“Helen, all the documents you need are in that manila folder in the cabinet under the stairs. Hand them to Richard. He’s an excellent solicitor; he’ll help you with everything. Don’t manage it all yourself.”

My Nan always had the best intentions.

Tricky Dicky, as he unfortunately came to be known, was the solicitor she wanted us to use after she passed away. She’d never used him for probate, but he’d always been “very nice” and “very helpful”, apparently.

With some scepticism, Helen, my mum, decided she couldn’t go against Nan’s wishes.

That scepticism turned out to be well placed.

A recommendation based on “he’s great” isn’t the same as “he’s the right fit for us”.

The best source of new enquiry

Almost every financial adviser and planner I speak to wants more referrals.

When compared to other sources of enquiries, they have a:

• Higher conversion rate
• Lower cost of acquisition.

So, when looking to improve your marketing strategy, it makes sense to fix your marketing foundations and then start here.

But it isn’t 1995 – getting more referrals isn’t as simple as just asking for them.

It’s a process and, in our experience, not enough attention is paid to what happens before, during, and after a recommendation is made.

If you want more right-fit referrals, these are the four stages to get right.

Step 1: Educate your clients

We know that advisers/planners are often nervous about discussing referrals.

That leads to a hurried conversation that the client promptly forgets. They don’t make a recommendation, and you’re left feeling that you should just stop trying.

To work effectively, conversations about referrals need to be detailed and held in a dedicated slot, either at the end of your review meetings or during a separate meeting.

Your aim is to educate your existing clients on three things:

1. Who to recommend you to
2. When to recommend you
3. How to recommend you.

For example, you might say:

“We work best with Nottingham-based business owners. A lot of the people we help come to us at a similar point as you did – when they’re planning their exit and thinking about what’s next. If you know any business owners in that position who are unsure where to start, please introduce me to them.”

It all comes down to positioning. This isn’t you looking to grow your business; you’re expressing a desire to support someone your existing client cares about.

Even if you find them hard, you’ll never maximise the potential in your existing client bank without these conversations.

Step 2: Turn interest into intent

Once a referral has been made, most people won’t immediately get in touch.

Instead, they’ll do what we all do – they’ll look you up online.

• Your website
• Your online reviews
• Your content (blogs and social media).

We know that 70% of a prospect’s buying decision is made before they even reach out to you (They Ask, You Answer – Marcus Sheridan).

While a recommendation gives you a head start on that decision, what someone sees on their digital journey to your door still needs to impress.

That’s why your marketing plays such an important role, even for referrals.

It needs to support the idea that they’ve found the expert they’ve been looking for. They need to see that you empathise with their financial challenges and life goals, and that you’re skilled and experienced in working with others like them.

Step 3: Reinforce the behaviour

When a referral turns into a client, many firms think the job is done.

In reality, it’s an opportunity to turn one good introduction into many more.

When the referral first gets in touch, you should send the client who referred them a thank-you card in the post.

This needs to be high-quality (think John Lewis, not Poundland), handwritten (including the envelope), and come directly from you as the adviser/planner, not someone else.

This is a far more powerful way of showing appreciation than picking up the phone or sending an email.

Then, if the referral engages you, send a personalised gift to the client who made the referral. The value of the gift is less important than the personalisation, and Phil shares a long list of ideas in this blog.

To take things a step further, letting your client know that things have gone well with the person they referred reassures them that they made the right decision in recommending you.

Once the referral has been onboarded, ask for a Google or VouchedFor review and share it with the person who made the introduction.

It’s a simple way to demonstrate the impact of their recommendation and strengthen their confidence in doing it again.

When clients can clearly see the value they helped create, they’re far more likely to repeat the behaviour in the future.

Step 4: When a referral isn’t the right fit

Even with all this in place, not every referral will be the right fit.

That’s normal, but the final part of the process is handling it well.

My Nan was sure her solicitor, Richard, was the right person to support us through probate after she died. But that wasn’t his area of specialism.

If he had acknowledged that we might be better suited to a different solicitor, and pointed us in the right direction, it would have made a huge difference.

Instead, we went through months of unnecessary frustration.

For you, this is an opportunity to demonstrate clarity and professionalism. We’d recommend doing three things:

1. Thank the client who made the original referral
2. Make sure the person recommended feels heard
3. Provide feedback to the existing client for future referrals.

And it doesn’t need to be a dead end for the person who has been referred.

You can use our Yardstick Client Connector – a free tool to connect people you can’t help, because of their asset level or need for specialist advice, with someone who can. Use the filters to find the type of support the referral needs, browse the advisers/planners on the list, and share their contact details accordingly.

Don’t leave referrals to chance

You’re probably already getting referrals because of the fantastic work you do.

But the firms that maximise the potential of their client bank and generate consistent, high-quality referrals don’t wait for them to happen.

Instead, they:

1. Educate their clients
2. Support the referral with their marketing
3. Reinforce the behaviour when things go well
4. Handle things professionally when it’s not the right fit.

A strong referral and recommendation strategy is one of the key pillars of effective marketing that helps you achieve your business goals.

To discuss how we can improve yours, email abi@theyardstickagency.co.uk or call 0115 896 5300 and we’ll find time for a chat.