You have to remember that when a customer gives you a referral, they are risking their reputation. If you provide product that is inadequate or sub par, then you have seriously damaged the reputation of that customer. Not only that, it may be the end of your business.
When you receive a referral in a sales job, it is important to make sure that you don't actually ask for it. If you ask, then the customer might feel as if they are obligated to provide it. This is NOT something you want. What you want are people who hand you these referrals of their own accord. Best of all is when a new customer calls you out of the blue because someone else referred you.
This doesn't mean that jobs in sales do not call for you asking for referrals. When you close a sale it would be a great time to ask for a referral. Naturally you will want to give the customer a few days to decide whether or not they want to give a referral. After all, they want to make sure that your product actually works for them, and this is where sales careers can get a little bit antsy. The waiting period can be particularly stressful. It is during this period that you wonder whether or not the product has actually worked for the customer.
Of course during this time you can check in on the customer from time to time to see how it has worked out for them. You can always come in every few days to see whether or not they have any questions. You don't want to do this too much. Otherwise the customer may feel as if they are being smothered. This is definitely a bad thing for sales careers because they definitely won't be providing you with any referrals.
If you have a long standing customer you can always ask them to write a testimonial which you can carry with you or post on your website. When you have a good testimonial, you will find that others will be more willing to invest in your product. You will gain more business, and that will help to keep your company afloat.
When doing jobs in sales, remember that it is important to show the customer that you appreciate their business. Don't act all depressed after you close a sale, even if that's how you feel every day anyway. It is an occasion to be excited, so be excited! To show your appreciation you can provide the customer with some sort of gift, informing them how glad you are for their business. Make sure it's nice and personalized so they feel special. Doing this might just get you the referrals you need, and the business to stay afloat.
