EP 239: How to Create a Referable Client Experience with Stacey Brown Randall
In this episode of The Weekly Wealth Podcast, Certified Financial Planner ™ David Chudyk sits down with referral expert and author Stacey Brown Randall to uncover the secrets behind a truly referable client experience.
Stacey explains why great service isn’t enough, how to turn everyday clients into raving referral sources, and why asking for referrals can actually hurt your business. Whether you’re a financial advisor, business owner, or sales professional, this conversation will help you re-engineer your client experience so your business grows organically—without cold calls, gimmicks, or awkward scripts.
👉 Grab Stacey’s book: The Referable Client Experience
⏱️ Episode Timestamps
00:00 – Intro: Why referrals are the ultimate financial planning tool
01:00 – Meet Stacey Brown Randall: Referral coach, podcaster, and author
03:00 – Podcasting longevity & creativity: How podcasts build connection and credibility
04:00 – Customer Service vs. Client Experience: Understanding the difference
06:00 – Why most people mislabel “referrals” and what to track instead
07:30 – How small businesses can outshine big companies in experience
10:00 – The 3 Stages of Client Experience: New → Active → Alumni
12:00 – The 50/50 Formula: Great work + relationship touchpoints
16:00 – Overcoming “The Quiet Voice” of buyer’s remorse
18:00 – Example: Sending a “journey card” or handwritten note that reassures new clients
21:00 – Avoiding complacency during long-term client relationships
22:00 – Cookie Box Example: A creative relationship touchpoint before annual reviews
25:00 – Why not every happy client will refer — and that’s okay
27:00 – The Science Behind Referrals: Why you should never ask for them
30:00 – Centers of Influence: How to approach COIs the right way
33:00 – How Stacey works with clients & the programs she offers
35:00 – Lifetime value of a referral & compounding business growth
36:00 – What wealth means to Stacey Brown Randall: Freedom of choice
37:00 – Final Tip: Identify your current referral sources—the “low-hanging fruit”
39:00 – Bonus Content: How listeners can apply the episode immediately
💡 Key Takeaways
- Client experience = how they feel working with you
- Great work alone isn’t enough; add relationship touchpoints
- Avoid the “ask” — referrals come from helping others, not self-promotion
- Identify who’s already referring you and nurture those relationships first
📚 Resources Mentioned
- Book: The Referable Client Experience by Stacey Brown Randall
- Website: staceybrownrandall.com
- Podcast: Roadmap to Referrals by Stacey Brown Randall
- Weekly Wealth Vision Call: weeklywealthpodcast.com/vision
🧭 Connect with David Chudyk, CFP®
Website: WeeklyWealthPodcast.com
Email: david@parallelfinancial.com
LinkedIn | Instagram | YouTube | Facebook → @WeeklyWealthPodcast
🎧 The Weekly Wealth Podcast — helping the mass affluent live better lives through how they handle their money.
00:00 - Untitled
00:22 - Increasing Business Referrals
03:27 - Understanding Client Experience vs. Customer Service
10:23 - Understanding the Client Experience
24:32 - Understanding Referrals and Client Relationships
29:11 - Transitioning to Referral Strategies
One of the biggest goals for the weekly Wealth Podcast is to put you in a better financial position.
Speaker ASo if you're a business owner or if you are in sales, one of the greatest things that you do, you can do is to sell more stuff and to increase your volume of business.
Speaker AAnd of course, one of the best ways to do that is to increase your referral process.
Speaker ASo today we're talking about how to increase the amount of referrals you get and what processes you can put in place so.
Speaker ASo that you can grow your business by referrals.
Speaker AI hope that you enjoy this episode.
Speaker AThis is actually the second time that Stacy Brown Randall has been on our podcast.
Speaker AShe does a really good job and she is an incredible referral coach.
Speaker ASo I hope that you enjoy this episode.
Speaker AAnd here we go.
Speaker AWelcome to the weekly Wealth Podcast.
Speaker AI am certified financial planner David Chudick.
Speaker AThis podcast and my wealth management practice are both designed to help the mass affluent to live better lives, better by how they handle their money.
Speaker AWe talk about financial strategies, prosperous mindsets, and simply how to build true wealth.
Speaker ASo come on and let's enjoy this journey together.
Speaker AWe have a repeat offender today.
Speaker ASo Stacy Brown Randall is with us and we're talking about a financial tool that's not a traditional financial tool.
Speaker AAnd Stacy's going to talk to us about how we can generate more business and revenue through referrals.
Speaker AAnd let's face it, if you, you listen to this episode and you generate a lot more revenue because you're getting a lot more referrals, what better financial planning tool is, is there possibly than that?
Speaker AHey, Stacy, how are you?
Speaker BI'm doing great, David.
Speaker BThanks for having me back.
Speaker BI love knowing that I'm a repeat offender, hopefully in a good way, not in a bad way.
Speaker BBut I'm excited to be here.
Speaker ASo it's crazy.
Speaker AYou were on episode number 96, June 24th of 2022, and here we are late in 2020 25.
Speaker ASo, number one, I'm glad to have you back.
Speaker AAnd number two, I do want to brag that not that many podcasts end up in the 200 plus episode range.
Speaker ASo it's been a lot of work.
Speaker ABut I love putting out my podcast.
Speaker BI think putting out my podcast is probably the other than maybe my marriage is probably one of the longest commitments I've ever had.
Speaker BWe're about to hit episode.
Speaker BWe're closing in.
Speaker BWe're not there yet, but we're really close to episode 400.
Speaker BSo my podcast has been out.
Speaker BIt's called Roadmap to referrals since 2018.
Speaker BAnd every Tuesday we drop a new episode.
Speaker BAnd people ask me all the time.
Speaker BThey're like, how have you figured out to talk about multiple years about the same topic of referrals?
Speaker BI'm like, oh, you'd be surprised.
Speaker BThere's so much.
Speaker AAnd one of the cool things about podcasting, honestly, is if somebody listens and they like my personality and maybe my sarcasm and my sense of humor or lack of sense of humor, then they might want to work with me.
Speaker ABut other people might think that guy's just not serious enough for me.
Speaker AAnd that's cool too, because my clients and I, we have a long term relationship.
Speaker AAnd I feel like podcasting is just a really good way for people to learn to get to know me and to get to know you.
Speaker BAbsolutely.
Speaker BThe listening to you, I think, is so much more valuable.
Speaker BPeople tell me that all the time.
Speaker BThey're like, do you.
Speaker BWould you prefer that people read your book or listen to your book?
Speaker BAnd I'm like, whatever one you'll do to get to the end of the book is actually most important to me.
Speaker BBut a lot of people appreciate listening to the book, the audio version, because I read it, so they feel like they get to even know me even better.
Speaker AAll right, so let's talk about referrals.
Speaker AEverybody always says I get all my customers through word of mouth and I don't spend any money on advertising.
Speaker AAnd maybe that's true, maybe it's not.
Speaker ABut you say that client experience is way more important than customer service.
Speaker ASo first of all, maybe let's talk about the difference between the two of them, and let's unpack, like, what a great client experience is.
Speaker BYeah.
Speaker BSo let me just first talk about the first thing you brought up.
Speaker BThere is people talk about all my business comes through referrals.
Speaker BLots of people say that it's because obviously what I do, like, they want to know over to get that figured out.
Speaker BAnd the interesting thing is when I ask them to actually go through the process of uncovering their data, like digging in to where are your clients coming, where are your prospects coming that don't become clients?
Speaker BAnd they're like, oh, it's all from referral.
Speaker BAnd then they start digging in.
Speaker BThey're usually wrong.
Speaker BVery rarely does somebody tell me all my business comes from referral.
Speaker BAnd then that's true.
Speaker BUsually what I see is that they're categorizing things as referrals that aren't referrals.
Speaker BRight.
Speaker BSo if you're paying for leads from A third party.
Speaker BAnd those leads are sent to you.
Speaker BLike, that's not.
Speaker BThe lead source isn't sending them to you whether you pay or not.
Speaker BLike, they're not referrals.
Speaker BYou're getting a lead, right?
Speaker BAnd that's a paid transaction for that lead.
Speaker BOr people will act as if when they get repeat clients, they'll be like, oh, no, this client was referred.
Speaker BAnd I was like, you can't refer yourself.
Speaker BThey were already a client.
Speaker BNow they're a repeat client.
Speaker BThat means you do great work.
Speaker BThey're coming back to you, but they're not referred to when they come back to you.
Speaker BSo a lot of times it's the category, and sometimes it's just people think about referrals incorrectly.
Speaker BLike, I was at an event where I was working with some of my clients in our referral accelerator format, and there was somebody in the room that was like, I have 30 referral sources.
Speaker BAnd as we dug into it and kept peeling it back, okay, who is this and who is that and who is this?
Speaker BBecause everybody does pre work before they work with me.
Speaker BThey have eight actual people who refer them, and everybody else that they thought was a referral source wasn't.
Speaker BIt was either a repeat client or it was something different.
Speaker BSo I do think that's what I say this because a lot of people will talk to me, and they're like, other people seem to grow their business by referrals.
Speaker BThat's what they say.
Speaker BIs there something wrong with me that I'm not growing my business by referrals?
Speaker BAnd I'm like, first of all, there's nothing wrong with you unless you do really crappy work.
Speaker BAnd then that's another issue.
Speaker ARight?
Speaker BBut let's assume you don't.
Speaker BThere's nothing wrong with you.
Speaker BAnd to those other folks probably don't know if they're even telling the truth, and they're not lying on purpose.
Speaker BThey're usually saying what they think is true, but it's not always what is true.
Speaker BSo I always like to just start there.
Speaker BWhen people bring up the, oh, my business is all by referral, I'm like, it's probably not.
Speaker BAnd if you're hearing someone say that, I don't want you to feel bad, because that's not always the case.
Speaker BBut the other part of the question you asked was about the difference between client experience and customer service.
Speaker BLots of times when I talk to my clients about their client experience, I'd be like, tell me about your client experience.
Speaker BThe answer I hear is, oh, yeah, we actually have somebody who's in charge of responding to client inquiries and emails, and there's always someone who's following up.
Speaker BWe do great customer service.
Speaker BI'm like, customer service is actually a smaller piece of the larger client experience bucket.
Speaker BI was like, it's a part of it.
Speaker BIt is not it.
Speaker BSome people think client experience is solely what we do when people have questions or concerns about how they're working with us or the product they just purchased.
Speaker BAnd that's customer service, and it's important, but it is a subsection, a smaller subsection of the overall client experience.
Speaker ABecause in customer service, there's some sort of an order or a question that I might have or maybe even a problem.
Speaker AAnd of course, you and your team would need to fix the problem.
Speaker ABut I think the client experience, like when you walk in Disney World, like, you have a feeling like they're there, and it's different.
Speaker AAnd I actually did a tour with Ritz Carlton when I stayed years ago, and they talked about the client experience and even things from.
Speaker AThey can't point you in a direction.
Speaker AIf you ask for directions, you.
Speaker AThey have to walk with you and make a conversation.
Speaker AAnd that, to me, is.
Speaker AThat's a whole different level of experience than a customer service.
Speaker BIt is.
Speaker BIt's the way we define client experience, and lots of people will define it differently.
Speaker BBut the one definition that I have found that I think is the clearest way for people to understand it is that your client experience is actually how they feel working with you.
Speaker BTo have a feeling that's going to come from a lot of different areas and a lot of different parts within that client experience.
Speaker BIt can't just be the great work that you do.
Speaker BIt's more than that.
Speaker BIf you're impacting how they feel.
Speaker AI've been to businesses and they fulfilled their obligation.
Speaker AThey gave a good.
Speaker AThey gave a reasonable product and service.
Speaker ABut you felt, am I bothering you?
Speaker AAm I.
Speaker AAm I inconveniencing you?
Speaker AOr maybe the front desk person, like, they.
Speaker AYou walk in and they're still texting on their phone for two seconds, and then they look at you, and that's a bad experience.
Speaker AAnd maybe they delivered on the product and service adequately, but you don't walk out like, wow, they really care about me.
Speaker BYeah.
Speaker BAnd I think that.
Speaker BI think the larger your business gets and the more employees you have, sometimes that's a harder thing to maintain from that client experience perspective.
Speaker BBut it really does have to be kind of like, baked into.
Speaker BEverything you do is paying attention to that client Experience.
Speaker BI think it's one of the reasons why I love working with small business owners.
Speaker BBecause what most small business owners don't know is their competitive advantage and is their superpower is the fact that they're small.
Speaker BBecause we can do things and develop a certain client experience that big businesses only could dream about, but they don't.
Speaker BThey're not small enough, they're not nimble enough, they're not able enough to really build that connection that as small business owners, we can do.
Speaker AIf you've ever dealt with maybe your Internet company or your cell phone company, we had an Internet issue and I spoke to somebody on the phone, and it's 30 minutes by the time you get to speak with someone, and they're following their script, they're doing the best they can to give customer service.
Speaker ABut they finally told me that the cell phone tower in a city was out.
Speaker AAnd I was like, I know you're looking at your computer and it's telling you that, but that's 60 miles away.
Speaker AI cannot be convinced that I don't have Internet because of a tower that's 60 miles away.
Speaker AWhereas if this was a small, locally owned business, they could have said, yeah, you know what, there's something else going on here, and we can look out of the computer screen and we can do something else to help you to fix it.
Speaker ASo as far as client experience, is it just making your clients feel special or is there a formula or there steps?
Speaker AAre there different sections?
Speaker AWhat will make a really good client experience?
Speaker BYeah, so I like to break everything down so people can understand how it works.
Speaker BAnd there is definitely a system and a process behind your client experience.
Speaker BYou have a client experience, no matter if you know it or not.
Speaker BThis is either intentional or it's unintentional.
Speaker BBut either way, your clients are experiencing something.
Speaker BThey are feeling something when they decide to hire you, when they decide to work with you.
Speaker BSo if you want to have an intentional client experience, and in my case I want to help you make one that makes you referable, the most important thing you can realize is there's a stages that your clients go through.
Speaker BAnd in each of those stages, we also apply a formula so you can understand what you should be doing to, like, increase and make that client experience better.
Speaker BSo breaking down, in its simplest terms, the stages, there are three stages in the client experience.
Speaker BI like to keep things super simple.
Speaker BI think you could probably break these down further into, like, more nuanced stages.
Speaker BBut for me, I find with my clients, when I can say there's three stages.
Speaker BEveryone can wrap their head around that.
Speaker BThey're like, okay, got it.
Speaker BIt.
Speaker BSo the three stages are when the client is new, and then once they're done being new and they move into the period that we call active, and that is usually where most of the work is done, is in the active phase.
Speaker BAnd then when they're done working with you, they exit the active stage into the alumni stage.
Speaker BSo new active alumni, except in some businesses like yours, David, you don't want your clients to leave, right?
Speaker BYou want to be able to work with them for as many years as possible.
Speaker BSo you only have two of the three stages.
Speaker BYou have the new stage, and then you have the active stage, which effectively becomes the ongoing active stage.
Speaker BAnd there.
Speaker BBecause you want.
Speaker BIt's no different from a bookkeeper or a cpa, right, that wants to do your taxes every year, or a bookkeeper that wants to reconcile your books every month.
Speaker BSo the idea is that you stay with them forever.
Speaker BSo you have.
Speaker BEverybody has the new stage, everybody has the active stage.
Speaker BIt's just a matter of does your active stage end into alumni or does it.
Speaker BIs it ongoing active?
Speaker BBecause how you deal with different things that happen with your clients, whether you're ongoing active forever or alumni night, it does shift how you approach and look at the client experience.
Speaker BThe formula that we use of, okay, what do we need to be doing to really get the feelings that we want our clients to be evoking the feelings and the reactions that we want our clients having?
Speaker BOne way we do that is through this formula, which is most people look at.
Speaker BYou will think highly of me.
Speaker BYou will talk well of me.
Speaker BYou will stay a client.
Speaker BYou will refer me if I do great work.
Speaker BBut great work is only one half of the formula.
Speaker BGreat work is one part of the formula.
Speaker BThat's what we call like.
Speaker BDoing great work is what we refer to as the work touch points.
Speaker BIt's the everything you do that the client sees and doesn't.
Speaker ABut that's the bare minimum, isn't it?
Speaker AIf your car needs new tires, if I put new tires on them, that's what you paid for.
Speaker AYou may not be going to refer me for that because all I did was put new tires on your car.
Speaker BThat's why it's only one half of the formula.
Speaker BBut it's the half that most people stop at doing great work, right?
Speaker BI have people say to me all the time, I do great work.
Speaker BMy clients tell me that they love me, they leave me great testimonials or online reviews.
Speaker BAnd I'm like, and are you drowning in referrals?
Speaker BAnd they're like, no, am I doing something wrong?
Speaker BAnd I'm like, no, but you haven't added the other piece that makes you referable.
Speaker BAnd then you don't know how to bridge the gap to actual referrals.
Speaker BThose are multiple steps in the process of a client experience.
Speaker BSo most people know, okay, the client experience is the work I do.
Speaker BLike, that's the first half.
Speaker BThe second half is it's the relationship you build with your clients.
Speaker BAnd I don't mean you.
Speaker BYou have 45 minute conversations where 40 minutes of it is like talking to each other and then five minutes of work.
Speaker BI don't mean that.
Speaker BI don't mean you have to have a bunch of meetings.
Speaker BYou don't have to hop on a bunch of phone calls with your clients.
Speaker BBut it is doing the outreach or what we call touch points to let your clients know that they matter and that they're more than just a number.
Speaker BAnd that's really important that people overlook.
Speaker BSo you've got the work that you do work touch points and the relationship.
Speaker BYou build the relationship touch points.
Speaker BIt takes both things to make the client experience that you ultimately want.
Speaker AOkay, so let's look at my business Financial advisor.
Speaker AWe're very holistic.
Speaker AWe, our intention is to work with our clients.
Speaker AAnd this is why I love podcasting, because I get free advice.
Speaker ASo you don't know that, but you're giving me free advice right now, which I love, and it's going to make me millions of dollars.
Speaker AWe're not transactional.
Speaker ASo our intention is to work with clients that we the ones that we want to for literally decades, in addition to providing the right advice on which type of IRA you should have and how much money you should be putting in your 401k.
Speaker AAnd some direction on, hey, our analysis says you need some life insurance and here's what it's going to cost you.
Speaker AThose are the basics.
Speaker AWhat are some things that somebody in my business could do both in that new stage?
Speaker AAnd to me, I may be anomaly or it may be more common.
Speaker AI think it's easier to wow a customer in the beginning, but then what are some of the other things?
Speaker AMaybe that moving forward as we have our relationship over years and decades, I could do to keep that client experience at a really optimal level.
Speaker BYeah.
Speaker BSo the new stage is usually the easiest to do.
Speaker BIt's the shortest stage you have.
Speaker BSo it's not like you're leaving room to do a bunch of Relationship touch points.
Speaker BI do want to say, let me talk about the percentage of how we compare work touch points to relationship touch points.
Speaker BYou never want your relationship touch points to overwhelm your work touch points.
Speaker BAnd you never even want to be trying to do one for one or even for every one.
Speaker BLike even every two work touch points.
Speaker BI do one relationship touch point.
Speaker B50.
Speaker B50 is even too much.
Speaker BI typically tell my clients to aim for like 20, maybe 30% relationship touch points and to the rest of them being work touch points.
Speaker BSo if in the new client stage you did 10 touch points, right.
Speaker BThat were work related, at a minimum, I would want you to do one relationship touch point, but maybe two.
Speaker BAnd it depends on how you choose to deliver those.
Speaker BRight.
Speaker BSometimes a relationship touch point is a standalone touch point.
Speaker BIt's.
Speaker BIt happens to build that relationship and let that client know that you've got their back and that they're more than just a client to you.
Speaker BSometimes you can deliver that relationship touch point in conjunction with a work touch point.
Speaker BSo these aren't always, oh, I've got to do 10 work touch points and then I got to add in two relationship touch points.
Speaker BSometimes you can blend them together.
Speaker BIt just depends on how you're doing it.
Speaker BSo I can give you a couple of examples for that.
Speaker BBut let's talk about it from the new stage.
Speaker BSo let's say you do 10 things in the new stage as a financial advisor, because I work with a lot of financial planners, a lot of financial advisors, two things that I always have them, that I always tell them that they should consider, but this really does apply to any of your listeners who are listening that or not, don't do what you do and are just a business owner is in the new stage.
Speaker BOne of the best ways that you can really start forming a relationship is help a client overcome what I call as the quiet voice.
Speaker BThe quiet voice are all the doubts and concerns they have about working with you that they're never going to say to you.
Speaker BIt's their buyer's remorse that they may or may never speak to.
Speaker BBut it's all the things circling in their heads.
Speaker BThey may be super excited to work with you.
Speaker BThey may have been referred to you, they may trust you, they may be very excited to work with you.
Speaker BBut the minute they say yes, it is normal and natural for a little bit of dissonance to show up and be like, oh, man, I really hope we made the right choice.
Speaker BI really hope we made the right decision here.
Speaker BSo a relationship based touch point that could happen during that.
Speaker BSo you're doing everything else they're doing.
Speaker BRight.
Speaker BYou're like talking to them about moving their assets over and doing their financial plan and getting information from them that they need and all the things that are happening because they're new.
Speaker BRight.
Speaker BAnd that moment.
Speaker BWhat you could also do for relationship.
Speaker BRelationship touch points.
Speaker BSorry.
Speaker BIs send them a handwritten card.
Speaker BIt could be a gift or it could just be a handwritten card.
Speaker BBut most people make mistakes.
Speaker BOn with that handwritten card is they'll be like, we're so glad you're a client.
Speaker BIt's gonna be great.
Speaker BThere's.
Speaker BThat's an average card.
Speaker BLots of people send cards like that.
Speaker BI'd rather you send that card than send nothing at all.
Speaker BBut what if you did?
Speaker BA card like that spoke to the quiet voice, that spoke to the buyer's remorse, that spoke to what they're about to experience it.
Speaker BIt tells them that you see them differently.
Speaker BAnd so in that case, I'd rather you send what we refer to as like a journey card.
Speaker BLike, we're going to talk about what this journey is going to look like.
Speaker BHey, so if you were sending that to me.
Speaker BStacy, we're so excited to begin working with you.
Speaker BWe know as you work through this process, there's going to be work for you to do and things we're going to ask from you.
Speaker BAnd it can get overwhelming at some point.
Speaker BBut always know you can come to us and ask any questions that you have.
Speaker BRemember, we've been doing this working with clients for five years, 15 years, 30 years, whatever it is.
Speaker BWe are your co pilot.
Speaker BWe are along along with you through this ride.
Speaker BAnd you're never alone.
Speaker BSomething like that speaks to the things that I could be feeling that I may never tell you.
Speaker BThat connects me to you differently than just a, we're so glad you're a client.
Speaker AAnd though thank you for becoming a client, that kind of makes it about me, like you did something for me.
Speaker AWhereas the journey card about, let's make sure that this is a comfortable journey for you and let's make it easy for you and let's help you to overcome your fears.
Speaker BAnd.
Speaker AAnd these may be maybe typical fears or fears that you specifically voiced.
Speaker AThat's about you.
Speaker AThat's about the client.
Speaker AThat's not about me necessarily.
Speaker ASo I like that a lot.
Speaker AI've always had a weird thing with thanking people for becoming clients.
Speaker ABecause you're not becoming a client of mine for my benefit.
Speaker BRight.
Speaker AYou should becoming a client of mine because you feel Like, I can really help you.
Speaker CQuick question.
Speaker CWhen's the last time you stopped to ask, where is my money actually taking me?
Speaker CIf you're a business owner or high earner who's too busy to figure out if you're on the right path, we have created something just for you.
Speaker CIt's called the 10 Minute Wealth Vision Call.
Speaker CA quick, no pressure zoom where we'll talk about your biggest financial question and help you get one step closer to your ideal future.
Speaker CNo pitches, no fluff, just clarity, confidence and direction.
Speaker CGrab your spot now@weeklywealthpodcast.com vision.
Speaker CThat's weekly wealth podcast podcast.com vision.
Speaker CYour vision deserves 10 minutes.
Speaker BAnd so sometimes, like I think people overthink this stuff.
Speaker BLike I'll have people be like, do I need to send them like a big gift?
Speaker BI'm like, you can, but what you say with that gift, when they're a new client, it should speak to what they need in that stage.
Speaker BIt's like the person who says to me, like, I want to send them a gift, what kind of gift should I send?
Speaker BAnd I'm like, depending on what stage they are in, what do they need?
Speaker BLike that's really important is to think about what they ultimately need at that moment.
Speaker BYou have to ask that question.
Speaker BAnd then you have to put yourself and your client client's shoes, which most people won't take the time to do.
Speaker BAnd that's a really big part of this is, hey, what do they need?
Speaker BLet's put myself in your shoes and my client shoes.
Speaker BOnce somebody exits your new stage, this isn't something you're telling your clients.
Speaker BThey don't know they're exiting the new stage.
Speaker BAnd you determine when the new stage ends.
Speaker BAnd then as you move forward from that, they move into the active stage.
Speaker BAnd so now we're thinking about this is where the lull of complacency sets in.
Speaker BIt's like that we're going to do the same thing every year for you.
Speaker BWe're going to do your four quarterly reviews or your twice a year reviews or your annual review every year.
Speaker BAnd here it comes.
Speaker BAnd we're going to email you, we're going to get you a newsletter and we're going to call you and you're going to call us when you have questions.
Speaker BBut now we're in this rhythm and whether it's for a year and then they're done or they're a year, every single year.
Speaker BSo like in your business, it's every single year, right?
Speaker BSo when you're thinking through, okay.
Speaker BWe're in this moment where it's just over and over again, it's paying attention to that lull of complacency and paying attention to what that ultimately looks like.
Speaker BSo I do talk about this story in the book Rebel Client Experience, but I have a financial advisor where one thing that they wanted to overcome was once a client had been with them for a number of years, particularly even going into their second year, they know about the annual review.
Speaker BIt's like, do this every year.
Speaker BAnd who don't have questions or don't think there's anything to talk about or anything, blow them off.
Speaker BBecause they're like, it's good.
Speaker BIt's good until it's not right.
Speaker BAnd the financial advisor, you need to be in front of them because there's always 14 other financial advisors trying to get their attention.
Speaker BSo the annual review is actually important because it's important for your client to understand what's happening and important for your client to update you on what's going on, but also because it helps you extend the relationship.
Speaker BBut if your clients are blowing them off, you're missing out on that opportunity.
Speaker BNow, the annual review is a work touch point, but something that I told this advisor to do is, what if, in advance of the scheduling, you actually did a relationship touch point that also helped us deliver on a work piece?
Speaker BAnd so she started sending a box of cookies.
Speaker BSo she would send a box of cookies to the client and be like, it's annual review time while you wait for your annual review.
Speaker BWe hope you enjoy this sweet treat on behalf of us.
Speaker BAnd then they use the assistant's name.
Speaker BRight.
Speaker BKelly will be reaching out to schedule your interview soon.
Speaker BIn the meantime.
Speaker BRight.
Speaker BEnjoy this sweet treat.
Speaker BSo now the clients have these cookies have shown up.
Speaker BIt gets their attention.
Speaker BThey now know that Kelly is going to be reaching out because they didn't miss the email.
Speaker BIt came in the note with the cookies, and it's a little bit more memorable.
Speaker BRight.
Speaker AAnd then that's going into my process.
Speaker AI like it.
Speaker BPerfect.
Speaker BYes.
Speaker ANow, would you keep the cookies every year or would you maybe like, rotate cookies and then candy and something?
Speaker BIt's the touch point that what you decide to deliver in that touch point is up to you.
Speaker BI think sometimes people are always asking this question, like, should I keep the same thing?
Speaker BI might listen, you can do something different every year, and that becomes part of your process because it just allows you to do something different or you can find a clear winner.
Speaker BA lot of your clients talk about how much they liked it.
Speaker BAnd then you can send that every year if you want.
Speaker BBut your clients will tell you if they love something and then you change it on them.
Speaker BThey will.
Speaker BSome of them will let you know.
Speaker BRight.
Speaker BSo when I.
Speaker BWe used to have this attorney that sent lemon cookies every Christmas.
Speaker BAnd then one year it wasn't lemon cookies.
Speaker BAnd I was not happy.
Speaker BI loved those lemon cookies.
Speaker BAnd I told him, I was like, what happened to the lemon cookies?
Speaker BAnd he was like, I just want to try something different.
Speaker BI'm like, if I'm the only client that complains, you do you.
Speaker BBut if more complain about the lemon cookies, you got to go back.
Speaker BIt's just your clients will tell you all lovingly.
Speaker BUsually they're not ever mad.
Speaker BRight.
Speaker BThey're getting cookies regardless, or whatever you're sending, but you change it up and be different.
Speaker BOr you can send the same thing every year.
Speaker ASo are there clients that I have and clients that you have that have an incredible client experience?
Speaker AThey're thankful.
Speaker AThey feel like we care about them.
Speaker AThey know that we're providing a high level of service, but they are just, quote, not someone who sends referrals just because sometimes referring is weird or awkward.
Speaker AOr are there people who maybe just never will refer just because that's who they are?
Speaker AOr am I thinking about that incorrectly?
Speaker BYeah.
Speaker BThe truth is, even if everybody loves you and can refer you, they won't all do it.
Speaker BYou have to have two things for a referral to happen.
Speaker BDesire and opportunity.
Speaker BDesire is the desire that I refer to you instead of the thousand other financial planners who do what you do in your area.
Speaker BRight.
Speaker BOpportunity is that I actually come across people that need what you do, or I would have conversations with people that need what you do.
Speaker BYou only control my desire to refer to you.
Speaker BYou don't control if I'm ever going to come across the opportunity.
Speaker BSome clients are more likely to come across opportunities than others.
Speaker BSome clients are more likely to see opportunities or create opportunities themselves because they believe in you that much.
Speaker BSome clients never will.
Speaker BIt's just not how they think.
Speaker BCan refer, but not everybody will.
Speaker BI tell folks, if you can get yourself to 20, 25% of your clients referring to you, then there's probably room.
Speaker BThere's probably definitely room to increase that.
Speaker BLet's first get you to 20, 25%, referring you, and then we'll try to get you to 40 or 50%.
Speaker BBut even in the work that I do, I teach people how to generate more referrals.
Speaker BIt's not like all of my clients refer me, and that doesn't mean I'm doing anything wrong.
Speaker ARight.
Speaker BAnd of course, that's the whole purpose of my book, is to understand how to bridge that gap to referrals.
Speaker BWhen it's not just the right people who just refer naturally, but they need a little bit of nurturing along the way.
Speaker BBut you still, at that point, knowing that there are ways to get your clients to refer you, you still have to accept that it won't work on everyone and not everybody will do it, and that's okay.
Speaker BAnd it doesn't mean they don't love you.
Speaker BIt just means they don't think to refer or they just don't do it.
Speaker ASo do you coach your clients to ask for referrals or to coach them on what type of clients we're looking for?
Speaker AOr talk to me about that?
Speaker ACause you're shaking your head like, that's a no.
Speaker BNo, that's huge.
Speaker BNo.
Speaker BSo what people don't understand is the science behind referrals.
Speaker BAnd when you understand the science behind referrals, then you understand why I would shake my head to the asking.
Speaker BRight?
Speaker BOr the.
Speaker BMy favorite thing is when people are like, I need to train my clients or other people on who best to refer to me.
Speaker BAnd my common response is always, your referral sources don't need to be trained.
Speaker BThey're not dogs.
Speaker BRight.
Speaker BYes, they may need to be guided, but they need to be guided well after they've even in the realm of wanting to refer to you.
Speaker BBut you're never going to train them and you're never going to start with that.
Speaker BThat.
Speaker BBut a lot of people.
Speaker BAnd it's in the industry, and it's huge.
Speaker BDavid, in your industry, right?
Speaker BLike, one of the number one ways financial planners are taught to generate referrals is to ask at the end of those annual reviews, ask for them.
Speaker BAt the end of those client phone calls, ask for them in your newsletter, right?
Speaker BConstantly asking people to refer you.
Speaker BBut the science shows that when I refer to you, it has nothing to do with you.
Speaker BIt has to do with an opportunity that I found myself in talking to someone else.
Speaker BEither because you just did something for me and I'm talking about you because I think you're amazing.
Speaker BAnd somebody else says, wait, I don't have that in my financial advisor, tell me more about David.
Speaker BOr I'm having a conversation with someone who needs what you do.
Speaker BRight.
Speaker BWhen I decide to refer to you, it's never about you.
Speaker BIt's about me helping somebody else who has A problem and how I'm going to help them is by referring them to you.
Speaker BRight.
Speaker BYou're just the solution provider.
Speaker BYes.
Speaker BYou get the benefit of a new client and that is great.
Speaker BWe love to see a increase.
Speaker BBut that is not the point point.
Speaker BRight from the client who is now referring use position.
Speaker BThey are doing it to help someone else.
Speaker BYou're just how they're going to help them.
Speaker BSo when you ask me for a referral and I don't know anybody and now you want me to artificially create or manufacture something, what you've actually done is commoditized our relationship and just created more work for me to do.
Speaker BAnd I don't know about anybody else but my to do list with three teenagers is as long and a business is as long as it can get.
Speaker BI don't need to adding your work to my to do list.
Speaker BSo you have to keep in mind that we want our clients to think that referring to us is their idea.
Speaker BThat's how I want it to be.
Speaker BI want to think about referring you and it be my idea.
Speaker BI may need a little help to get to that place.
Speaker BAnd that's how we bridge the gap to referrals and the way that I teach it to my clients.
Speaker BBut I am not expecting my clients to refer me and I'm never going to ask them to refer me.
Speaker BAnd it's going to come from that place of making sure I'm really building that relationship and then I'm planting referral seeds.
Speaker BAnd it's more of like the power power of suggestion than it is anything else.
Speaker BIt is never a direct ask because once you ask me, you've actually you cut off that ability for me to think, to do it for myself and the ask becomes the trigger.
Speaker BAnd if I don't like your ask and I don't like the trigger, then you'll never get referrals from me.
Speaker CIf you're successful on paper but still feel unsure about your financial future, you're not alone.
Speaker CDavid chudic created the 10 minute wealth vision call for high earners and business owners who are busy but know they need a plan.
Speaker CIn just 10 minutes, we'll talk through one key issue and we will help you see the next smart move.
Speaker CNo pressure, no jargon, just clarity from someone who's helped people like you every day.
Speaker CHead to weeklywealthpodcast.com vision and grab your spot.
Speaker ABefore we jump into your book a little bit more, what about centers of influence?
Speaker AThere are people in every industry that have the opportunity to refer to an industry.
Speaker ASo obviously, estate planning attorney, cpa, potentially can refer business to me.
Speaker AAnd I'm sure that's similar in every industry.
Speaker AWhat, what best practices or talking points or guidance do you have with regards to centers of influence?
Speaker BYeah, so here's what's interesting.
Speaker BSo when people, like, read my first book, which was generating business referrals without asking, the question is always, okay, is this it?
Speaker BIs this what I need to know about referrals?
Speaker BI've got what I need to be able to generate referrals.
Speaker BAnd I always laugh because I actually teach 20 different strategies.
Speaker BSome of them are baby strategies, like, just know when someone says, this is how I want you to respond.
Speaker BAnd some of them are plans that we build.
Speaker BThe three foundational strategies that I think every business should have in place are, first, if you have people referring you now, you should have a plan in place to generate more referrals from them.
Speaker BAnd people referring you now could be clients or centers of influence, but you create a plan to take care of them the same way, regardless if they're a client or a coi.
Speaker BAnd that's a plan that you execute on year over year after year.
Speaker BCreating a referral experience.
Speaker BThen another foundational strategy is what my second book, the book we're talking about, is all about, which is the referable client experience.
Speaker BThere's also a strategy and a process and a plan to put in place to bring your clients to the place where they want to refer you.
Speaker BRight.
Speaker BNot everybody's going to think to do it on their own.
Speaker BSo, you know, we want to plant referral seeds and deliver a great client experience so that we can generate referrals.
Speaker BThe third foundational strategy is people who've never referred you but you want them to.
Speaker BAnd so this can be for clients who are no longer clients of yours.
Speaker BRight.
Speaker BOr it can be for very specific clients that even though they're getting your referable client experience, you've pinpointed them as somebody who probably has potential to refer.
Speaker BAnd then of course, your centers of influence.
Speaker BSo when people come to me and they're like, can I apply what I'm learning in the referable client experience in this book to my centers of influence?
Speaker BI'm like, no, that's a different strategy.
Speaker BThat's the strategy of how we get new people, new centers of influence, maybe some clients, but mostly new centers of influence to start referring, referring to us when they've never thought about doing it before.
Speaker BIt's different because they're not a client.
Speaker BSo what you learn in Referable Client Experience is positioned for clients.
Speaker BWhen we're trying to get COIs to refer us, it's just a different strategy that we follow.
Speaker AI can imagine a lot of business owners or maybe salespeople or managers listening to this saying, you know what?
Speaker AThis sounds amazing.
Speaker AI can increase the amount of sales I make from referrals and I don't have to have these weird, awkward conversations about I even previous life.
Speaker AIf we had this weird, put a piece of paper and a pen in front of your client and say, oh, I need to use the restroom, but while I'm gone, would you mind writing down 10 names of your friends and family?
Speaker AAnd that's just weird.
Speaker AAnd that I can't.
Speaker AI guess anything could work if you do it enough.
Speaker ACould you imagine a more awkward scenario?
Speaker AClients that are thinking, I would like Stacy's book.
Speaker AI would like to potentially work with her.
Speaker ATalk to us a little bit about how you work with clients and where we can find your book and your website and how people can find you and all that really good stuff because this is really valuable.
Speaker BYeah.
Speaker BSo the book is called the Referable Client Experience.
Speaker BIt's available wherever you like to order or purchase your book so you can grab a copy.
Speaker BSo online.
Speaker BIt's definitely going to be available at all the major retailers.
Speaker BAnd of course, it's called Referable Client Experience.
Speaker BAnd for those that are interested in learning more, I always tell them, just start by reading the book, because you're going to get a sense of who I am, my philosophy, my beliefs, and the type of things that I would coach and consult with you to actually do within your business.
Speaker BAnd when you're ready to take that next step.
Speaker BStep.
Speaker BAnd you're ready to learn more and you're like, okay, I think I want to work with Stacy.
Speaker BWe actually, the way that I work with clients is a little bit different than most folks.
Speaker BI take those 20 referral strategies that I teach and you get access to all of them.
Speaker BYou just have to pick how you want to work with me.
Speaker BSo do you want to join a coaching program that you're with me for a year?
Speaker BGreat.
Speaker BWe have a coaching program where you watch videos and learn the strategies and implement it and get feedback from me.
Speaker BAre you the type of person who wants to sit in a room with me for two days, have me teach it to you live, never watch a video, and then leave with most things built and ready to go after those two days?
Speaker BGreat.
Speaker BWe've got an accelerator program where you can do that, but we take a holistic approach to helping businesses generate more referrals.
Speaker BWe don't take a one off approach.
Speaker BSo it's not like you're like, can I just get this one strategy?
Speaker BAnd this one strategy.
Speaker BThe way that it works is that we actually teach them all.
Speaker BYou don't need them all, but we teach them all.
Speaker BAnd of course, all information on our programs can be found at Stacey Brown.
Speaker ARandall.Com if you look at the potential lifetime monetary value of a client, it could be life changing if you're doubling and tripling your referrals.
Speaker AIf you're in a business where you get recurring revenue, one referral could literally be tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars of lifetime value.
Speaker AOr if you're in a business has reoccurring revenue and a referral buys that item or your service numerous times over a lifetime, that can be a big number as well.
Speaker AAnd yeah, it doesn't cost anything to implement your strategy.
Speaker ASo you're not spending tens of thousands of dollars on advertising and billboards and Facebook ads and everything else else.
Speaker BAnd think about it, right?
Speaker BWhen a client is referred to you, you actually have a better chance of getting that client to refer as well because they were referred.
Speaker BSo it really does start to feed itself.
Speaker BIt's great.
Speaker ASo go out.
Speaker AWe will have a link in the show notes to Amazon for Stacy's new book.
Speaker AMake sure you go out and buy it and read it and then after you do and you love it, then go to Stacy Brown randall.com and check out the programs and see if you can increase your business through the power of referrals calls.
Speaker AStacy, we were talking that you are your repeat offender on the podcast and I asked all of my guests, being the weekly wealth podcast, we talk about wealth and I always ask my guests, what does wealth mean to to you?
Speaker ASo Stacy, what does wealth mean to you?
Speaker AWhat does wealth mean to you, your family and all the people in your life that you love and care about?
Speaker BI wonder if this answer is the same as it was when I was on the podcast episode so many years ago.
Speaker BBut to me I think it's the same definition of when it comes to wealth, when it comes to success.
Speaker BI think there are tactical answers to that question, tactical definitions to that question.
Speaker BBut when I really think about it, for me it's just freedom.
Speaker BIt's the freedom to make choices.
Speaker BIt's the freedom for me, especially at my age and like the life stage that I'm in, I have three teenagers all in high school.
Speaker BFor me, it's that freedom of What I say no to more than it is ultimately what I say yes to, which is the freedom to be able to cheat.
Speaker BChoose.
Speaker ASure.
Speaker ANo, absolutely.
Speaker AAnd I would say 99% of people give some version of freedom as the answer.
Speaker ANobody ever says when I get to X dollar amount or a net worth of whatever that is because it's really not about the money, it's about what the money does for you.
Speaker ASo if you want to, maybe you have a goal of, I don't know, having your kids go to school and have no student debt, that will give them freedom, but that also costs money.
Speaker ASuper thankful for your, for your expertise and for your tips.
Speaker AWe're definitely going to be putting some of these into play here at our office.
Speaker AAnd yeah, this is really exciting.
Speaker ASo let's, let's close out the show with just one last referral based tip.
Speaker AWhat is something that anybody can just do put into effect today that could over time help them to have some, some noticeable results?
Speaker BYou know, the easiest thing that you can do for referrals is to identify your low hanging fruit and your low hanging fruit are always the people who've already referred you.
Speaker BIt is always going to be easier to get more referrals from someone who's actually already shown a propens to refer you.
Speaker BSo you need to know who your referral sources are, you need to understand who they are by name and you need to know exactly who they've referred to you, whether that's clients or prospects.
Speaker BSo that's really important for people to recognize and understand is if you don't know who's referring you now, you have no idea what you're missing out on and who is the easiest group of people to cultivate to give you more referrals.
Speaker BSo first thing I would tell folks to do is you need to stop and you need to identify who your referral sources are.
Speaker BAnd we've got some resources on our website of how to do that and we talk about that on the podcast a lot.
Speaker BIt's just a matter of knowing who's where your clients and prospects are coming from and then making a list of the people that are human on that list which are your referral sources.
Speaker AI think what you do and I think what I do, a lot of it maybe isn't rocket science, but sometimes we just need to be told the obvious and nudged in that direction.
Speaker ASometimes we want a more complicated solution.
Speaker ALike I was thinking you were going to give me some crazy word track but you're like, no, just figure out who's already referring and start with there.
Speaker AAnd I'm like, yeah, duh.
Speaker AYeah, that's a good idea.
Speaker AAll right everybody, so check out Stacy Brown randall.com Make sure to click on the link in the show notes and buy her new book.
Speaker AAnd who knows, maybe in another year or two we will have her on the show again.
Speaker AMaybe we'll do it another year and I can brag about how how great our results have been.
Speaker AFollowing her tactics, excellent.
Speaker AAll right everybody, until next episode, I wish everybody a blessed week.
Speaker AThanks, Stacy.
Speaker AThe information contained herein included but not limited to research, market valuations, calculations, estimates and other materials obtained from Parallel Financial and other sources are believed to be reliable.
Speaker AHowever, Parallel Financial does not warrant its accuracy or completedness.
Speaker AThese materials are provided for informational purposes only and should not be used for or construed as an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy.
Speaker AAny security Past performance is not indicative of any future results.
Speaker AOkay, so here's your bonus content for this episode.
Speaker AWell, it's actually not content.
Speaker AIt is a request.
Speaker AI would love it if you would either go to www.weeklywealthpodcast.com, click on the microphone I icon and leave me a voicemail or just email me davidarallelfinancial.com and let me know what are you and your team going to do.
Speaker AWhat can you take from this episode that can help you and your business and your organization get more referrals?
Speaker AAnd of course with referrals comes the revenue, the profit, and all of the things that revenue and profit can do for our businesses.
Speaker ASo email David Parallel or go to www.weeklywealthpodcast.com, click on the microphone icon and let me know what from this episode you are going to implement.
Speaker AAll right everybody, have a great week.
Stacey Brown Randall
Author / Speaker / Podcast Host
Stacey Brown Randall, author of award-winning book, Generating Business Referrals Without Asking, and host of the Roadmap to Referrals podcast, is releasing her second book, The Referable Client Experience.
A hard truth: Doing great work does not equate to referrals. To receive referrals from clients you must build a client experience worthy of referrals, then bridge the gap to generate referrals by implementing specific tactics within your client experience.
A client experience is more than just doing great work—it’s how a client feels while working with you, not just the outcome they receive. In The Referable Client Experience, Stacey teaches you to see beyond off-putting marketing tactics like adding a referral request to your email signature. Practical and illustrated examples, actionable insights, and real-life stories from small business owners will equip you with the knowledge you need to build a repeatable system for sustaining a robust business—without the gimmicks and desperation.