How to Turn Referrals into Appointments

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“Hi, my name is Kerry Johnson. I am a financial advisor. Tom Jones gave me your name and thought we could meet. Are you available next Tuesday?”

If you have been trained to generate and contact referrals, you’ve learned to say this.

But it doesn’t work.

You will likely book appointments with those with nothing else to do, but not with the high-net worth sort.

High-net worth prospective clients don’t have the time to meet with an advisor based only on an introduction from someone they know. You have to give them a reason to meet. The referral is only an entry, not a reason to book an appointment.

Here are five steps and a script that work nearly every time.

1. Introduce yourself, company, referral source and engage

The referred lead doesn’t know who you are. Ideally, you asked the referral source to send a note introducing you. They agreed. But 99% of the time, they didn’t. Rarely will a referred lead say, “Wow, I have been expecting your call.” Be prepared to introduce yourself. Then get them to talk about your mutual friend/client in the first seven seconds.