Relationships drive sales—always have, always will.

Most sales teams miss quota year after year. Yet, quotas continue to increase. Doesn’t make much sense, does it? Sales leaders bemoan that they don’t have enough qualified leads in the pipe, that their people aren’t getting meetings with decision-makers, that they can’t seem to differentiate themselves from competitors. 

The problem is all in the prospecting and the relentless focus on getting the newest, the best, the most sophisticated technology—when sales teams should be focused on building the best relationships, having the most sophisticated business conversations, and providing the most value for existing customers so sales reps can ask those folks for referrals.

In 2023, 72 percent of sales pros expected to miss quota, according to the Salesforce State of Sales Report. That doesn’t surprise me, considering those same salespeople only spent about 28 percent of their time actually selling. 

(Source: Salesforce State of Sales Report, 5th Edition)

What sales teams really need is greater selling acumen—a sales program that helps them learn, practice, and perfect new skills to excel in this ever-changing world of sales. That doesn’t mean learning how to use new technology; it means learning how to make new connections. Then turning those connections into business opportunities and sales referrals.

The Business Case for a Referral Sales Program

As a sales leader, you’re responsible for increasing revenue, while at the same time managing your profit margins. You need your sales reps to seed and grow their accounts, not just hit the phones. If you’ve beaten the odds and held your role for more than 18 months, you’ve gotten your team lined up, your strategy in place, and your goals set. 

You need a disciplined, dependable approach to build both bottom-line and top-line results—a sales prospecting system that allows your team to fill their pipelines with qualified leads, and then to land and expand methodically and consistently. In other words, you need a reliable, proven referral sales program with measurable referral skills.

(Image attribution: Sumran Ali)

A referral sales program addresses top lead generation challenges by helping sales teams:

• Get meetings with decision-makers in one call, because they’ve been referred by people their prospects know and trust 
• Bypass the gatekeeper and get welcomed into the C-suite, while their competitors are still making cold calls and pestering strangers on social media 
• Reduce the sales process so they can spend more time with customers and less time prospecting
• Convert prospects into clients at least 50 percent of the time, usually between 70 and 90 percent

Got your attention?

It’s Time for Referrals Reinvented 

If your sales team isn’t asking every single client for referrals, they’re leaving good money on the table. And they’ll keep leaving it there, unless they have a disciplined referral sales program with strategy, skills building, ongoing coaching from sales leaders, metrics, and accountability for results. 

Referral selling is simple, but it’s not easy. Achieving referral success means adopting referral selling as a strategic initiative for sales prospecting. It’s not an afterthought; it’s a priority. Asking for referrals is not going above and beyond; it’s part of your sales process and your team’s job description. 

Ready to commit to referral selling and help your team generate a steady stream of qualified leads? Learn more about the No More Cold Calling Referral Sales Program—a three-month, intensive deep-dive for sales leaders and their teams.

You have a bias for action; otherwise you wouldn’t be a sales leader. So, let’s get started.

Contact Joanne to learn more about how the No More Cold Calling Referral Sales Program can set your team up for success in 2024. Call (415) 461-8763 or email joanne@nomorecoldcalling.com.