I am looking for suggestions as to how someone new in the business asks for referrals, for example, from (1) friends or acquaintances who have not done business with the new agent or from (2) clients/customers with whom the agent has only done one transactional sale, as opposed to a more comprehensive plan.

It seems that in the first case no value has been given, and in the second case the value given may be minimal. 

Karl S.

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Karl,

In the first case, a new advisor must take the time to educate members of their natural market so they begin to see the value – even if they have not personally experienced it themselves. When you do a good job of explaining your value, some of these folks will want to become clients and others will be open to giving you referrals to others and to opportunities for “in house” seminars.

In the second example, you should never assume one transactional sale was not a valuable experience for your client. Ask them why they chose you to work with. Ask them what value they saw in your process or in the product itself. Of course, the better process you have to create that one transaction, the more referable you will be. When you show up on an appointment to “provide value first” and make the sale second, not only will you make more sales, you will do so in a way that makes you more referable more quickly.  You are only in a transactional business if you allow yourself to be in one. Every business… every business has the ability to add more process and more value very early in the relationship.

Bill