The Sales Archive real techniques, real sources
Entry 088 of 93Common practice

The Referral Ask

Ask a happy customer for a specific introduction, at the right moment, in a way that is easy to say yes to.

How it sounds

  1. You Ask for a specific, named introduction tied to the win you just delivered, not "do you know anyone?"
  2. Buyer (says yes because the ask costs them almost nothing)
  3. You Hand them a ready-to-forward message so saying yes takes no real effort.
  4. Result One happy customer turns into a warm pipeline instead of "I'll have a think."

The rest of this entry is in the full archive

  • The moment in the relationship when a referral ask actually lands
  • Why "do you know anyone?" gets nothing and what to ask instead
  • How to make the introduction effortless for the person doing you the favour
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More in Prospecting

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  1. Send a short email to a named exec asking who the right person is, not for a meeting
  2. Forwards it to the right person, who now opens your email as an internal referral
  3. Follow up with the forwarded contact, referencing the introduction
Full archive
ProspectingSourced

Cold Calling 2.0

Aaron Ross and Marylou Tyler, Predictable Revenue (2011)
  1. Hi Sarah, it's Kim from Acme. I know I'm calling out of the blue.
  2. We help logistics firms cut invoice errors, and I saw you took the Nordic contract.
  3. Yeah, actually, tell me more.
ProspectingCommon practice

Cold-Call Opener Frameworks

Common practice (popularised by Steli Efti)
  1. I'm sending a short email right now so you have this in writing.
  2. Just left you a quick voicemail.
  3. Each message vouches for the other, and the buyer notices both.
ProspectingCommon practice

Double-Tap (Voicemail + Email)

Common practice