Referral Study Groups That Produce Results

By Bill Cates

I just delivered a full-day referral program to a financial company in Atlanta. Right after lunch, before I was to resume the program, the leader of the firm challenged the 60 people in the room to take referral generation to the next level. She announced the formation of a 15 member Referral Study Group. She told the group that only people who attended my session were eligible to be a part of the group. She told them that while the group was limited to 15 people, she wouldn not necessarily pick 15 people. She stated that she intended to interview each applicant for group - to make sure they belonged.
I think creating this "exclusive group" is a brilliant move on her part. It brings out the competitive nature in her advisors, so they want to prove they belong.
She and I discussed what criteria she would use to decide who could join this elite Referral Study Group. Here are a few of the things we decided:
1. Hungry for new clients - everyone in this group needs to be in a growth mode.
2. Evidence they will implement - if an advisor has signed up for other initiatives in the past, but did not take the action necessary to produce results, she probably wouldn' t let them in this group.
3. Evidence of referability - to take full advantage of this Referral Study Group, the advisors needed to be referable. What's the point of getting them to be more proactive for referrals if they aren't highly referable? One barometer of their referability is that they are getting some referrals without asking for them.
4. Equal level of commitment - she wants to make sure everyone in the group starts with a high level of sustainable energy and commitment to acquiring more clients through referrals.
After my presentation, she told me that she already had enough people to form the group, but still intended on being picky. She only has so much time to devote to such a group and needed to make sure this initiative would be well worth everyone's time.
With this as the backdrop, here are a few thoughts about how to make your Referral Study Groups a success (or study group for any initiative).

Shared Commitment to Results
It is critical that every member of the group have a high- level commitment to producing results. With this, comes a high-level of commitment to stepping out of one's comfort zone. While it's not always easy to measure this, you must do your best. One thing that might help is to tell them that "quitting the group is not an option." Set the group to run about 6 months; meeting attendance is mandatory; and quitting is not an option. These three simple rules may help you separate the wheat from the chaff.


Practice and Coaching
One of the prime activities of a Referral Study Group is practice; role play; drill for skill - whatever you want to call it. I've been teaching my referral system for over 14 years and one of the critical post-training activities necessary to produce results is practice. Advisors need to write out their scripts and practice, practice, practice. Asking for referrals is not rocket science, it's all about confidence. The road to confidence is paved with practice.

Accountability
The other critical element to producing results after training (any training) is accountability. If the notion of acquiring more clients and making more money was enough motivation to ask for referrals, then people would be doing it without anyone's help. I wouldn not have a business. However, because there is a huge emotional component to the referral process (more on that in a second), most advisors need someone to help hold themselves accountable to the behavior necessary to produce sustained results.
The Referral Study Group is a perfect environment for accountability. Upon the formation of the group, each member should state their referral achievement goals. This achievement goal represents how many new clients through referrals they will work to acquire over a stated period of time, like 6 months or 12 months. This achievement goal should be a stretch from what they did the previous year, but also realistic/achievable.
Then, at each Study Group meeting each member will state the behavioral goals they plan on achieving between this meeting and the next. For instance, assuming a goal period of two weeks, an advisor might state his/her intention is to have a value discussion at every meeting, ask for referrals at 80% of the meetings, and have at least one lunch with a current or prospective center of influence.
At the beginning of each new study group meeting, the advisors will report on their accomplishments. This report is very simple. Did they meet their goal or not? You don't need a lot of song and dance here. You did it or you didn't. If the advisor didn't make the goal, the group has the obligation to find out why. Was it logistical or - more likely - fear? Sometimes this is enough accountability to produce results. Sometimes the accountability needs more teeth. (More on that in a few minutes.)

A Safe Place to Eliminate Barriers
I can assure you that the practice time, the goal setting, and the accountability will bring up just about every fear or other barrier an advisor might face related to being proactive for referrals. Any advisor not willing to take a look at his/her fears and blind spots in this area, isn't playing at the highest level of commitment.
Because of the huge emotional component to changing this behavior, you need to create a "safe place." The participants need to trust each other. They need to trust that each participant is willing to play at a high level and willing to bust through their barriers.