Many advisors can say they get all of their new clients from referrals, but there is still one advisor in every office who gets far more referrals than others—without asking for them.

What's the super-referral-getter doing that others are not? Put simply, referral-getting comes from being the first person people think of during referral opportunities—moments when the referrer is able to help fill a need of a colleague or acquaintance by giving out your name. Typical catalysts include a change in job or marital status; a death in the family; or a period of uncertainty or dissatisfaction in the investor's relationship with a current advisor. As much as you might like to, you cannot control the timing of that moment or that circumstance. Nor can you be present at every referral opportunity. You can only hope to be thought of when the moment arrives.

This rings true in life. You ask a colleague for the name of his orthopedist, but only after a knee injury. Your client receives her 1099s before she asks you for the name of a tax accountant. Before those moments or referral opportunities occur, how can you make sure you're already one of the financial advisors who comes to mind first, not only to your clients, but to your friends, neighbors and centers of influence?

The answer is so simple that you have to wonder why more advisors don't do it. There are no prospects within the walls of your office. You have to get out there! Leave your office.

Join a board. Demonstrate your expertise at a community meeting. Attend the business-community social event or the private school's silent auction. Referrals multiply in direct proportion to time spent interacting with clients, contacts and centers of influence, not to mention neighbors, competitors' clients, and retiring professionals.

A banker I know served on a nonprofit board for nine years before a colleague on that board referred a commercial-lending opportunity. It ended up being the largest deal he closed all year. My banker-friend was all but convinced that he was volunteering for the greater good and not for business leads. He now realizes that community service benefits more than just the community. And the best part of all is that he never asked for a referral. He earned it through visibility and consistent work that he demonstrated through his many board activities.

Woody Allen wrote that 80% of success is showing up. That logic is hard to dispute. The great byproduct of showing up and being known in the community is awareness of your professional skills, just by your mere presence. When you radiate competence, referrals find you. Isn't a referral even sweeter when initiated by someone else? Wouldn't you rather be positioned as the go-to professional when circumstances require a change in advisor? Being visible ensures you're top-of-mind when that change is sought.

It's worth mentioning that you can add to your visibility by sending periodic mail and email to prospects and centers of influence. Showing up in their inbox or mailbox is the next best thing to running into these people in the community. Systematic communications areeffective in keeping these people familiar with who you are.

The point is this: The services of a good investment advisor tend to be bought and not sold. Getting out there ensures that when a referral is sought, chances are high you will be the advisor of choice—the advisor your contacts want their friends and family to call. Now you know the secret held by the big referral-getter in your office.

Gerri Leder is an industry marketing consultant and can be reached at leder@ledermark.com.