Who do You Know?
Who Do You Know? Probably the most important question a sales person can ask. Ironically, probably the one question sales people forget to ask the most. Over my 20 years of sales experience I’ve learned that a good pipeline cures all that ails you when it comes to sales. Nothing builds a better quality pipeline than referrals. They give you immediate credibility and increase your closing rate based on that credibility. Referrals are always the best source of business – no one reading Bullhorn’s blog needs convincing on that.
At Bullhorn we reap the benefits of a strong customer base and an excellent product. In any given quarter we can see from 30 to 40% of our leads come from customer referrals. Our customers are generally emphatic about their experience with Bullhorn and they love to talk about it. We also receive a large number of referrals from prospective customers that see Bullhorn, see the value it adds to their business, and then want to share that with their friends and colleagues in the industry. Both of these types of referrals happen on their own, organically, based on good will and the strength of our product. Just as in your business they happen based on client or customer experience and service. So, why then do recruiters and sales people forget to ask for the referral on every call? Human nature. Even the most aggressive and skilled pros don’t like to ask someone to do something for them, while having no problem asking for the check.
Back in the day, when I was running a perm placement desk in a fairly large firm we had large cards on everyone’s desks with “Who Do You Know” in big bold letters. Not a bad tip even for today, but you can do better if you are using Bullhorn. Track your referrals in Bullhorn and then look at where they came from by rep. Create a Note Action Type of “Referral” to track when a referral was given. If you are using the edit screen or templates to drive the qualification of clients or candidates make “Who Do You Know” jump out right on the screen and create the questions that lead to referrals right in those areas. If you are sending out surveys to clients or candidates, create a referral question as a part of it. If you are using our Embedded Intelligence feature, make sure you are reinforcing this concept at every step.
There are probably a thousand more ways to leverage “Who Do You Know”. The point is that it takes reinforcement at every step. Try it – I guarantee you will see results. Before I sign off of this post….. Who Do You Know that might be interested in learning more about how Bullhorn can help them improve their business?
