Referrals via LinkedIn: Go From “It's Complicated" to “In a Relationship"

Written by: Amy Sitnick | SEI

This article originally appeared on SEI's Practically Speaking Blog.

I’ve been doing a lot of speaking on social media lately, in particular, training sessions on how advisors can use LinkedIn more proactively for networking and referrals. One advisor asked out loud (quite cynically, I might add) what you’re all probably thinking – “Is it working?”

He cited a wholesaler who came into his office with a printout of each of that advisor’s LinkedIn connections requesting to be introduced to his personal key contacts and asked the rest of the advisors in the audience if they’re doing the same thing.

Let me be clear; I’m not advocating that you do this. Frankly, it’s tacky and it sounds like a rookie LinkedIn marketing technique to me. It puts your client (and potential referral source) in a defensive posture.. On the other hand, that doesn’t mean that I’m advocating just having a LinkedIn profile and assume that it alone will automatically generate leads for you.

There’s a fine line in what’s appropriate, and what’s not appropriate, on LinkedIn.

My “social” friend Todd Greider (a non-profit leader, training specialist for a Fortune 500 company, and regulated industry veteran) agrees, and here’s why. Regardless of what you’re selling, you have to build a relationship – both online and offline. Todd and I are a good example of that. We started interacting online, each sharing interesting, relevant content and after realizing that we both hail from Pennsylvania, we’ve now had multiple calls and are collaborating on today’s blog post. He didn’t come to me and say, “I see you also work with financial advisors; can you please introduce me to your connections?”

Status: In a relationship
To succeed online, you must change from a transactional mindset “I want to sell you something” to the (sincere, not tacky) relationship mindset “How may I help you and your network achieve your goals?”

Rather than asking if you could meet a person’s LinkedIn connections, change your message. Instead of saying, “Do you know anyone who may benefit from the products or services that I offer?” try “Do you know anyone who may benefit from building a relationship like we have?”

Some of you might be thinking – isn’t that saying the same thing? Well, that depends on you, actually. According to Todd, if all you’ve done is correspond a few times and sell them something, is that really a relationship? The reality is that the answer is probably not.

Trust in advisors continues to be challenged with every negative action by a small segment of financial advisors with bad intentions published in the media. That means advisors must work twice as hard to build relationships and establish trust from their clients and prospects.

When little is done to establish a relationship, it is hard for any advisor to justify asking for a referral via LinkedIn (or anywhere else). However, if you have:

Implemented a true holistic planning model

Exceeded the expectations of your clients (and I’m not talking about their returns in the retirement plan) with every interaction they have with your firm

Shown substantial value that perhaps they can’t get from another advisor
then that’s a different story – and one that could position an advisor better to garner LinkedIn introductions and offline referrals.

All in the family
Todd says some advisors he has worked with treat their clients like family, inviting them to personal gatherings and participating with their clients in community charity or outreach events, among other relationship-building activities. In those situations, those advisors saw clients proactively reaching out to their friends, family and peers to invite the advisor to speak at their company or nonprofit board and other gatherings, or join them at golf outings with friends. This is a true sign of trust and respect and a proactive way to truly make a value-added and sincere connection with your clients. Let’s be clear, your clients know that you have a need to grow your business and at some point you may ask them to introduce you to their network. However, they are never going to do that if they don’t honestly believe that they can trust you.

So if you’ve implemented a true relationship model and provided holistic planning advice, how do you bridge that relationship from offline to online?

A communications tool
Here are some pointers when introducing LinkedIn as a communications tool to both new and existing clients.

1. New client relationships.

When you onboard a new client, include LinkedIn as a communications method up front. That way, it will be natural when you bring up LinkedIn as a means for networking down the road.

Explain why you use LinkedIn – and advocate that they use it, as well. It’s important to have your message down pat. LinkedIn is more than just finding a new job or referrals. Tell clients that you use LinkedIn to stay on top of industry trends, what’s happening in the markets, and expand your network. In essence, tell them, “I use LinkedIn and here’s why.”

Offer to help your clients use LinkedIn better. Many people would like to use LinkedIn more effectively. This in particular may help disarm anyone who may be protective of his or her network. Also, offer to be a good source of networking to them, if your network could be of use to your clients. Focus on making the online part of your relationship mutually beneficial. If they are business owners, do you know anyone who may help them achieve their personal or professional goals?

Ongoing, you can ask to get introduced to someone – either online or offline. If it’s uncomfortable to ask about knowing a LinkedIn prospect in a client meeting, set the stage that you use LinkedIn in the meeting and then do the referral requests via the “Get Introduced” feature. Perhaps start with getting introductions to other COIs vs. going direct;y to a particular contact in their network.

2. Existing relationships.
It’s easier to introduce LinkedIn with new client relationships and build it into your new client communication and onboarding process. But how do you build LinkedIn prospecting into your ongoing client process?

During client reviews, ask if anything has changed in their life. “Are you using anything new for me to stay in contact with you?” Offer a broad selection of communication tools – such as a quick text message, emails, and social media – as part of your communications plan. Reassess how they want to receive information from you each year, as their preferences may change.

You can then position that you’re using LinkedIn more and invite the person to connect, if you haven’t done so already.

If your client knows that you have a niche, you can let your connection know that you’re looking to meet other people in the field, or even share a new case study with that group.

Let clients know that you’re having an event that might be of interest to their connections vs. just setting up a lunch.

You might also want to start with other COIs with this group vs. their personal connections.

Authenticity is key
In summary, be thoughtful and share valuable content. Whatever you do, be authentic, and don’t sound like a stalker.