How to talk about a referral- Referral Section of Meeting

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The value of this section of our meetings is the dialog about.  We should learn from the referral giver and referral receiver the scenario, how the opportunity was identified, how it was tee’d up, an update on the status of the referral, and anything either side could of done better.

(Referral Giver): 

Mike-Financial advisor:  “I gave a referral to Suzanne.  She is always talking about young families getting wills done to name guardians.   In our practice we do annual reviews with all our financial clients.  In a recent review I was meeting with a husband/wife, dual income family with 2 young kids.  We were discussing their financial goals and concerns.  I mentioned that it was probably time to update their will to meet their wishes in the event something happened to them.  They mentioned they didn’t have a will and didn’t think they needed one.  I briefly explained how probate works and that they wouldn’t want their family to go through that process and told them I recommend a local estate planning attorney that I find is great with my clients.  I asked if they wanted me to set a meeting with her.  I told them she can come to our follow-up meeting or I can set you up over email for all of us to schedule time with her.  They said they’d love either route.  I checked with Suzanne and my client and we are all scheduled to meet. ”    

In this scenario Mike (referral giver) does a great job doing: 

1. He talked about himself first, which gets other members thinking about triggers and opportunities where they might be able to promote you.  I love when our members do this. 
2. He detailed how he identified the referral, what he said to bring Suzanne up in conversation, how he got permission from his client, and how he set it up.

(Referral recipient): 

Suzanne– Estate Planning Attorney:  “Thank you Mike.  You brought them up very well.  I’ve got the meeting confirmed and I will keep you posted on how it goes and yes I love working with young families.  They often don’t have a ton of assets, but may have a pretty sizeable life insurance policy.  They are just beginning to accumulate and plan, but have concerns about what would happen to their kids if they suddenly passed.  Those are great referral opportunities for me.”

In this scenario Suzanne (referral recipient) does a great job doing: 

1. She starts by saying thank you which I think is one of the most important elements of receiving a referral.
2. She gave a quick update on the status. 
3. She reinforced that this is her target market and she loves scenarios like this.

One important note about how this was structured.  They didn’t have a 2 way conversation.  The conversation about the referral taught us about opportunities where we might be able to help both Mike & Suzanne.  It wasn’t just limited to Suzanne.  While those scenarios are very routine for them they didn’t treat the dialog as routine.