Like any business, referrals in financial services are a great source of finding new clients to both help and assist. I use those words selectively, as the idea of someone ‘asking’ for referrals can to some, feel like a ‘sales pitch’. But it absolutely shouldn’t!

A referral is no different to your having a great meal at a restaurant, and then a friend asking if you know a good local diner? You would have no qualms about recommending the restaurant where you ate, in fact, on many occasions the request for a suggestion of a good restaurant is not even made, it is the person whom has had the great dining experience who will just volunteer the information whether the person they are talking to has intimated that they were looking for a restaurant or not!

We all like good things, we all like to assist friends and colleagues, so it is part of our make-up to want to help and assist other people. Recommending a good restaurant feels ‘everyday’ but the opportunity to recommend a good adviser is perhaps not such a run-of- the -mill topic of everyday conversation.

Two thoughts come to mind from this, the first is how would you feel if a friend went out for a meal (maybe a birthday or something), and then told you of the terrible time they’d had, when you had had your great experience, but not told them to go there?

The second and perhaps more critical aspect might apply to a non-referral on financial advice. What if you had a good financial adviser, but your friend did not and they ended up disappointed and possibly poorly advised to the point where it impacted on their life?

The pertinent point here is that if a business or person has provided a product or service that we have valued, then we should perhaps just out of caring feel almost obliged to let others know. Therefore next time you have a good experience or if someone whom has provided a good service asks if you know of someone else whom might benefit from their service, do the caring thing…..

This information is provided strictly for general consideration only. No action must be taken or refrained from based on its contents alone. Accordingly, no responsibility can be assumed for any loss occasioned about the content hereof and any such action or inaction. Professional advice is necessary for every case.

 

Neil Dainton

Financial Planner DIP PFS