Ruthless Marketing Secrets

Closing Deals with The Referral Lunch Technique

Everyday I hear people tell me that the best way to produce business is through referrals and I wholeheartedly agree. However, talk is cheap and the people that tell me this have no idea how to “work” a referral. Most will simply pick up the phone every now and than when times are tough or business is slow and ask past clients for a referral, or see where they are in terms of purchasing again. This is what I call a crap shoot approach and at best, may land you a new client every now and than, but in no way will make a significant impact on your income and client base. You see, you need to think outside the box and GIVE something in return for referrals. Too many people just ask, ask, ask with no incentive on the back end for the people that give them. If you want to triple your business and client base immediate for pennies on the dollar, simply employ what I call the “Referral Lunch”.

The process is rather simple and the rewards astronomical. You simply pick up the phone of a past client who you feel is in the market again for your product or service, and offer to take him to lunch and go over any new developments you want to show him. The catch is that he needs to bring 2 friends with him who may have an interest as well. Individuals that are qualified and in the market for what you have to offer. What you accomplish here is a meeting with 3-4 qualified prospects who will give you their undivided attention, and allow you to present in less formal atmosphere while at the same time allowing you to create emotion in person!


You see, EMOTION and RAPPORT sell, these are the two key ingredients to ANY sale and by presenting to the referrals in person rather than over the phone, you accomplish both…..quickly. Too many people simply ask for the referral than pick up the phone and call. What is this? How impersonal? How are you able to create any emotion or any rapport by a simple phone call? In most cases you can’t and the top producers understand this that is why they are top producers!

So next time you want to call a past client and ask for a referral DO IT, but do it right! Ask them to lunch so you can update them on your new product or service and get them to bring along two qualified referrals. Your cost in this is a lunch for four, with a return on investment that could pay dividends forever.

I know a financial planner who works to fill all 5 days a week with this type of referral plan and has the immense six figure income to show for it. Every morning he sets aside 25-30 minutes calling clients and setting as many lunches as he can for the next 10 business days. Once those are booked he books out 10 more days, with a goal of having a captive lunch audience every day of the week. He told me that his lunch tab is about $45-50 a pop or about $250 a week, but he closes a minimum 3 new deals a week generating himself a commission base of an extra $4,500!!!!! That’s $4,500 folks just for eating lunch and keeping his clients a breast on his new products and services. This is how you work referrals. This is how you utilize your existing client base!!