Amazingly, the majority of entrepreneurs are not aware of referral marketing, and they mainly rely on either traditional marketing methods or pure dumb luck. Referral marketing is one of the best ways to get new clients, and can considerably reduce your anxiety over attracting new customers.
When a small business owner is tension free, it is a sign that their referral marketing is working with predictable precision.
Step One – You should work hard to create a name for yourself and your business. When your name comes up in a business conversation, slowly your contact information will be passed on to prospects. This works for you in two ways: one, you already have a foot in the door because of that referral – your prospect will trust you. Two, the prospect already has an interest in making a purchase, so it is almost certain that the referral will generate a sale.
Step Two – After receiving a call, you should follow up with the prospect immediately. This is especially important if you received the call as a referral, because both your and the business who gave the referral’s reputation are on the line. You should send a thank you note to the person who gave you the referral. Get into the habit of rewarding your referral sources – they will feel good about mentioning your name, and keep those referrals coming.
Step Three – The next day after speaking with the prospect, you can send out a small package containing some of your business’ materials, such as a welcome letter, article, or self published book. This will give the prospect a chance to analyze and judge your expertise on the subject. This will also build trust and increase the prospect’s desire for your business’ products and services. At this point, the referral starts to consider you as an advisor.
Incidentally, most of the best prospective referrals may not have enough time to review all the material you send, but don’t worry. Your referral might have a good idea of what they want and need.
Work Your Sources
By sending a thank you card and a small gift to your referral source, you will motivate them to keep sending you referrals. This will encourage your referral source to work more towards the process and be ever ready to offer unconditional help. Always remember that education and expectation leads to more referrals. Sometimes your referrals may like your work but they generally don’t know the best way to contact you, so take some time to educate them about your business, which makes it easy for them to suggest your name.
Encourage your referrals to promote your business by sending postcards to your associates, to share the resource.
The key lies in ‘systemize, automate and delegate’. You should use all these tactics -because it is a fact that frequency builds familiarity and familiarity builds trust.
Turning referrals into regular, paying customers is easy once you know how. Follow the steps above, and you’ll have more business than you ever thought possible!
