Running out of prospects is a common concern for many financial advisors. It’s an issue we must face and take action on now if we want to have future clients. One way to address this is to ask existing clients for new contacts. For this to work well, though, we must go about it effectively.
One of my good friends, Arvita Mersilia, of Jakarta, Indonesia, is a two-year MDRT member who qualified for Top of the Table in the first quarter of 2021. She always asks for at least three recommendations from her clients when she delivers the insurance policies and says this is one of the most effective ways for her to find good clients.
We must be mindful of the best way to approach asking for referrals. In my experience, these are some key takeaways:
- There is a big difference between referrals and recommendations. With referrals, we usually are only given a name and contact information from our clients. When we reach out to the referral, we still must build chemistry because there is no prior contact between us. On the other hand, recommendations are an introduction given beforehand by our clients to their business partners, friends and family. Therefore, there is already an assurance given to the referrals that we are trustworthy.
- The closing ratio for referrals is usually less than 50% if we cannot draw their curiosity and attention to the information we are trying to share within the first minute of the phone call. However, recommendations often have a closing ratio of 80% because usually these prospects already find us reliable through the endorsement given by our clients. Therefore, we only need to provide these prospects with a clear summary about the plan we have tailored for them and close the case.
- The best recommendations, in my experience, are those given by our existing clients who have received insurance claims and benefits through our assistance. These clients are usually willing to go the extra mile to recommend us to their friends and family.
Ask for recommendations every time you deliver insurance policies to your clients. Tell them that you would like to help more families before risks become realities in life, especially for those people our clients love and care about.
Finally, as professionals we must remember that we educate and add value to our potential and existing clients. We do not sell products. Instead, we offer solutions to their problems. Always serve with integrity, as trust is easy to lose and difficult to regain.
Kennedy Sumarlie, of Jakarta, Indonesia, has been an MDRT member since 2018.
Learn more about referrals with these MDRT member exclusive videos:
its working