"Bob sent me." Referrals are golden. "May I use your name?"

"Bob sent me." Referrals are golden. "May I use your name?"

The best possible answer to the implied customer question, "Why listen?" is because someone they respect, trust, or report to says this person is worth listening to. A referral opens doors that can be accessed in no other way.

Life is a game of who you know. That statement is said with disdain only by those who don't know anybody. We get to know hundreds of people in the course of our everyday selling duties. All we have to do is remember to ask them who they know and will they introduce you, or at the least let you use them as a referral. On occasion you must sell the idea of getting a referral.

It's the same three-step approach used in all sales: "Why listen?" Because I have just done great things for you. "What's in it for me?" Your friend will thank you forever for sending me over. "Why should I do something now?" I am asking you now so I can follow up with your person ASAP and thus get them to owe you one at the earliest possible moment.

There is little argument that the most powerful password ever is, "Bob sent me." It is third-party testimony that you are to be trusted not only on your own say-so, but because Joe says so! Use Bob for all he is worth, and he has always been worth plenty in every business.

kheinrich@firstam.com www.fatcohouston.com

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