Clients won't give quality referrals because they like or respect you. You must set a process in place that encourages the client to give referrals.

Virtually every professional has been taught that generating referrals from clients and prospects are the way to success, but studies show that less than 15% of all professionals generate enough referrals to significantly affect their business. Traditional referral training has been to “do a good job and ask for referrals.” Using the traditional approach, the typical advisor will get an occasional “referral” or two from their clients, but these tend to be just names and phone numbers, rather than qualified prospects.
Traditional referral gathering methods do not work
The failure to generate a large number of high quality referrals lies in the traditional method’s approach to the client. The traditional “do a good job and ask for referrals” approach creates several roadblocks to getting referrals.
The client is not prepared to give referrals
By waiting until the service is complete and then asking for referrals, your client has not had
an opportunity to prepare for your request. To the client, the request comes from out of the
blue. When you approach your client with your request without giving them an opportunity
to think about it, you put them on the spot. You are giving them only a few seconds to go
through their mental file cabinet.
The client does not know what you need
Even if your client takes a few seconds to think about it, they really do not know what you
need. It may seem obvious to you, but your client really has little idea of what a good
referral for you is.

You assume that because your practice involves a number of services for small to mid-size
businesses, from management consulting, to tax preparation, to financial analysis, your
client is immediately going to think, “What other companies do I know or do I do business
with that might need Toms’ advice and expertise?”

Wrong assumption. What they actually think is “what does this person want from me?”
Your client does not have a reason to give referrals
Additionally, the traditional method of “do a good job and ask for referrals” does not give
your client a reason to give you referrals. We assume that if we have done a good job, the
client will like and respect us and be willing to give us referrals. Again, this is far from the
case.

Most clients will not give quality referrals just because they like you or because you have
done a good job for them. They need a reason to give you referrals. They need to
understand why it is in their best interest to give you referrals.

Clients assume that whomever they refer you to will be more demanding and critical they
have been. When a client gives a referral, they are putting their reputation and image on the
line with the person to whom they are referring you. They are concerned about what their
friend or acquaintance is going to think of them and their judgment, particularly if you mess
up.
The client doesn’t have an objective standard by which to measure your performance
The traditional referral generation method does not give the client an objective standard by
which to measure the quality of your performance. You and your client may “feel” you
have done a good job, but when you ask for referrals, they begin to think back over the
process more critically and question whether you have really performed up to standards
they believe others would find acceptable.

If the two of you agree up-front on exactly what you need to do in order to “do a good job,”
they will have an objective basis to decide if they trust you enough and if you have
performed well enough to earn the right to be sent to people they really know well and
respect.
Most advisors don not ask for referrals
Finally, although not a direct result of the traditional referral generation method, an equally
serious issue is studies show that the majority of the time professionals do not really ask for
referrals—rather they suggest referrals.

Instead of asking a direct question seeking referrals such as “John, what other business
owners do you know that I may be able help solve some crucial issues?” the typical
professional will make a weak suggestion such as “John, if you happen to know someone I
can help would you mind letting me know?” Or, “John, if you run across someone, who
could use my services, would mind giving them my card?” Rather than a request for
referrals, these are throwaway sentences, quickly forgotten by most clients.

Traditional referral training is inherently unfair to you and your client. It does not give you the tools needed to successfully work with your client to generate quality referrals, and it gives your client neither a reason to give referrals, nor a chance to become comfortable referring you to people they know and respect.
You can generate a large number of high quality referrals
Yet, it is possible to generate a very large number of high quality referrals from your clients. You need to have a referral generation process that:
* Informs your client ahead of time that you will ask for referrals
* Lets the client know exactly what a referral for you is
* Educates your client on why providing referrals is in their best interests
* Provides agreement with your client on a objective criteria to determine your
performance
By forming a process where you eliminate the problems associated with the traditional referral generating method, you will increase not only the number of referrals you receive from your clients, but the quality of each referral also.