Personal Introduction better than a referral

The following is based on one of The Covenant Group’s clients. All of the names and telling details have been changed.

After numerous unanswered phone calls, Joseph despaired of ever putting his plan into action – until he was introduced to his potential client.

In our regular meeting, one of our clients, Joseph, pressed me for a solution to a problem that had been vexing him for weeks. His problem was that Marv Frenke, the wealthy owner of a group of restaurants, was refusing to return Joseph’s calls.

“It’s killing me, Norm,” Joseph had pleaded with me, “I’ve called this guy once a week for the past five weeks, and nothing!” Joseph was slumped back in his chair in our office. His body language spelt defeat. “Norm,” he continued, “this business plan you’ve helped me develop looks great on paper, but in reality it really sucks.” Joseph wasn’t the type to mince his words.

Joseph and I had been working together for a few months prior to this meeting. At the time, he was 32 and had been a financial planner for just over four years. He had managed to build a fairly steady business but realized his income had reached a ceiling. That was why he wanted my help. His friend, Jeff, is a client of ours. Joseph had seen how Jeff’s income had doubled in the last two years, and he was eager for the same kind of result. We began by developing a sound business plan, a plan that meant he would have to start prospecting upwards. Most of Joseph’s clients were people around his age, people with lots of potential but not lots of present wealth. To start making serious money, Joseph needed to begin working with people who themselves already had serious money. And that’s where Marv came in.

One of Joseph’s wealthier clients was a young architect named Elliot. He had been a client for two years, and in that time, Joseph and he had become friendly. Elliot was the in-house architect for MI Enterprises, a company owned by Marv Frenke. Joseph had decided months ago that Elliot could help him breakthrough to a new income level if he opened the door to Marv.

The first thing Joseph decided to do was to call Elliot and ask for a referral. “Look, Elliot,” Joseph said, “I’d really like to get a hold of Marv. Would you mind if I gave him a call and used your name as a reference?”

According to Joseph, Elliot wasn’t thrilled with the idea but had agreed in the end. Unfortunately, five unreturned phone calls later, Joseph despaired that he’d ever be able to put his business plan into action. That’s when he called and asked for Norm's help.

When Joseph met with Norm, he asked, “Should I just keep calling, or what?”

“No,” Norm replied.

“What, then? Give up?”

“No,” Norm said again.

“Well…” said Joseph, waiting.

Norm began by explaining to Joseph the limitations of asking for a referral. It’s not that referrals never work, but in many situations they are ineffectual. Our research over the years shows that top advisors don’t grow their business by using referrals. Instead, high-performers use a much more effective strategy. As their meeting progressed Norm described to Joseph exactly what he had to do and, by the end of the discussion, his despair was lifting. When he left, he was excited about the new strategy and eager to try it out.

Several weeks later, Joseph met with Elliot to review Elliot’s portfolio. During their appointment, Joseph showed Elliot how the investments they had made had performed well above expectations. Elliot was duly impressed. Joseph wrapped up the review early, leaving ten minutes to accomplish his other purpose.

“Hey, Elliot,” Joseph said casually, “I need your help. I’ve been calling Marv, but I haven’t heard back.”

“What can I say?” Elliot said. “The guy’s real busy.”

Elliot was obviously not going to offer to help any further. It was time to apply the new strategy. “Elliot, what I need is for you to introduce me to Marv. You know, in person. I want to shake his hand while you tell him what a great guy I am.”

Elliot leaned back in his chair, ran his fingers through his hair and whistled. “I don’t know, Joseph,” he said, “I’ve never referred anyone to Marv before. We don’t really have that kind of relationship.”

Joseph could tell that Elliot wasn’t comfortable with the idea of making an introduction.

“Elliot, let me put it this way. There are a lot of guys in my business, and I’m sure I’m not the only one calling Marv asking for his time. We just went through your investments, and you had a great year, right?”

Elliot nodded and smiled.

“And what do you think of the service I give you?” Joseph asked.

“Superb.”

“So you can trust that I’ll do the same for Marv,” Joseph said. “Think about it this way, Elliot - I’d love to meet with Marv, but you’d benefit from it too. I plan on blowing Marv away with my ideas and my service, and when I do, Marv won’t forget that he met me through you.”

Elliot seemed to follow the logic.

“You see, Elliot, Marv trusts you and you trust me.”

“So, what exactly do you want me to do?” Elliot asked.

“I want to meet Marv in person with you introducing me. I’d  love it if we could all go for lunch some afternoon.”

“Listen, Joseph, I don’t even take lunch, let alone have lunch with Marv.”

Joseph saw Elliot cross his arms in a defensive posture. He knew not to push it too far.

“Okay, Elliot,” he said, “all  I really need is thirty seconds, literally. If that’s the most you can do, that’ll work. I just want Marv to put a face to my name and hear you rave about me in his presence.”

“Fine, you win, Joseph,” Elliot said as he got up from behind his desk, then began to walk out of his office.

Joseph followed him, a little perplexed. “Where’re we going?” he asked.

“To see Marv. I have a meeting with him in three minutes. If he’s in his office, you’ll get your introduction.”

They marched down the hall to Marv’s office. Elliot rapped on the half-open door with his knuckles and heard Marv bark to let him in.

“It’s not two o’clock yet,” Marv said as Elliot stepped into the office, with Joseph behind him.

“Marv,” Elliot said, “I’ve just finished meeting with my advisor, Joseph, and I want to introduce you to him. He’s done some amazing things for me, and I thought you’d appreciate hearing his ideas some day.”

Marv looked up at Joseph. “Why don’t you give me a call in a couple of days.” I’ve been calling you for months, Joseph thought to himself, as he reached across Marv’s desk to shake his hand. “I will,” Joseph replied. That was all he was going to get. It was time to go. He turned, said goodbye to Elliot and then left the two of them to begin their meeting. On the way back to his office, Joseph had some serious doubts about whether the introduction would have any effect at all. He half expected to be calling Marv in vain for the rest of the year.

Joseph called MI Enterprises two days later and asked to speak to Marv. After giving his name and waiting, the assistant returned to the phone and asked Joseph when he was available to come in for an appointment. Finally, he had the meeting he’d been trying to get for weeks.

That meeting went exceptionally well. Joseph now has little doubt that he will do business with Marv. Let’s hope he’s right this time.

Lessons Learned

Joseph succeeded in gaining his appointment with Marv because he put into action the sixth Best Practice of high-performing salespeople: obtain introductions. The personal introduction to Marv that Joseph gained from Elliot was what turned the tide. Over the years, we have learned that personal introductions are an extremely powerful and effective way to grow your business. With the introduction, Joseph was able to hitchhike on the credibility Elliot has with Marv. Furthermore, introductions give people the sense that they ‘know’ you, simply because they have met you in person. This feeling of familiarity is considerably more effective as a premise for an appointment than a mere referral. Of course, getting the appointment is one thing, gaining a client is another. To do that, Joseph will have to apply a few other Best Practices, but we’ll leave those to future Case Studies.

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The Covenant Group is referred to by many as the place entrepreneurs go to become Business Builders. They are considered to be thought leaders and have authored the best-selling books, The 8 Best Practices of High- Performing Salespeople, The Entrepreneurial Journey, and The Business Builder.