The Small Business Guide to Referral SellingNoel LedesmaCo-Founder and Director of Operations Likeable Advertising

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The Small Business Guide to Referral Selling / ringlead.com

Introduction to Referral Selling ..................................................................................................... 3

• Chapter 1: How to Start Referring Selling ................................................................................ 4

• Chapter 2: Hire the Best People ............................................................................................... 7

• Chapter 3: Identify the Area of Opportunity .............................................................................. 8

• Chapter 4: Managing the Relationship ................................................................................... 10

Conclusion: Always Be Helping .................................................................................................. 11

Contents

The Small Business Guide to Referral Selling / ringlead.com 3

R eferral selling is all about helping you acquire new customers by utilizing a crucial asset: your past and existing customers. It

can be one of the most effective sales strategies because the referral from asatisfiedcustomerprovidesyouwith credibility and opens doors.

Referral selling attacks a serious problem faced by sales professionals: a lack of trust. Itcreatesconfidenceinyourability to deliver results, since the referenceiscomingfromaconfidentplace.

I started my own organization, Likable Advertising, a fast-growth startup in the digital advertising space, in January

of2014.Withinthefirstsixmonths,wegrewoursales200%andwe’recurrentlyontrackforoverahalf

a million dollar annual run rate. Much of this success is due to referral selling.

This ebook will guide you through the steps I took to implement referral selling at my organization.Bytheend,you’llhavetheprocesses necessary to implement and roll

out referral selling at your organization, and take it to the next level.

Introduction to Referral Selling

Noel LedesmaCo-Founder and Director of Operations Likeable Advertising

The Small Business Guide to Referral Selling / ringlead.com 4

Referral selling starts from the top and impacts theentireorganization.It’saculturalshiftwhereeveryoneisfocused,passionate,confidentand

ready to sell.

Likeable Advertising started with personal connections orpeoplethatI’veworkedwithinacapacityotherthandisplay advertising. It started as a conversation with very closefriendsandfamily,andbecameprofitablejust60days later. Here are the steps to take to get started:

1. Build: Whenyoufirststartabusiness,focuson building your website, building internal processes, and building the technology itself.Forus,thistook60days.

2. Outreach: Kick off your sales process and outreach. Look at your CRM and the contacts for potential outreach.

3. Build the Infrastructure: We had 150 to 200 contacts, whether they were professional, personal,family,etc.inourCRM.That’show we started our CRM infrastructure.

4. Connect: Go after single outreach for every single person with the goal of building your network.

5. Learn: As you move through this process, you’lluncoveryourtruebrand,yourpartners and your new customers.

This business approach of references and one-on-one sales outreach opened up an entirely new line of revenue. This was referral selling.

Chapter 1: How to Start Referring Selling

The Small Business Guide to Referral Selling / ringlead.com 5

It’sincrediblyimportanttoalwaysremember

that at the end of the day, everything you

do is for your brand. Several years down

the road a customer may not remember what

you said or did, but they will remember what it

was like to work with your company. In order

tothriveinreferralselling,it’scrucialthatyour

customer is consistently happy with your

work and views your company in a positive

light. Referral selling is all about cultivating

strong relationships with your customers.

Strong customer relations stem from

keeping your customer happy.

Focus on the Big Picture

The Small Business Guide to Referral Selling / ringlead.com 6

Exude Passion and Confidence

Alwaysbebothpassionateandconfident.These

sentiments will rub off on your customer as well

as assure them that they are in good hands. An

excellent approach to this practice is as simple as keeping

your employees happy. Cheerful employees make a cheerful

company, which makes cheerful customers that are more

likely to make referrals. Since these referrals will lead to

sales,inturn,you’llhavehappyemployees.

Apassionateandconfidentworkstafffocusesontheir

own interests and plays to their own strengths. At Likeable

Advertising, we enable this mentality by having our

employees pick and choose which accounts they work on.

By offering this autonomy, and allowing employees to play to

their own strengths and interests, company morale increases

significantly.Happieremployeesleadtobetterintra-company

and inter-company relationships. Strong inter-company

relationships lead to referral sales.

The Small Business Guide to Referral Selling / ringlead.com 7

Chapter 2: Hire the RIGHT People

Your sales process will not succeed without a great

team.Hirepeoplewhovaluewhatyouvaluesoyou’re

aligned from the start. Set expectation so your new

hire knows their responsibilities. They need to be aware and

nail the skillsets necessary for your business to succeed.

Whenyou’relookingforteammembers,becompletely

transparent about your company goals. This sets the precedent

that everyone is part of the team from the start, and it

acknowledgesthebrandandwhatyou’retryingtoaccomplish.

Working with amazing people creates excitement. There

needstobeaconnectionandaculturalfit.Thistranslatesto

confidenceinthewayyouoperate.Itexudesthatconfidence

becauseyou’llalwaysbeonthesamepage.You’llknowwhat

eachpersoncanbringtothetable,andyou’llknoweachteam

member’sstrengthsandplaytothat.There’sastrongsense

ofcompetency,andyou’llneverwastetimequestioningeach

other.

Smart hiring has been a key success to our growth and the

ability to effectively roll out referral selling.

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Chapter 3: Identify the Area of Opportunity

Understandingreferralsellingisthefirststep,andnow

it’stimetodeterminewhototarget.

Whenever I send a proposal to a prospect, I make sure the

partnerwouldbeagoodmutualfit.Intheworldofreferral

sales, it is crucial to have a deep understanding of your clients.

This understanding will allow you to make an accurate decision

astowhetherornotaclientistherightfitforyourcompany.

Takingonaclientthatdoesn’tfityourmoldcanbeasbadfor

you as it is for your client. Not only will this lead to potential

customer dissatisfaction, but the time and effort that you are

putting into this client may detract from other clients and lead

totheirdiscontentaswell.Dissatisfiedcustomersarethebane

of referral sales.

A clear understanding of your client is crucial to providing them

withexactlywhattheywant.Thisnotonlyapplieswhilethey’re

yourclient,butbeforeandafterthey’reyourclient.Thismakes

them much more likely to partner with you (as well as offer

referrals) because they will remember that you always went

above and beyond. Here are some sample questions to ask:

• Can you tell me more about your job?

• What are your responsibilities?

• What is your past experience with our type

of offering?

• Can you talk me through your company and

your company goals?

Condense their answers into a bulleted format and share it

with them. Explain to the prospect that this is what the situation

looks like based off of the conversation. Use their answers to

leadthemintherightdirection.Makesurethey’reonboard.

Letthemtellyouthatyou’reacompleteidiotifyoudidn’t

listen correctly. Put the pieces of the puzzle together with your

prospect.

The Small Business Guide to Referral Selling / ringlead.com 9

Providing the Proposal

After the consultation with the prospect, and gaining

a comprehensive understanding of their needs, you

can move to the proposal stage. This is where you

can impress your prospective client by providing them with

what they want before you even do business together.

Customize each and every proposal to each and every

prospectiveclient.AtLikeableAdvertising,ifwe’reproposing

banner ads, we actually get our Creative Director to

understand the prospect and create sample ads. Now

you’vealreadydoneworkfortheprospect,andyou’ve

provided them with something personalized and tangible. On

topofallthat,you’vedoneitforfree.Thisshowsthatyou’re

adding value to their brand regardless of if they decide to

launch a campaign or not. This helps the prospect visualize

yourofferingaswellasexperiencewhatit’sliketowork

together,andtheyhaven’tpaidyouasingledollar.Nowyou

will stand out from the myriad of

companies that send cookie-

cutter,one-size-fits-all

proposals.

Proposal

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Chapter 4: Managing the Relationship

Once the prospect has become a client, and once

youhavesatisfiedalloftheirexplicitneeds,you

maythinkthatyourjobisdone.Ifyoudo,youare

missing a key aspect of referral selling: satisfying implicit

needs.

Instead of thinking that your work is complete, think about what

else you can offer this company. If you go above and beyond

thejobdescriptionforyourclienttheywillcertainlyremember

it and be more likely to provide a referral without even being

asked.

Think of yourself as a consultant, but also as an in-house

memberofthecompaniesthatyou’reworkingfor.Helpthem

grow. Help them become the companies they want to be, even

after they leave you.

The work that you do for a company can be as comprehensive

or creative as you can imagine. For instance, at Likeable

Advertising,afterwe’veimpressedaclientwithasuccessful

completionofabanneradcampaign,wefindoutwhatkind

of loyalty programs, discounts, and promotions the company

is offering. We ask them about the content they are trying to

distribute. From there, we can create ancillary campaigns. This

will not only keep you working and learning, but also improve

your brand name with this client. Referral selling proves that

you are equally concerned with your clients success as you

are your own.

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Conclusion: Always Be Helping

You should always be helping your

clients. Look further down the

road. Help your customer get to

wheretheywanttobe,evenifityou’renot

in that long-term plan. Find out what their

team looks like now and what they want to

become. Help them work toward their goals.

Nocompany,clientorprojectisaone-size-

fits-allapproach.Rememberthatasyou

work with each and every customer.

The Small Business Guide to Referral Selling / ringlead.com 12

Noel Ledesma is the Co-Founder and Director of

Operations at Likeable Advertising, a company that

is rapidly growing through referral selling. Noel has

over four years of advertising experience. Prior to the

founding of Likeable Advertising in January of 2014,

Noel was an Account Executive at TouchPoints

Marketing & Advertising, Account Manager at

RabbitHole Consulting, and Director of Account

Management at ReTargeter LLC.

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