over my career that when my sales were down, my number of prospects in the pipeline was down. I simply hadn’t generated enough leads. That’s hard to blame on someone else. Accept the responsibility and fix things. And the fix is simple. The worse things get, the harder you work.

Brent Gottier, a member from Power Financial, sent me his Valentine’s Day strategy for sweetening up his clients.

Since it is almost Valentines Day, he thought it would be nice to buy boxes of chocolates for clients and have them come by his office to pick them up.

He called one great customer who readily agreed to come in for her chocolates. As soon as I hang up the phone, his assistant gave him a dirty look- and said, “Did you buy sugar free chocolates?”
“No. Why?” he asked.
“Because she told us she is a diabetic in our last meeting, remember?”

But clearly his faux pas didn’t matter. She came in and was delighted with the chocolates.  Brent surmised, and I agree, that it is not about eating the chocolates; it’s about getting them. She might even give them out at work and tell her friends about him.

A Camp Member forwarded a great article about asking for referrals that I wanted to share with everyone.  Geoffrey James from BNET made some great recommendations after talking to Joanne Black, the author of No More Cold Calling. He outlined a simple five step process for asking for referrals.  In short, Ms. Black suggests telling your existing clients that you build your business through referrals and remind them of all the good work you’ve done for them so far.  Then describe your ideal client and ask for a referral.  She clarifies that you’re not asking for a reference but a bona fide referral, which is actually an endorsement.   Lastly, follow up with your source to tell them how it went–you just might get another referral.   To read the whole article visit Geoffrey’s BNET blog.

The easiest way to find new prospects is to ask your current clients for referrals. If they are happy with the work you’re doing, then they will gladly tell their friends about you. Reiterate to your client that their friends need to start saving for retirement TODAY and if they care about their future, as they should, then they will treat it as urgent business. Have them pick up the phone and call them together. That’s a powerful endorsement!