or friends mentions your small business in a casual conversation. Its not intentional or planned. Its just something that came out of their mouth.   A referral system is a methodical process that you have put in place to capture qualified prospects through your association with other people. A "system", by its definition, is a "process that produces predictable results". A system can be turned on and off like a light switch at will. Your business needs word-of-mouth advertising, but dont confuse that with developing a methodical system for referral prospecting.   Making it Rain Referrals Starts with Your Attitude!   Time and again, the same question keeps coming to me. "How do I get more referrals?" My answer is always the same, "You must ask for them". In reality, most small business owners know that they have to ask for referrals to get more referrals, but its the fear of asking that impedes them from moving forward.   This fear of asking is rooted in your attitude. If your attitude is one that believes that you are asking that person to go out on a limb for you by asking them to give you referrals, then you will always be battling with fear.   People Want to Give You Referrals   If you truly believe that it will be helping them if you ask them to give you referrals, your fear will fade quickly. Your customers want to give you referrals. It makes them feel good that they found a great small business that they had a good experience with, and they want to share their "little secret" (you) with their friends.   They will be seen as a hero, or someone "in the know." And when their friend receives great service from you as well, your referring customer will feel as though he was able to do their friends a great favor.   When you ask for a referral, and you have treated that person right, you are actually doing them a special favor. How to Ask for a Referral   Has someone ever asked you for a referral? Did it go something like this: "Hey, by chance would you know someone who could benefit from my services?" You start to ponder and think about it and eventually say, "Well, not off the top of my head, but Ill keep thinking about it."   This is how 90% of all referral questions are asked and unfortunately, the question might as well not be asked. Rarely, if ever, will it get a positive response. Why? Because it wasnt asked correctly. "Know anyone who..." questions are too broad for people to think