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Referrals......The Secret Weapon
Are you
getting referrals from you customers? If not, you are missing a lot of
sales. Think about many of the sites you visit on the web. Many of them will
ask you to tell your friends, families and others who might be interested
about them. For doing so, they offer you an incentive, for example, free
stuff, gift certificates, etc.
Let’s talk about off line. How about the book club or record club you belong
to. When you get mailings from them, ever notice the card that says if you
refer a friend they’ll give you a free book or CD. This is what is called an
incentive.
Any marketing expert worth their salt will tell you that there’s no business
like business you get from referrals. Why? Because for the most part, people
who refer others know that person will be interested, and it also indicates
that they are happy with your product, so word of mouth (or in this day and
age, email) will be good.
Unfortunately very few individuals are going to write you and tell you how
happy they are with your product or services. You NEED TO ASK FOR REFERRALS!
This applies to everyone – big businesses, small businesses, home based
businesses, sales representatives, independent contractors. In fact good
salespeople will ask for the referral between closing the sale and saying
goodbye to the customer as part of their sales pitch. We ask for referrals
from our tenant buyers and sellers in our final letters.
A good example of using this in your business is, let’s say you sell office
supplies. Ask your customer for referrals and then offer to give them a
discount for so many referrals. Or you could give them a gift, like a free
pen or calculator, etc. You get the idea.
To decide what to give away, think about what will motivate your customer.
Will they prefer cash, or gifts? You know your customer best. You need to
give them something they want so they will repeatedly give you referrals. We
offer cash to our sellers and tenant buyers if they refer someone to us that
we do a deal with.
For those in any type of retail operation the flyer that looks like cash
that can be redeemed or buy one get one free, or get a percentage off, or
it’s a tax free weekend, etc. can work wonders. Couldn’t you also mail a
flyer to your customers that states, “Good toward your purchase, when you
refer a friend”.
In all businesses, you need to get your customer to tell you what they like
about your business. For example, whenever we get an email or a telephone
call from a customer that praises our services or products, we ask if we can
use it as a testimonial. You must get their permission (unless however you
receive unsolicited mail from them). Again, ask your customer for a
testimonial. For example, if you liked the dinner at our establishment,
please fill out this form. We appreciate your time, so by doing so, we will
provide your next entrée for half price. We put incentives in our books and
services for our customers to get back to us with their opinion.
I can remember back when I worked for temporary agencies, they were forever
giving out pens, pads, magnets, etc. to keep their names in front of
everyone. Think of Pizza Hut and Domino’s. How many magnets do you have with
their name and telephone numbers on your refrigerator? When we ran our
business, we made up shirts and jackets that we wore everywhere. You’d be
surprised how many customers we got in the grocery store, post office, fast
food places, who asked us for cards or about our business.
There is a whole separate industry that deals with advertising specialty
items. You name it, you can get your name on it. Mugs, pens, business cards,
memo pads, etc. These items can get the word out on your business not only
to your customers, but also to your customers’ customers. Memo pads are
especially nice. People have a tendency to jot notes on them and then give
them out to others. So they are a very far reaching tool. Advertising with
Specialty items is almost as good as referrals.
Be sure on your promotional material (brochures, flyers, newsletters) that
you indicate how your referral program works. Be sure to indicate what type
of incentives you offer. Be sure to be very specific in outlining what your
customers need to do. For example, fill out this form and mail it back (or
fax it back) with the names, addresses and telephone numbers of those you
are referring. You don’t have to ask for all of this information however, if
you are going to snail mail you will need their address.
Be sure when you do your networking at your organisational meetings or
chamber meetings that you tell people about your referral program. Business
people appreciate being rewarded for referrals they give you. However, too
many people never follow through, which is why for many businesses their
referral program goes by the wayside. This is one area where we stress to
our students you tell all your networking partners, your tenant buyers, your
sellers, and all of your family, friends, in fact, everyone you come in
contact with that you pay a percentage of each deal you do to them if they
refer someone and you do a deal with that person. Believe me when I say,
once they receive one check from you, they become a walking advertisement
for your lease purchase business.
There is one caveat to offering a referral program and that is you must DO
GOOD BUSINESS. Your credibility is at stake. You want to be viewed as a
reliable, dependable, and trustworthy individual. You need for people to
want to buy from you, and because you did such an outstanding job, tell
everyone else about you.
So, are you using the Secret Weapon?
Copyright 2003 DeFiore Enterprises
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