Great referral advice from marketing legend, Dan Kennedy:

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When you ask somebody to refer and you don’t give them a way to do that, a way that they are capable of doing, a way that they will be comfortable doing then can’t refer because they don’t know how. You have just asked them to be your sales force instead of your referral source.

See, they are capable of being a referral source, not so capable of being a sales force. If you are asking them to be a sales force, it’s awkward, uncomfortable, and puts them in a bad position.

Think about it, if I were to say, “Gee, you’re always complaining about your neck. Let me tell you about my chiropractor” the resistance is immediate. Even if you’d like your neck problem solved, your resistance is, “No, I don’t want… or I’ve tried that before…” Right? Awkward.

How do you broach a conversation with a peer about your money manager? “Gee, I want to tell you about the guy who manages my money.” Other guy thinks, “Well, what do you think - that I am an idiot who can’t manage my money?” Uncomfortable.

When you ask them for referrals they will tell you, “I am telling everyone about you” and if you were to investigate what they are actually saying -- it’s scary. Not because they didn’t try, but because they screwed it up so badly.

We have to make it EASY and we have to make it NOT AWKWARD. We have to give them TOOLS that will do this for them.

So now, instead of “Gee, you’re always complaining about your neck. Let me tell you about my chiropractor.” It’s, “Gee, you’re always complaining about your neck. My doc, let me get it for you, has a 10-minute video online about five secret ways to erase neck pain without seeing a doctor. Here’s the card with the website and the code to watch the video for free.” Now, that is an easier alternative.

One of my private clients, a wealth manager, Ted Oakley, is on schedule for no less than three and as many as five new books a year. In many cases it’s content being recycled with a new title and a new first chapter and a new last chapter - where there were 17 keys, there are now 12 in order to get this done. But every few months, there is a new book on a single topic to promote to his clients. The sole purpose of these books are for clients to take three copies and give them to somebody.

When you just ask someone to refer, you are asking them to be a sales force. You are asking them to decide what should be said about you to “sell” a new client. You are asking them to put themselves in an awkward and uncomfortable position.

But when you create TOOLS to provide your customers with, you create a referral source. One that is easy for your customers to participate with.

Most businesses underperform when it comes to obtaining maximum referrals. They fall very, very short on referrals available from their customers. Referrals do not magically appear, you can not manifest them by hoping that your customers will refer. You need to create a system by which you create what Paul Meyer called the “endless chain” of referrals. You need to find the small percentage of customers that you can multiply.