Oct. 24, 2025

EP 239: How to Create a Referable Client Experience with Stacey Brown Randall

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


🧭 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.

Chapters

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

Transcript
Speaker A

One of the biggest goals for the weekly Wealth Podcast is to put you in a better financial position.

Speaker A

So 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 A

And of course, one of the best ways to do that is to increase your referral process.

Speaker A

So today we're talking about how to increase the amount of referrals you get and what processes you can put in place so.

Speaker A

So that you can grow your business by referrals.

Speaker A

I hope that you enjoy this episode.

Speaker A

This is actually the second time that Stacy Brown Randall has been on our podcast.

Speaker A

She does a really good job and she is an incredible referral coach.

Speaker A

So I hope that you enjoy this episode.

Speaker A

And here we go.

Speaker A

Welcome to the weekly Wealth Podcast.

Speaker A

I am certified financial planner David Chudick.

Speaker A

This 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 A

We talk about financial strategies, prosperous mindsets, and simply how to build true wealth.

Speaker A

So come on and let's enjoy this journey together.

Speaker A

We have a repeat offender today.

Speaker A

So Stacy Brown Randall is with us and we're talking about a financial tool that's not a traditional financial tool.

Speaker A

And Stacy's going to talk to us about how we can generate more business and revenue through referrals.

Speaker A

And 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 A

Hey, Stacy, how are you?

Speaker B

I'm doing great, David.

Speaker B

Thanks for having me back.

Speaker B

I love knowing that I'm a repeat offender, hopefully in a good way, not in a bad way.

Speaker B

But I'm excited to be here.

Speaker A

So it's crazy.

Speaker A

You were on episode number 96, June 24th of 2022, and here we are late in 2020 25.

Speaker A

So, number one, I'm glad to have you back.

Speaker A

And number two, I do want to brag that not that many podcasts end up in the 200 plus episode range.

Speaker A

So it's been a lot of work.

Speaker A

But I love putting out my podcast.

Speaker B

I 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 B

We're about to hit episode.

Speaker B

We're closing in.

Speaker B

We're not there yet, but we're really close to episode 400.

Speaker B

So my podcast has been out.

Speaker B

It's called Roadmap to referrals since 2018.

Speaker B

And every Tuesday we drop a new episode.

Speaker B

And people ask me all the time.

Speaker B

They're like, how have you figured out to talk about multiple years about the same topic of referrals?

Speaker B

I'm like, oh, you'd be surprised.

Speaker B

There's so much.

Speaker A

And 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 A

But other people might think that guy's just not serious enough for me.

Speaker A

And that's cool too, because my clients and I, we have a long term relationship.

Speaker A

And 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 B

Absolutely.

Speaker B

The listening to you, I think, is so much more valuable.

Speaker B

People tell me that all the time.

Speaker B

They're like, do you.

Speaker B

Would you prefer that people read your book or listen to your book?

Speaker B

And I'm like, whatever one you'll do to get to the end of the book is actually most important to me.

Speaker B

But 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 A

All right, so let's talk about referrals.

Speaker A

Everybody always says I get all my customers through word of mouth and I don't spend any money on advertising.

Speaker A

And maybe that's true, maybe it's not.

Speaker A

But you say that client experience is way more important than customer service.

Speaker A

So 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 B

Yeah.

Speaker B

So let me just first talk about the first thing you brought up.

Speaker B

There is people talk about all my business comes through referrals.

Speaker B

Lots of people say that it's because obviously what I do, like, they want to know over to get that figured out.

Speaker B

And 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 B

And they're like, oh, it's all from referral.

Speaker B

And then they start digging in.

Speaker B

They're usually wrong.

Speaker B

Very rarely does somebody tell me all my business comes from referral.

Speaker B

And then that's true.

Speaker B

Usually what I see is that they're categorizing things as referrals that aren't referrals.

Speaker B

Right.

Speaker B

So if you're paying for leads from A third party.

Speaker B

And those leads are sent to you.

Speaker B

Like, that's not.

Speaker B

The lead source isn't sending them to you whether you pay or not.

Speaker B

Like, they're not referrals.

Speaker B

You're getting a lead, right?

Speaker B

And that's a paid transaction for that lead.

Speaker B

Or people will act as if when they get repeat clients, they'll be like, oh, no, this client was referred.

Speaker B

And I was like, you can't refer yourself.

Speaker B

They were already a client.

Speaker B

Now they're a repeat client.

Speaker B

That means you do great work.

Speaker B

They're coming back to you, but they're not referred to when they come back to you.

Speaker B

So a lot of times it's the category, and sometimes it's just people think about referrals incorrectly.

Speaker B

Like, 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 B

And as we dug into it and kept peeling it back, okay, who is this and who is that and who is this?

Speaker B

Because everybody does pre work before they work with me.

Speaker B

They have eight actual people who refer them, and everybody else that they thought was a referral source wasn't.

Speaker B

It was either a repeat client or it was something different.

Speaker B

So 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 B

That's what they say.

Speaker B

Is there something wrong with me that I'm not growing my business by referrals?

Speaker B

And I'm like, first of all, there's nothing wrong with you unless you do really crappy work.

Speaker B

And then that's another issue.

Speaker A

Right?

Speaker B

But let's assume you don't.

Speaker B

There's nothing wrong with you.

Speaker B

And to those other folks probably don't know if they're even telling the truth, and they're not lying on purpose.

Speaker B

They're usually saying what they think is true, but it's not always what is true.

Speaker B

So I always like to just start there.

Speaker B

When people bring up the, oh, my business is all by referral, I'm like, it's probably not.

Speaker B

And if you're hearing someone say that, I don't want you to feel bad, because that's not always the case.

Speaker B

But the other part of the question you asked was about the difference between client experience and customer service.

Speaker B

Lots of times when I talk to my clients about their client experience, I'd be like, tell me about your client experience.

Speaker B

The 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 B

We do great customer service.

Speaker B

I'm like, customer service is actually a smaller piece of the larger client experience bucket.

Speaker B

I was like, it's a part of it.

Speaker B

It is not it.

Speaker B

Some 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 B

And that's customer service, and it's important, but it is a subsection, a smaller subsection of the overall client experience.

Speaker A

Because in customer service, there's some sort of an order or a question that I might have or maybe even a problem.

Speaker A

And of course, you and your team would need to fix the problem.

Speaker A

But 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 A

And 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 A

They can't point you in a direction.

Speaker A

If you ask for directions, you.

Speaker A

They have to walk with you and make a conversation.

Speaker A

And that, to me, is.

Speaker A

That's a whole different level of experience than a customer service.

Speaker B

It is.

Speaker B

It's the way we define client experience, and lots of people will define it differently.

Speaker B

But 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 B

To 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 B

It can't just be the great work that you do.

Speaker B

It's more than that.

Speaker B

If you're impacting how they feel.

Speaker A

I've been to businesses and they fulfilled their obligation.

Speaker A

They gave a good.

Speaker A

They gave a reasonable product and service.

Speaker A

But you felt, am I bothering you?

Speaker A

Am I.

Speaker A

Am I inconveniencing you?

Speaker A

Or maybe the front desk person, like, they.

Speaker A

You 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 A

And maybe they delivered on the product and service adequately, but you don't walk out like, wow, they really care about me.

Speaker B

Yeah.

Speaker B

And I think that.

Speaker B

I 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 B

But it really does have to be kind of like, baked into.

Speaker B

Everything you do is paying attention to that client Experience.

Speaker B

I think it's one of the reasons why I love working with small business owners.

Speaker B

Because what most small business owners don't know is their competitive advantage and is their superpower is the fact that they're small.

Speaker B

Because we can do things and develop a certain client experience that big businesses only could dream about, but they don't.

Speaker B

They'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 A

If 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 A

But they finally told me that the cell phone tower in a city was out.

Speaker A

And I was like, I know you're looking at your computer and it's telling you that, but that's 60 miles away.

Speaker A

I cannot be convinced that I don't have Internet because of a tower that's 60 miles away.

Speaker A

Whereas 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 A

So as far as client experience, is it just making your clients feel special or is there a formula or there steps?

Speaker A

Are there different sections?

Speaker A

What will make a really good client experience?

Speaker B

Yeah, so I like to break everything down so people can understand how it works.

Speaker B

And there is definitely a system and a process behind your client experience.

Speaker B

You have a client experience, no matter if you know it or not.

Speaker B

This is either intentional or it's unintentional.

Speaker B

But either way, your clients are experiencing something.

Speaker B

They are feeling something when they decide to hire you, when they decide to work with you.

Speaker B

So 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 B

And 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 B

So breaking down, in its simplest terms, the stages, there are three stages in the client experience.

Speaker B

I like to keep things super simple.

Speaker B

I think you could probably break these down further into, like, more nuanced stages.

Speaker B

But for me, I find with my clients, when I can say there's three stages.

Speaker B

Everyone can wrap their head around that.

Speaker B

They're like, okay, got it.

Speaker B

It.

Speaker B

So 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 B

And then when they're done working with you, they exit the active stage into the alumni stage.

Speaker B

So new active alumni, except in some businesses like yours, David, you don't want your clients to leave, right?

Speaker B

You want to be able to work with them for as many years as possible.

Speaker B

So you only have two of the three stages.

Speaker B

You have the new stage, and then you have the active stage, which effectively becomes the ongoing active stage.

Speaker B

And there.

Speaker B

Because you want.

Speaker B

It'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 B

So the idea is that you stay with them forever.

Speaker B

So you have.

Speaker B

Everybody has the new stage, everybody has the active stage.

Speaker B

It's just a matter of does your active stage end into alumni or does it.

Speaker B

Is it ongoing active?

Speaker B

Because 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 B

The 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 B

One way we do that is through this formula, which is most people look at.

Speaker B

You will think highly of me.

Speaker B

You will talk well of me.

Speaker B

You will stay a client.

Speaker B

You will refer me if I do great work.

Speaker B

But great work is only one half of the formula.

Speaker B

Great work is one part of the formula.

Speaker B

That's what we call like.

Speaker B

Doing great work is what we refer to as the work touch points.

Speaker B

It's the everything you do that the client sees and doesn't.

Speaker A

But that's the bare minimum, isn't it?

Speaker A

If your car needs new tires, if I put new tires on them, that's what you paid for.

Speaker A

You may not be going to refer me for that because all I did was put new tires on your car.

Speaker B

That's why it's only one half of the formula.

Speaker B

But it's the half that most people stop at doing great work, right?

Speaker B

I have people say to me all the time, I do great work.

Speaker B

My clients tell me that they love me, they leave me great testimonials or online reviews.

Speaker B

And I'm like, and are you drowning in referrals?

Speaker B

And they're like, no, am I doing something wrong?

Speaker B

And I'm like, no, but you haven't added the other piece that makes you referable.

Speaker B

And then you don't know how to bridge the gap to actual referrals.

Speaker B

Those are multiple steps in the process of a client experience.

Speaker B

So most people know, okay, the client experience is the work I do.

Speaker B

Like, that's the first half.

Speaker B

The second half is it's the relationship you build with your clients.

Speaker B

And I don't mean you.

Speaker B

You have 45 minute conversations where 40 minutes of it is like talking to each other and then five minutes of work.

Speaker B

I don't mean that.

Speaker B

I don't mean you have to have a bunch of meetings.

Speaker B

You don't have to hop on a bunch of phone calls with your clients.

Speaker B

But 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 B

And that's really important that people overlook.

Speaker B

So you've got the work that you do work touch points and the relationship.

Speaker B

You build the relationship touch points.

Speaker B

It takes both things to make the client experience that you ultimately want.

Speaker A

Okay, so let's look at my business Financial advisor.

Speaker A

We're very holistic.

Speaker A

We, our intention is to work with our clients.

Speaker A

And this is why I love podcasting, because I get free advice.

Speaker A

So 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 A

We're not transactional.

Speaker A

So 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 A

And some direction on, hey, our analysis says you need some life insurance and here's what it's going to cost you.

Speaker A

Those are the basics.

Speaker A

What are some things that somebody in my business could do both in that new stage?

Speaker A

And to me, I may be anomaly or it may be more common.

Speaker A

I think it's easier to wow a customer in the beginning, but then what are some of the other things?

Speaker A

Maybe 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 B

Yeah.

Speaker B

So the new stage is usually the easiest to do.

Speaker B

It's the shortest stage you have.

Speaker B

So it's not like you're leaving room to do a bunch of Relationship touch points.

Speaker B

I do want to say, let me talk about the percentage of how we compare work touch points to relationship touch points.

Speaker B

You never want your relationship touch points to overwhelm your work touch points.

Speaker B

And you never even want to be trying to do one for one or even for every one.

Speaker B

Like even every two work touch points.

Speaker B

I do one relationship touch point.

Speaker B

50.

Speaker B

50 is even too much.

Speaker B

I 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 B

So if in the new client stage you did 10 touch points, right.

Speaker B

That were work related, at a minimum, I would want you to do one relationship touch point, but maybe two.

Speaker B

And it depends on how you choose to deliver those.

Speaker B

Right.

Speaker B

Sometimes a relationship touch point is a standalone touch point.

Speaker B

It's.

Speaker B

It 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 B

Sometimes you can deliver that relationship touch point in conjunction with a work touch point.

Speaker B

So 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 B

Sometimes you can blend them together.

Speaker B

It just depends on how you're doing it.

Speaker B

So I can give you a couple of examples for that.

Speaker B

But let's talk about it from the new stage.

Speaker B

So 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 B

One 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 B

The quiet voice are all the doubts and concerns they have about working with you that they're never going to say to you.

Speaker B

It's their buyer's remorse that they may or may never speak to.

Speaker B

But it's all the things circling in their heads.

Speaker B

They may be super excited to work with you.

Speaker B

They may have been referred to you, they may trust you, they may be very excited to work with you.

Speaker B

But 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 B

I really hope we made the right decision here.

Speaker B

So a relationship based touch point that could happen during that.

Speaker B

So you're doing everything else they're doing.

Speaker B

Right.

Speaker B

You'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 B

Right.

Speaker B

And that moment.

Speaker B

What you could also do for relationship.

Speaker B

Relationship touch points.

Speaker B

Sorry.

Speaker B

Is send them a handwritten card.

Speaker B

It could be a gift or it could just be a handwritten card.

Speaker B

But most people make mistakes.

Speaker B

On with that handwritten card is they'll be like, we're so glad you're a client.

Speaker B

It's gonna be great.

Speaker B

There's.

Speaker B

That's an average card.

Speaker B

Lots of people send cards like that.

Speaker B

I'd rather you send that card than send nothing at all.

Speaker B

But what if you did?

Speaker B

A 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 B

It tells them that you see them differently.

Speaker B

And so in that case, I'd rather you send what we refer to as like a journey card.

Speaker B

Like, we're going to talk about what this journey is going to look like.

Speaker B

Hey, so if you were sending that to me.

Speaker B

Stacy, we're so excited to begin working with you.

Speaker B

We 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 B

And it can get overwhelming at some point.

Speaker B

But always know you can come to us and ask any questions that you have.

Speaker B

Remember, we've been doing this working with clients for five years, 15 years, 30 years, whatever it is.

Speaker B

We are your co pilot.

Speaker B

We are along along with you through this ride.

Speaker B

And you're never alone.

Speaker B

Something like that speaks to the things that I could be feeling that I may never tell you.

Speaker B

That connects me to you differently than just a, we're so glad you're a client.

Speaker A

And though thank you for becoming a client, that kind of makes it about me, like you did something for me.

Speaker A

Whereas 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 B

And.

Speaker A

And these may be maybe typical fears or fears that you specifically voiced.

Speaker A

That's about you.

Speaker A

That's about the client.

Speaker A

That's not about me necessarily.

Speaker A

So I like that a lot.

Speaker A

I've always had a weird thing with thanking people for becoming clients.

Speaker A

Because you're not becoming a client of mine for my benefit.

Speaker B

Right.

Speaker A

You should becoming a client of mine because you feel Like, I can really help you.

Speaker C

Quick question.

Speaker C

When's the last time you stopped to ask, where is my money actually taking me?

Speaker C

If 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 C

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Speaker C

A 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 C

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Speaker C

Grab your spot now@weeklywealthpodcast.com vision.

Speaker C

That's weekly wealth podcast podcast.com vision.

Speaker C

Your vision deserves 10 minutes.

Speaker B

And so sometimes, like I think people overthink this stuff.

Speaker B

Like I'll have people be like, do I need to send them like a big gift?

Speaker B

I'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 B

It's like the person who says to me, like, I want to send them a gift, what kind of gift should I send?

Speaker B

And I'm like, depending on what stage they are in, what do they need?

Speaker B

Like that's really important is to think about what they ultimately need at that moment.

Speaker B

You have to ask that question.

Speaker B

And then you have to put yourself and your client client's shoes, which most people won't take the time to do.

Speaker B

And that's a really big part of this is, hey, what do they need?

Speaker B

Let's put myself in your shoes and my client shoes.

Speaker B

Once somebody exits your new stage, this isn't something you're telling your clients.

Speaker B

They don't know they're exiting the new stage.

Speaker B

And you determine when the new stage ends.

Speaker B

And then as you move forward from that, they move into the active stage.

Speaker B

And so now we're thinking about this is where the lull of complacency sets in.

Speaker B

It's like that we're going to do the same thing every year for you.

Speaker B

We're going to do your four quarterly reviews or your twice a year reviews or your annual review every year.

Speaker B

And here it comes.

Speaker B

And 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 B

But 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 B

So like in your business, it's every single year, right?

Speaker B

So when you're thinking through, okay.

Speaker B

We'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 B

So 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 B

It's like, do this every year.

Speaker B

And who don't have questions or don't think there's anything to talk about or anything, blow them off.

Speaker B

Because they're like, it's good.

Speaker B

It's good until it's not right.

Speaker B

And 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 B

So 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 B

But if your clients are blowing them off, you're missing out on that opportunity.

Speaker B

Now, 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 B

And so she started sending a box of cookies.

Speaker B

So 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 B

We hope you enjoy this sweet treat on behalf of us.

Speaker B

And then they use the assistant's name.

Speaker B

Right.

Speaker B

Kelly will be reaching out to schedule your interview soon.

Speaker B

In the meantime.

Speaker B

Right.

Speaker B

Enjoy this sweet treat.

Speaker B

So now the clients have these cookies have shown up.

Speaker B

It gets their attention.

Speaker B

They now know that Kelly is going to be reaching out because they didn't miss the email.

Speaker B

It came in the note with the cookies, and it's a little bit more memorable.

Speaker B

Right.

Speaker A

And then that's going into my process.

Speaker A

I like it.

Speaker B

Perfect.

Speaker B

Yes.

Speaker A

Now, would you keep the cookies every year or would you maybe like, rotate cookies and then candy and something?

Speaker B

It's the touch point that what you decide to deliver in that touch point is up to you.

Speaker B

I think sometimes people are always asking this question, like, should I keep the same thing?

Speaker B

I 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 B

A lot of your clients talk about how much they liked it.

Speaker B

And then you can send that every year if you want.

Speaker B

But your clients will tell you if they love something and then you change it on them.

Speaker B

They will.

Speaker B

Some of them will let you know.

Speaker B

Right.

Speaker B

So when I.

Speaker B

We used to have this attorney that sent lemon cookies every Christmas.

Speaker B

And then one year it wasn't lemon cookies.

Speaker B

And I was not happy.

Speaker B

I loved those lemon cookies.

Speaker B

And I told him, I was like, what happened to the lemon cookies?

Speaker B

And he was like, I just want to try something different.

Speaker B

I'm like, if I'm the only client that complains, you do you.

Speaker B

But if more complain about the lemon cookies, you got to go back.

Speaker B

It's just your clients will tell you all lovingly.

Speaker B

Usually they're not ever mad.

Speaker B

Right.

Speaker B

They're getting cookies regardless, or whatever you're sending, but you change it up and be different.

Speaker B

Or you can send the same thing every year.

Speaker A

So are there clients that I have and clients that you have that have an incredible client experience?

Speaker A

They're thankful.

Speaker A

They feel like we care about them.

Speaker A

They 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 A

Or are there people who maybe just never will refer just because that's who they are?

Speaker A

Or am I thinking about that incorrectly?

Speaker B

Yeah.

Speaker B

The truth is, even if everybody loves you and can refer you, they won't all do it.

Speaker B

You have to have two things for a referral to happen.

Speaker B

Desire and opportunity.

Speaker B

Desire is the desire that I refer to you instead of the thousand other financial planners who do what you do in your area.

Speaker B

Right.

Speaker B

Opportunity 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 B

You only control my desire to refer to you.

Speaker B

You don't control if I'm ever going to come across the opportunity.

Speaker B

Some clients are more likely to come across opportunities than others.

Speaker B

Some clients are more likely to see opportunities or create opportunities themselves because they believe in you that much.

Speaker B

Some clients never will.

Speaker B

It's just not how they think.

Speaker B

Can refer, but not everybody will.

Speaker B

I tell folks, if you can get yourself to 20, 25% of your clients referring to you, then there's probably room.

Speaker B

There's probably definitely room to increase that.

Speaker B

Let's first get you to 20, 25%, referring you, and then we'll try to get you to 40 or 50%.

Speaker B

But even in the work that I do, I teach people how to generate more referrals.

Speaker B

It's not like all of my clients refer me, and that doesn't mean I'm doing anything wrong.

Speaker A

Right.

Speaker B

And of course, that's the whole purpose of my book, is to understand how to bridge that gap to referrals.

Speaker B

When it's not just the right people who just refer naturally, but they need a little bit of nurturing along the way.

Speaker B

But 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 B

And it doesn't mean they don't love you.

Speaker B

It just means they don't think to refer or they just don't do it.

Speaker A

So do you coach your clients to ask for referrals or to coach them on what type of clients we're looking for?

Speaker A

Or talk to me about that?

Speaker A

Cause you're shaking your head like, that's a no.

Speaker B

No, that's huge.

Speaker B

No.

Speaker B

So what people don't understand is the science behind referrals.

Speaker B

And when you understand the science behind referrals, then you understand why I would shake my head to the asking.

Speaker B

Right?

Speaker B

Or the.

Speaker B

My favorite thing is when people are like, I need to train my clients or other people on who best to refer to me.

Speaker B

And my common response is always, your referral sources don't need to be trained.

Speaker B

They're not dogs.

Speaker B

Right.

Speaker B

Yes, 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 B

But you're never going to train them and you're never going to start with that.

Speaker B

That.

Speaker B

But a lot of people.

Speaker B

And it's in the industry, and it's huge.

Speaker B

David, in your industry, right?

Speaker B

Like, 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 B

At the end of those client phone calls, ask for them in your newsletter, right?

Speaker B

Constantly asking people to refer you.

Speaker B

But the science shows that when I refer to you, it has nothing to do with you.

Speaker B

It has to do with an opportunity that I found myself in talking to someone else.

Speaker B

Either because you just did something for me and I'm talking about you because I think you're amazing.

Speaker B

And somebody else says, wait, I don't have that in my financial advisor, tell me more about David.

Speaker B

Or I'm having a conversation with someone who needs what you do.

Speaker B

Right.

Speaker B

When I decide to refer to you, it's never about you.

Speaker B

It'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 B

Right.

Speaker B

You're just the solution provider.

Speaker B

Yes.

Speaker B

You get the benefit of a new client and that is great.

Speaker B

We love to see a increase.

Speaker B

But that is not the point point.

Speaker B

Right from the client who is now referring use position.

Speaker B

They are doing it to help someone else.

Speaker B

You're just how they're going to help them.

Speaker B

So 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 B

And 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 B

I don't need to adding your work to my to do list.

Speaker B

So you have to keep in mind that we want our clients to think that referring to us is their idea.

Speaker B

That's how I want it to be.

Speaker B

I want to think about referring you and it be my idea.

Speaker B

I may need a little help to get to that place.

Speaker B

And that's how we bridge the gap to referrals and the way that I teach it to my clients.

Speaker B

But I am not expecting my clients to refer me and I'm never going to ask them to refer me.

Speaker B

And 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 B

And it's more of like the power power of suggestion than it is anything else.

Speaker B

It 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 B

And if I don't like your ask and I don't like the trigger, then you'll never get referrals from me.

Speaker C

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Speaker C

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Speaker C

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Speaker C

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Speaker C

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Speaker A

Before we jump into your book a little bit more, what about centers of influence?

Speaker A

There are people in every industry that have the opportunity to refer to an industry.

Speaker A

So obviously, estate planning attorney, cpa, potentially can refer business to me.

Speaker A

And I'm sure that's similar in every industry.

Speaker A

What, what best practices or talking points or guidance do you have with regards to centers of influence?

Speaker B

Yeah, so here's what's interesting.

Speaker B

So when people, like, read my first book, which was generating business referrals without asking, the question is always, okay, is this it?

Speaker B

Is this what I need to know about referrals?

Speaker B

I've got what I need to be able to generate referrals.

Speaker B

And I always laugh because I actually teach 20 different strategies.

Speaker B

Some of them are baby strategies, like, just know when someone says, this is how I want you to respond.

Speaker B

And some of them are plans that we build.

Speaker B

The 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 B

And 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 B

And that's a plan that you execute on year over year after year.

Speaker B

Creating a referral experience.

Speaker B

Then another foundational strategy is what my second book, the book we're talking about, is all about, which is the referable client experience.

Speaker B

There'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 B

Right.

Speaker B

Not everybody's going to think to do it on their own.

Speaker B

So, you know, we want to plant referral seeds and deliver a great client experience so that we can generate referrals.

Speaker B

The third foundational strategy is people who've never referred you but you want them to.

Speaker B

And so this can be for clients who are no longer clients of yours.

Speaker B

Right.

Speaker B

Or 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 B

And then of course, your centers of influence.

Speaker B

So 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 B

I'm like, no, that's a different strategy.

Speaker B

That'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 B

It's different because they're not a client.

Speaker B

So what you learn in Referable Client Experience is positioned for clients.

Speaker B

When we're trying to get COIs to refer us, it's just a different strategy that we follow.

Speaker A

I can imagine a lot of business owners or maybe salespeople or managers listening to this saying, you know what?

Speaker A

This sounds amazing.

Speaker A

I 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 A

If 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 A

And that's just weird.

Speaker A

And that I can't.

Speaker A

I guess anything could work if you do it enough.

Speaker A

Could you imagine a more awkward scenario?

Speaker A

Clients that are thinking, I would like Stacy's book.

Speaker A

I would like to potentially work with her.

Speaker A

Talk 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 B

Yeah.

Speaker B

So the book is called the Referable Client Experience.

Speaker B

It's available wherever you like to order or purchase your book so you can grab a copy.

Speaker B

So online.

Speaker B

It's definitely going to be available at all the major retailers.

Speaker B

And of course, it's called Referable Client Experience.

Speaker B

And 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 B

And when you're ready to take that next step.

Speaker B

Step.

Speaker B

And you're ready to learn more and you're like, okay, I think I want to work with Stacy.

Speaker B

We actually, the way that I work with clients is a little bit different than most folks.

Speaker B

I take those 20 referral strategies that I teach and you get access to all of them.

Speaker B

You just have to pick how you want to work with me.

Speaker B

So do you want to join a coaching program that you're with me for a year?

Speaker B

Great.

Speaker B

We have a coaching program where you watch videos and learn the strategies and implement it and get feedback from me.

Speaker B

Are 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 B

Great.

Speaker B

We've got an accelerator program where you can do that, but we take a holistic approach to helping businesses generate more referrals.

Speaker B

We don't take a one off approach.

Speaker B

So it's not like you're like, can I just get this one strategy?

Speaker B

And this one strategy.

Speaker B

The way that it works is that we actually teach them all.

Speaker B

You don't need them all, but we teach them all.

Speaker B

And of course, all information on our programs can be found at Stacey Brown.

Speaker A

Randall.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 A

If 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 A

Or 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 A

And yeah, it doesn't cost anything to implement your strategy.

Speaker A

So you're not spending tens of thousands of dollars on advertising and billboards and Facebook ads and everything else else.

Speaker B

And think about it, right?

Speaker B

When 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 B

So it really does start to feed itself.

Speaker B

It's great.

Speaker A

So go out.

Speaker A

We will have a link in the show notes to Amazon for Stacy's new book.

Speaker A

Make 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 A

Stacy, 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 A

So Stacy, what does wealth mean to you?

Speaker A

What does wealth mean to you, your family and all the people in your life that you love and care about?

Speaker B

I wonder if this answer is the same as it was when I was on the podcast episode so many years ago.

Speaker B

But to me I think it's the same definition of when it comes to wealth, when it comes to success.

Speaker B

I think there are tactical answers to that question, tactical definitions to that question.

Speaker B

But when I really think about it, for me it's just freedom.

Speaker B

It's the freedom to make choices.

Speaker B

It'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 B

For 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 B

Choose.

Speaker A

Sure.

Speaker A

No, absolutely.

Speaker A

And I would say 99% of people give some version of freedom as the answer.

Speaker A

Nobody 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 A

So 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 A

Super thankful for your, for your expertise and for your tips.

Speaker A

We're definitely going to be putting some of these into play here at our office.

Speaker A

And yeah, this is really exciting.

Speaker A

So let's, let's close out the show with just one last referral based tip.

Speaker A

What is something that anybody can just do put into effect today that could over time help them to have some, some noticeable results?

Speaker B

You 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 B

It is always going to be easier to get more referrals from someone who's actually already shown a propens to refer you.

Speaker B

So 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 B

So 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 B

So first thing I would tell folks to do is you need to stop and you need to identify who your referral sources are.

Speaker B

And we've got some resources on our website of how to do that and we talk about that on the podcast a lot.

Speaker B

It'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 A

I 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 A

Sometimes we want a more complicated solution.

Speaker A

Like 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 A

And I'm like, yeah, duh.

Speaker A

Yeah, that's a good idea.

Speaker A

All 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 A

And who knows, maybe in another year or two we will have her on the show again.

Speaker A

Maybe we'll do it another year and I can brag about how how great our results have been.

Speaker A

Following her tactics, excellent.

Speaker A

All right everybody, until next episode, I wish everybody a blessed week.

Speaker A

Thanks, Stacy.

Speaker A

The 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 A

However, Parallel Financial does not warrant its accuracy or completedness.

Speaker A

These 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 A

Any security Past performance is not indicative of any future results.

Speaker A

Okay, so here's your bonus content for this episode.

Speaker A

Well, it's actually not content.

Speaker A

It is a request.

Speaker A

I 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 A

What can you take from this episode that can help you and your business and your organization get more referrals?

Speaker A

And of course with referrals comes the revenue, the profit, and all of the things that revenue and profit can do for our businesses.

Speaker A

So 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 A

All right everybody, have a great week.

Stacey Brown Randall Profile Photo

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.