SSS#5: Referrals On Autopilot

 Read time: 5 minutes

 Happy Friday to 6,388 ambitious SaaS sellers!

This week's SaaS Sales System is a new approach to getting referrals.

Referrals are the best way to enhance your pipeline generation with high-quality leads - without working harder.

Let's dive in!👇

The Problem With Referrals

 Most reps never ask for referrals.

It's a huge mistake. Here's why:

• 92% of buyers trust referrals from people they know.
• 84% of buyers kick off their buying process with a referral.
• 73% of execs prefer to work with sales professionals referred by someone they know.
• 91% of customers say they'd give referrals. Only 11% of salespeople ask for referrals.
• The lifetime value of a referred customer is on average 16% higher.
• Salespeople who actively seek out and exploit referrals earn 4 to 5 times more than those who don't.

Here's what these stats mean for you:

→ Most buyers start their research with a referral
→ Referral leads have higher chances of closing
→ Referral leads have higher average deal size
→ Referred customers bring in higher margins
→ Referral leads have the best quality

So why don't more reps ask for intros and referrals?

a) they don't know how to spot referral opportunities
b) they don't know who to ask or how to ask
c) they feel uncomfortable & abandon it

I'm here to help, though.

Below is a step by step guide on how to seek out and exploit referrals - without working harder.

Step 1: Connect with customers on LinkedIn

Customers are the best group of people to ask for referrals.

If they are satisfied with your services they will be happy to introduce you to other prospects who are similar to them.

Chances are, they have decision makers in their network who face similar challenges - and twill herefore benefit from the same solution.

How to do it:

1. Run a lead search on LinkedIn
2. Use "current company" as the filter.
3. Type in your best 20 customer references in your industry & geo.
4. Also filter for your ideal buyer persona.
5. Bring down the list to a manageable amount.

 Pro tip: remember that LinkedIn doesn't allow more than 100 LI connection requests/day. Otherwise you end up in Linkedin "jail".

2. Build a lead search based on 2nd degree.

Wait one week until most of your connection requests are accepted (or ignored). Now you're ready to run a 2nd degree search.

1. In this lead search use the "Connection" filter. Select "2nd Degree Connections".
2. Now use the "Current company" filter again. This time, type in your top targent accounts that you want to get referred into.
3. Apply your persona filter as well.

Pro tip: save this lead search. 

Enable ALL email notifications in SalesNavigator.

You will now get 1 weekly email with new results form this search.

Essentially, you get new referral leads into your inbox every week on autopilot!

You only need to do the work once, and SalesNav will do it for you from now on ;-)

3. Identify customers who know ideal prospects.

In the results list of your lead search look out for "shared connections".

If your customers show up here, ask them for a referral!

Of course, other (perhaps unexpected) common connections can show up: a college friend, a former co-worker, or a partner in your ecosystem.

You can use any of these connections as well. Just ask for the referral and based on the feedback of the other person you will quickly realise if the referral makes sense or not.

Short note: I am not a huge fan of the team link function.

These are basically your co-workers who are connected to the same prospects for whatever reason.

Unless they happen to know them personally, a teamlink does not make sense - otherwise why would you ask them to do your job for you?

4. Ask customers for referrals

Now is the time to ask your customers for introductions to prospects.

Just keep it simple. You can use this template:

Hi (CUSTOMER NAME), I noticed you are connected to (PROSPECT NAME) AT (TARGET COMPANY) on LinkedIn. Do you happen to know him/her in person?
If so I'd like to ask you for a short intro message. I believe (TARGET COMPANY) can benefit from (YOUR SOLUTION) in a similar fashion.
Happy to pre-write the message so you can copy & paste it and send it.
What do you think? Best,

5. Pre-write the intro message

Make it as easy as possible for others to help you. 

Again, to keep things simple:

 Hi (CUSTOMER NAME), we're a happy user of (YOUR COMPANY) for (USE CASE) and perhaps you can benefit from it, too. I was approached by (YOUR NAME) for a formal introduction. Would it be okay if I make an introduction to him/her so you can see if their offering makes sense for you?

Best,

SUMMARY

To master this Sales System go through the following steps:

1. Connect with all existing customers on LinkedIn.
2. Automate your lead search based on 2nd degree.
3. Identify customers who know ideal prospects.
4. Ask customers if they can make an intro.
5. Pre-write the intro message for them.

Spend 30 minutes to an hour once a week asking for new referrals.

After a couple weeks you should start booking more meetings with ideal prospects that are pre-qualified through a customer introduction - without much extra work!