This is a good read. Thank you for sharing your thoughts about it and we learned a lot 🙂

Hi Adam,
Thanks for reading. Well, in my opinion, there is nothing wrong with asking for referrals a second time. Most people generally only ask once. Certainly, asking once is better than not asking at all. But you have more opportunities if you ask twice right?

But the point is you have to make sure to do it right. As I said, it’s best to ask for referrals from clients whom you’ve developed some level of mutual trust. You will also have to make sure that you had delivered exceptional service and that the clients were happy. If so, I suggest you send your clients an email. I suggest you craft your email really well, making sure it will not waste someone’s time by keeping it short and sweet, introduce yourself, initiate small talks, and ask them, making sure though that you mention incentive. Please don’t forget to give them a way out, in case they don’t feel comfortable giving a referral. Simply say something like “Feel free to say no – I won’t be offended in any way.”

For incentivization, I usually offer discount (%), but there are many more concrete way of saying thanks. It could be gift card, free business card design, small client gifts, etc.

Good luck!

Sally

Thanks for stopping by, Mariah. It’s best to ask for referrals from clients whom you’ve developed some level of mutual trust. But you can start with a very simple way of doing by asking for it any time the clients give you compliments 😉 Good luck.

Robert – Thanks for reading. That is awesome! Let me know how it works.

I enjoyed reading your article. Do you have any advice on how to ask a client for referrals a second time? I already asked, but they never did refer anyone and I know they have a lot of contacts. I’m wondering how to approach it again (the first time was probably over a year ago)

Also, what kind of rewards system do you use? I’m wondering what kind of incentive would encourage more referrals.

Thanks!