Referral marketing has always been one of the most effective ways to grow a business. But telling a “Referral Story of Success” takes it to the next level. A “Referral Story of Success” is a story in which the prospect, who signs on as a client, and the referral source, who made the introduction, are the two main protagonists. Unlike a typical customer success story, this type of story features two main characters: the referral source and the prospect. By including both, you’re showcasing not just results but two people validating your value.
What is a “Referral Story of Success?”
It is a story where there are two characters. The first character is the referral source and the second character is the prospect who becomes a client.
A “Referral Story of Success” demonstrates not just how one of your clients profited from your services but also how the referral source, a third party, benefited from making the introduction. It’s a multifaceted success story that simultaneously appeals to two audiences. By suggesting you to a person they know, the referral source took a chance and faced a risk. The “Referral Story of Success” shows the people who are listening to or reading the story that although any referral source faces a risk when making a referral, in the case of someone sending you a referral, the benefit far outweighs the risk.
Now that we know what a “Referral Story of Success” is, let’s explore the reasons why it’s a powerful tool and how to craft one effectively.
Why and how to tell a “Referral Story of Success”
1. Stories are a Powerful Way to Convey Ideas
Since before humans had written language we have been using stories to convey ideas and influence people. Stories are more memorable, easier to understand, and more likely to change someone’s understanding and actions than any other form of communication. Especially if a story is interactive, you can use stories to move the needle on growing your business by providing motivation and justification to your prospective clients and anyone you know who could refer you to new prospective clients.
Use classic storytelling techniques: hook your audience right away, focus on characters and conflict, show emotion, and end with a strong resolution and call to action.
2. Two Characters, Twice the Credibility
A client story only involves one character, the client. It shows the benefit to the client and the value they got from your service.
Telling a “Referral Story of Success” about how the client was acquired through the referral source shows that two different people value your service. It’s twice as good!
A customer success story just considers the outcome for the client. Even if that might have an effect, a referral story demonstrates that the client and the referral source both value what you can do. The endorsement from the source of the referral lends greater legitimacy, which may persuade your listeners or readers more.
3. Relatability for Multiple Audiences
People, including past clients, current clients, prospective clients, vendors, investors, Centers Of Influence (COI), or professionals, listening to the “Referral Story of Success” can relate to either the client or the referral source in your story.
You can reach a broader audience by telling the tale from the viewpoints of the client and the referral source. Some people will identify more with the referral source, particularly if they hold a similar professional position, while others could identify more with the client who needed your assistance to overcome a specific obstacle.
4. Building Trust by Showing Risk the Referral Source Faced
First, acknowledge that the referral source faced risk. A bad referral could hurt the referral source’s relationship with the person receiving the referral. The referral source could lose business, reputation, or referrals for themselves.
A person’s reputation is at risk when they recommend a service provider or expert. The relationship with the prospective client they referred to the professional may suffer if the referral goes wrong. The referral source may invest time or effort to make the connection, and if the connection does not go well, they would have more cost than benefit.
A person’s reputation is at risk when they introduce a referral of a prospective client to a service provider or referral recipient. The relationship the referral source has with the referral recipient can be damaged if the wrong type of referral is made to the wrong type of prospect. The referral source’s relationship with the professional may suffer if the referral goes wrong. It may be considered a waste of time or resources by the referral recipient, and the referral source could lose the benefit of that relationship going forward. Although the referral recipient probably should be careful not to “look a gift horse in the mouth” it is still a risk the referral source faces.
When telling your referral stories, be sure to disclose these risks that the referral sources were facing right away. If you do not mention the risk the referral source faces, it is likely that he will think of that risk themselves first. Instead, mention it first to get yourself and the listener on the “same side of the table” by acknowledging that any referral source faces risks. By demonstrating your understanding of the risk and accountability that a referral source faces, you can gain the trust of your listener to become a better referral source for you.
5. Showcasing a Real-World Problem Solved or Goals Reached
In a “Referral Story of Success,” the referral or prospective client is facing a challenge or goal that the professional referral recipient helps them address with their service. Showcase a case study of great work done and the solutions provided to the client. The customer in your narrative may have had a genuine problem that your assistance enabled them to overcome. Alternatively, the prospective client you were introduced to may have had a particular goal they were trying to reach.
You are sharing a case study that illustrates the particular ways in which your service works by going into detail about this in the referral story. Add some details about the challenge or goal the client faced to emphasize the importance of your work. Add details about the systems, tools, advice, strategy, communication, negotiation, knowledge, licenses, credentials, experience, and qualifications you brought to bear on the situation to emphasize how your services uniquely and effectively met or exceeded the client’s expectations. Take this narrative as a chance to describe how you take a careful and professional approach to handling referrals.
Give specifics regarding the client’s problem and how your service assisted in finding a solution or reaching a goal. Details in the client portion of the story will make the listener more clear about the services you provide, how you are differentiated from other service providers, and better understand which people to introduce to you, the solutions you provide, and how you provide them. This will make it possible for potential customers to see the real advantages of hiring you and potential referral sources to know the best way and time to introduce you when they hear or read the story.
6. Value Provided for the Client Provides Justification to Refer
Potential customers could be reluctant to hire you and potential referral sources could be reluctant to refer you out of concern for potential negative outcomes. By providing a “Referral Story of Success,” you allay some of their worries by illustrating how introductions made can have a positive impact on the referral.
Whenever possible, provide the fees, time, and costs the customer or client invested into working with you. If you only provide the solution accomplished, goal reached, or benefit your client received in your story, then you are not being as clear about the value the client received. Value for a client has to measure what they invested into getting the service (time, energy, money) and what they got out of it. Try to pick stories to share where your clients got a huge amount of benefit relative to their very large investment of time, energy and money.
The value you explain will give potential referral sources more justification to refer people to you and give your prospective clients more justification to hire you.
7. Highlighting the Referral Source’s Motivation
Let’s go back to the original referral source who had faced a risk. We end the story by showing that the referral source did not suffer a negative impact but, instead, gained a tangible or intangible benefit. This could be a stronger relationship with the prospective client they referred to the referral recipient, a stronger relationship with the referral recipient (you), or many other benefits for the referral source.
Sharing how the referral source benefits from making the referral can provide the listener with many reasons for them to be motivated to send you referrals in the future. There are ten different motivations to refer that your story could highlight that you provided for the referral source:
- Reciprocate: Provide referrals to the referral source.
- Introduce: Provide professional introductions to the referral source.
- Invite: Invite the referral source to events you host, sponsor, attend, or know about.
- Pay: Provide the referral source with compensation for providing a referral.
- Hire: Use and pay for the referral source’s products and services.
- Advise: Provide complimentary advice and information.
- Reward: Send gifts, pay for meals, and provide thanks and recognition for the referral source.
- Vouch: Enhance the referral source’s reputation, especially with their own revenue and referral sources.
- Appreciate: Show sympathy, empathy, patience, appreciation, friendship, and kindness to learn about the people, strengths, goals, and concerns that matter most to the referral source.
- Respect: Provide respect for their personality style by treating them based on their core needs. Amiables are warm and slow and want to feel safe. Expressives are fast and warm and want unique recognition. Drivers are fast and cool and want control. Analytics are slow and cool and want to get things right.
8. Strengthening Relationships for Referral Sources
Creating a “Referral Story of Success” is a good way to show your listener that they can have stronger relationships if they are a referral source for you. They can hear about successful referrals made for you and it reaffirms to them the appreciation of their recommendations and introductions.
Include in your referral story how you thank the referral source. Emphasize how their faith in you produced a favorable outcome and how you expressed your gratitude. Explain how the referral source benefited from the situation in terms of better relationships and positive emotions.
Demonstrate the benefits of the referral source’s relationship with the referral. This could include better friendships and deeper professional ties. Also, the listener should hear how the referral source in the story felt happy or satisfied and had a better personal or professional relationship with you, the referral recipient.
Between three people, the referral sources, the referral recipient (you), and the referral, there are three different relationships to emphasize:
1. The referral source’s improved relationship with the referral.
2. The referral source’s improved relationship with the referral recipient.
3. The referral’s improved relationship with the referral recipient.
Point out in your story how all three relationships were improved.
9. Creating a Positive Feedback Loop
Positive feedback loops are produced when you share referral stories that result in success for both the client and the source of the referral. Referral sources are more comfortable referring business to you, and prospective customers are comforted by hearing about the advantages that previous customers have enjoyed.
As you tell your story to someone, stop at multiple places in the story to hear what they think of each part. After describing the risk to the referral source in your story, ask the listener to tell you about their perceived or potential risk from their own experience. After talking about the concerns of the prospective client and how you helped them as your client, ask the listener to tell you what they see as the top few reasons for your clients to hire you. Finally, after telling the listener about the benefits the referral source got because they made the introduction, ask the listener about their own beliefs, perceptions, and experiences about getting a benefit as a referral source or giving a benefit to a referral source that made an introduction for them.
Gather notes about their motivation and justification so you can use those ideas in the future when asking this listener to refer prospects to you. Using a few of their own keywords while you ask will make the results better.
10. End with a Call To Action
A person who listens to a “Referral Story of Success” might be a client, prospect, or professional. They may relate to the referral source or they may relate to the referral in the story. Listeners can imagine being more justified and motivated to hire and refer you.
If you have executed the telling of the story correctly and solicited their ideas about the risk a referral source faces when making a referral, the problems you solve for your clients, the goals you help your clients reach, and the benefits your referral sources gain that motivate them to refer people to you, then you should be ready to have a follow-up after the story. People are more likely to feel comfortable hiring you or making referrals themselves after learning about successful referrals.
Put a call to action at the conclusion of your narrative, urging and asking listeners and readers to introduce you to others. Remind them that recommendations have the potential to benefit all parties, including the source of the referral. Ask open-ended questions like “who do you know who…” rather than closed-ended questions like “do you know anyone who…” in order to make the person you are speaking to more comfortable and more likely to make an introduction for you or opt in themselves to ask questions about hiring you.
Conclusion
A Referral Story of Success is more powerful than a typical client success story because it validates your work from two perspectives: the client and the referral source. It illustrates the advantages for the referral source in addition to the effect your services have on a client. This two-pronged story enhances relationships, inspires recommendations, and establishes credibility, making it a very powerful tool in your marketing toolbox.
You may increase the appeal and effectiveness of your referral marketing campaigns by carefully structuring your narratives and placing equal emphasis on the client and the referral source. A “Referral Story of Success” is twice as effective as a typical client success story, regardless of whether you’re attempting to encourage new referrals or persuade prospective clients to work with you.
At The Referral Navigator, Jeff Tockman, can help you write, rehearse, and tell “Referral Stories of Success” where your clients are referral sources and your professional relationships are referral sources. You should have at least three written and ready to tell ASAP! Let’s create yours today.
