Website design By BotEap.comBusiness owners know all too well that finding the best qualified leads takes time… a lot of time! So what if there was a way to avoid the time it takes to develop ‘cold leads’? Now, she closes her eyes and imagines building a referral network. What’s more, it won’t cost you a penny! It sounds too good to be true? It can be done by adapting the reference networks. A referral network is a group of people who already know and trust you, understand your business concept, and are willing to refer you to people interested in buying your product or service. This is an extremely effective way to create a steady stream of very warm leads. Here are 4 tips for creating a powerful referral marketing strategy.
Website design By BotEap.comReferral Marketing Tip 1:
Website design By BotEap.comForm a strategic sales team.
Website design By BotEap.comDo you know of a company with which you share mutual clients? You should be running, not walking to find out who you are and how you can team up and benefit from each other. The key to this is to learn as much as you can about each company so that you can promote their products or services just like you would your own. This new strategic sales team will help your business grow faster by working on your behalf. It makes perfect sense to work smarter and not harder!
Website design By BotEap.comReferral marketing is simply bringing together complementary businesses that serve the same target customers but are not considered direct competitors. For example, if you are a…
- Business consultant, can partner with an accountant, lawyer, graphic designer, and banker
- Business Writer, you can partner with a web designer, a public relations firm and an advertising agency
- Real estate agent, can partner with a mortgage lender, appraiser, title service, and home builders
- Maid service, you can partner with landscaping service, carpet cleaning service and handyman service.
- Catering, you can partner with florists, wedding planners and event facility managers
Website design By BotEap.comReferral Marketing Tip 2:
Website design By BotEap.comDevelop a Marketing Campaign As you and your new ‘strategic sales team’ strategize, consider cheap and easy ways everyone can benefit from each other. Here are 3 easy-to-implement marketing ideas:
- Endorsement Letter: Send introduction letters to each of your contacts. Imagine if each of you had 500 contacts? In a 3-way partnership, you’ve been exposed to 1000 potential customers!
- E-Newsletter: The use of e-newsletters has quickly become an indispensable component of the advertising campaigns of many companies, large and small! If you each published a monthly ezine (that’s 12 times a year) that included a partner’s page, imagine one click on a link, the potential traffic to your website? This is an easy, cheap and profitable way to meet warm leads! Consider increasing your chances by creating a landing page that includes a ‘free offer’ or ‘discount’ on specific services.
- Media: Are you using social media to market your business? Hopefully the answer is yes! If so, create a marketing strategy using Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn to mutually benefit each partner. This is a great way to share information on a weekly or monthly basis. For example, I have over 3,100 Twitter followers, 1,000 Facebook fans, and 400 members in my LinkedIn group. There are 4,500 potential clients from which each of my strategic partners can benefit.
Website design By BotEap.comReferral Marketing Tip 3:
Website design By BotEap.comGo to the “question” with existing customers Providing quality customer service is vital and should be an important part of your business model. Right? If you have spent time building relationships, establishing communication, building trust, and resolving potential issues or conflicts, then your customers will see little risk in recommending your company to their peers.
Website design By BotEap.comJust as people do business with people they know and trust, they also feel more comfortable when a product or service is recommended by someone they know and trust. A prospect who was referred to you has already been told about the quality and professionalism you provide to your clients.
Website design By BotEap.comFor clients who consistently refer prospects, consider creating a referral program; by offering them a $50 referral fee, a 20% commission of each lead’s initial sales, or a special gift.
Website design By BotEap.comReferral Marketing Tip 4:
Website design By BotEap.comCreate a blog network As you regularly post relevant content, you build a loyal group of followers. Be patient because it takes time. As your followers get to know you, they will feel comfortable passing you leads and referring them to leads. Besides:
- Invite guest bloggers to contribute new content and reciprocate.
- Interview subject matter experts. For example, I publish a monthly series of written interviews; ‘Talk About Successful Women’ with established female authors and business owners. My subscribers receive informative and empowering content, and interviewees link my blog article to theirs, which drives new traffic to my blog.
Website design By BotEap.comI recently listened to Tom Joyner’s morning show, where blogger Necole Bitchy was interviewed. A few years ago, she was unemployed and started a blog out of necessity. Today, NecoleBitchie.com is considered one of the fastest growing urban celebrity blogging sites on the internet, with over 3 million hits per month. Therefore, be persistent and consistent with your efforts.
Website design By BotEap.comIn conclusion, there is tremendous power in creating a strong referral network. It’s not about getting sales, it’s about developing strong relationships with people.
