Search Results for ‘make a referral’
Set your sales on fire without extravagant spending by following these red-hot marketing tips
“In all things, success depends upon previous preparation. And without such preparation, there is sure to be failure.” – Confucius
Confucius could have had a flourishing business by following his own advice. Not only can preparation lead to success, but it also can help you do so without spending a lot of money. After all, with careful planning, you can achieve sizzling sales without the need for expensive advertising or marketing promotions.
Be smarter than the competition
In today’s ever-changing business climate, just keeping up with the competition isn’t enough. You have to outthink, outsmart and outdo them. How? By getting to know what they do and how they do it.
Find out your competition’s strengths and weaknesses and what products and services they offer. If the shop down the road sells gift baskets, offer more choices than they do—or better products. If the competition opens at 9 a.m. and closes at 5 p.m., consider opening earlier or closing later.
Look for ways to make it easier for customers to do business with you. The slightest increase in customer convenience will yield larger and even more frequent purchases. Plus, providing the products and services they want will keep them coming back.
Reward repeat customers
Design a customer-appreciation program to recognize customers who repeatedly purchase from you or who refer others to your business. Send them thank-you notes or small bouquets. Thank them in your company newsletter. Pick up the phone to thank them, then offer a special discount for their loyalty during your conversation.
One day a long-time customer came into my shop, Eden Florist & Gift Baskets, to purchase flowers. When I thanked him for doing business with us, he said, “I buy so many flowers here, I should get frequent-flower miles.” He was right! In fact, soon after his visit, we began creating a computer-generated Frequent flower petals card for that very purpose. The card rewarded customers with a free bouquet after they purchased 12 $25-minimum-price floral arrangements.
To more easily track customer purchases, our computer records each transaction. Thus, if a customer orders by phone, we still can track the number of purchases. When that person reaches 12, the employee taking the order asks the customer to whom they’d like to send their “free” bouquet. It’s not unusual for customers to send the arrangement to themselves.
If they choose this option, don’t forget to enclose a card thanking them for their business. Customers who appreciate your gesture are likely to recommend your business to family, friends and business associates.
Practice ‘rainmaking’
Rainmakers are people who connect other people through referrals, whether it is friend-to-friend or business-to-business. Referrals are the easiest and least expensive way to make your business grow. Start by instilling a referral mindset into your friends and customers. People don’t necessarily know you want more business unless you tell them. And even though your friends may buy from you, they may not think to tell their friends and family.
Though one of my greatest sources of referrals today is my friends, that wasn’t always the case. In the past, I had one or two friends who constantly sent business my way. However, the majority of my close acquaintances did not. One day, I mentioned this to a friend. Her reply, “I didn’t know you wanted more business.” She is now one of my best references.
Some people are hesitant to ask friends for referrals. Why? If you believe in your product and have a passion for your business, it’s a simple request. After all, friends want friends to succeed. And, if they know they have contributed to your success, it makes them feel good about themselves.
If you feel uncomfortable about tooting your own horn, consider the idea from the perspective of finding a great restaurant. After having a wonderful meal, most people are eager to share the experience by telling their family and friends about it. Flowers and food are both emotional purchases—purchases generally made with the heart, not the brain. When you want to eat out, you go to one of your favorite spots, or you try a new place that offers your favorite dish. The same applies to flowers. People go where they know they can find the products they want or people who understand their needs.
Based on emotion alone, referring your business will be easy for your friends and family. And, when the referrals come in, don’t forget to thank the friends and family who made the suggestions. Send them notes and a product sample. Make sure your thank-yous reflect your appreciation for the extra business. An added bonus to this technique is that you’ll surprise people when you thank them, putting you at the top of their minds when the opportunity to make a referral happens again.
Follow-up and follow-through
One of the surest ways to keep customers is to follow up after a purchase. Follow-up accomplishes two important things: It helps you find out whether the customer was satisfied, and it gives you the opportunity to build a positive relationship with that person.
Happy customers may tell as many as three people about their positive experience at your business. This may not seem like it can have much of an impact. But when you compare it to the number of people who will hear about a customer’s unhappy experience—typically estimated as eight to 10—then the number of those passing on their positive experience becomes that much more important.
Besides, if you don’t follow up with a customer, you may never even know he or she had a negative experience. Those people will simply take their business elsewhere. Taking the time to inquire about a purchase after the fact shows your customers you care about their business. It also helps build a lasting relationship with your customers. Not only that, but when you resolve a complaint favorably, you’re likely to increase the chance that the customer will refer you to others.
If your shop is too busy to follow up with every customer after the sale—then at least do some random sampling of your customers. Although a random sample may be less accurate, it will nevertheless provide you with an idea of how a portion of your customers views your business.
To make the task easier, call two or three customers/recipients each day. You’ll impress the recipients, who will want to do business with you, and both the sender and the recipient will know you care. In fact, on more than one occasion when an employee at Eden Florist has called a sender or recipient, that person has ordered an arrangement during the thank-you phone call. So your efforts can certainly pay off.
And don’t forget to follow through on anything you promise you’ll do for a customer. Make it a habit to deliver. When you do, your customers will trust and respect you. And your sales will sizzle!
For more tips like these check out Rose Marketing on a Daisy Budget: How to Grow Your Business Without Spending a Fortune by Heidi Richards Mooney
July 25th, 2009
Blog Stats, Comments and Being a Pro
Last post I talked about adding photos and videos to your site as well as promoting your blog on social networking sites. Today’s tips are about the look of your blog, blog statistics and building relationships with your readers.
Tip # 7 ~ Make your blog look professional. Make it easy to navigate and find things. Use the tools in your blog software to add keywords, word tags and categories. Add a site map to your blog so visitors can do a quick search of topics that interest them. If a calendar will enhance the visitor experience, add a calendar. Create a blogroll of blogs you follow. This is your way of referring other blogs to your reader.
Tip #8 ~ Keep track of your blog metrics/statistics. Most blog software either has the stats feature built in or has a plugin you can use to keep track. Things to know are you most commented on posts, most popular posts, inbound links and referrals and more. What questions or keywords are being used to find your blog in the search engines? Google Analytics, Woopra, and Statcounter can give you lots of data such as where your hits are coming from.
Knowing what your most popular posts are lets you know what your readers read and are attracted to. This can help you hone in on the messages that resonate with others. Check your blog stats on a regular basis. Some bloggers check their blog stats at least once a day and others once a week. Checking blog statistics can be addicting so you must determine how often you should check the stats to get the information you need.
Tip #9 ~ Develop relationships with your readers. Respond to their comments, visit their sites and leave a comment. Drop them an email and thank them for commenting. Find out more about the people who are interested in what you have to say. If someone is leaving a comment, chances are they want to be noticed. Make sure you notice them. If you like what they have written on their own blogs or websites, find ways to mention them on yours.
Answer questions in your comments section and ask your readers questions. When you respond to your readers comments it lets them know that you are reading what they say and it validates their reasons for leaving comments in the first place. This may also encourage others to also leave a comment on your blog and others. One of the coolest tools that I just learned about is CommentLuv at www.commentluv.com. Every time someone leaves a comment on your blog it automatically shows the title of their latest blog post.
CommentLuv was recently added to all my blogs ~ I will let you know if it increases followers or not. Everyone I have spoken with who has it on their blog, loves it!
April 24th, 2009
My business hasn’t used formal advertising in years. Well, very little. And the advertising we do is mostly “traded” for products and services. Most of our new business is referral based. We have kept track over the years and at least 80% of our business comes from a referral.
In Part One I talked about creating a list of your CHAMPIONS – those who refer your company to others on a regular basis. Next, review your list every 3-6 months. When someone on the list hasn’t sent you business in a while, pick up the phone and call them. Just call to say HI. To see how she or he is doing and find out if there is anything you can do to help them. Don’t ask for business or a referral. Just listen.
Now that you have reviewed your list, focus on those FANS who love doing business with you but don’t think to refer others. Here’s a few tips to help you turn those FANS into World Class Champions:
1. Make it a habit to ask every customer why they chose your company. They will appreciate the opportunity to tell you and their trust and confidence in your company will increase.
2. Let them know you are building your business from referrals and that you appreciate and value any business you send their way.
3. Educate them about the products and services you offer. When you providing a product or service, give them a little more. When we send a floral arrangement or plant to a customer, we include care instructions. Our brochures and fliers tell customers about the value we provide our customers. Share these things with your FANS. Arm them with enough info so they can go out and “sell” for you.
4. Reward them. When they share their “circle of influence” with you, be very grateful. Tell them, show them. Make a referral to your FANS in return when possible and appropriate. Every time your FANS receive something of value from you it will remind them to send more referrals your way.
5. Follow up. The FAN may send customers your way or give you names to call. When they give you names, make sure you follow up. Call and introduce yourself and mention where you got their name. One of my biggest accounts came because a FAN told me to call a new hotel that was about to open. I called, offered to help with their Grand Opening Celebration and they are now one of my best customers. And they refer their patrons to us! That FAN became a CHAMPION because we rewarded her. What comes around, really does go around.
Remind your FANS that you value them. Provide impeccable service all the time and you will turn those fans into your greatest CHAMPIONS. Having CHAMPIONS on your team is like having an uncompensated sales force working for you all the time!
It’s Day Two of Make a Referral Week. The perfect time to go out and MAKE some REFERRALS and put your system in place to get referrals in return.
March 10th, 2009
Creating champions from your fans is all about creating a strong referral system for your business. And what better time to create a system than during MAKE A REFERRAL Week!
Although businesses benefit greatly from referrals how many of us actually have a SYSTEM to cultivate those referrals from your best sources? In my opinion, there are two kinds of referral sources. One comes from FANS. FANS are those who love your product and service and might occasionally tell someone about you. FANS like or love doing business with you but either don’t know that you want more business or think of sending business your way. They might refer someone if she or he asks for a referral.
The other type of referral comes from your CAMPIONS. Champions not only love what you do, they like to tell others about your products and services. They have either memorized your phone number or have it in their cell phone, PDA or speed dial. Close at hand to share with others.
How do you cultivate your champions? First identify who they are. Write down your top 20-25 best customers – those you know have referred you in the past. Then create a plan to stay in touch with them. Call them, email them, send them thank you notes, small gifts, flowers, tickets to events, buy them lunch, enter them in special drawings.
The important thing here is to stay at the top of their minds. Show them how much you appreciate the referral. Doing so will encourage your CHAMPIONS to keep sending business your way. In part 2, we will share the steps to take to turn your FANS into CHAMPIONS. Happy Make a Referral Week!
March 8th, 2009
Did you know that March 9-13 is Make a Referral WEEK?
The people over at Make a Referral Week.com have created a challenge. It is called the “March to 1000 Referrals Made.”
To participate all you have to do refer one person in your network.
Then go to www.Makeareferralweek.com and share your story.
But before you do, check out http://www.makeareferralweek.com/pledge/ and sign their pledge form telling them you too will make a referral (or many).
Read my article at Success and then Some about how making just one referral CAN change the economy and be just the economic stimulus the world needs right now ~ it’s called Can One Referral Change The Economy? at http://tinyurl.com/aseugx
Make it a great Referral Week.
For more event and holiday marketing ideas, check out Quirky Marketing at www.quirkyoffer.com.
March 7th, 2009
Managing Leads
The most important leads are those that are Hot, Hot, Hot and I give them first priority. I schedule at least two hours a week to follow up on leads, and begin with the hot leads.
A hot lead is anyone who has an immediate or near future need for my products and services. If someone says to me, we have an event coming up in the next 2-4 weeks, that is a HOT LEAD for my florist.
A hot lead could also be someone in the planning or budgeting stage and needs to know how much something will cost in order to plug it in to their budget for the year. If it is a sizzling hot lead, I follow up immediately (before I even go to sleep!).
A warm lead could be a referral from one of my champions or fans who knows someone who needs my products and services. A champion is one who would make the introduction for me and a fan is someone who would give me the lead to follow up.
A cool lead is perhaps someone I heard may need my product or service but has not been referred by anyone and I have to take the initiative to contact.
And of course a cold lead would be a sales call to someone whom you do not even know needs your product or service but perhaps you purchased a list of those most likely to buy (they fit the demographics you create about your ideal customer). I rarely, if ever do this.
There are plenty of the hot, warm and cool leads that I have not had time to do this. This would only be done if I found idle time on my hands – something that has not been the case in years.
I follow up by calling hot leads, sending a post card to the others and then calling and or emailing them. I keep the leads in an excel file on my desktop and enter when and how I make contact… and the outcomes.
This is a great exercise to see the effectiveness, or lack of follow-up.
September 14th, 2008
Yesterday I started the conversation regarding surveys and one that I did with the Florida Speakers Association (in 1999).
As you will discover when reading these tips, many of the ideas are still very much relevant.
Here’s a recap of the the three questions asked in the survey:
1. Without prior knowledge of how we currently “market” the Florida Speakers Association, what do you think are the most effective ways to spread the word about our organization?
2. Who do you suggest we contact (media) to “spread the word?” Would you be willing to share your media resources of help the Marketing Task Force locate those resources?
3. What marketing/Public Relations program would you suggest to help FSA increase membership and attendance at meetings?
Gayle said:
1. Word of mouth is always best of course, however, we need to get some articles done on us in the local papers, do some community programs (r-tv) and send out press releases with success stories.
2. If a speaker does not have their own resources yet, there should be a list on line that could help us. If not, the reference librarians could point us in the right direction.
3. Each program needs to be marketed with its own USP. What are they really going to get out of it? What benefit will they derive by attending? For example, I am sure there were many people who got more out of “our panel” than many of the speakers at meetings, because we were giving real, practical tips.
And Sally replied:
1. Probably connecting with Toastmasters is the best bet. Next I think we should hook
up with groups of published authors and appropriate writers associations. Another way is to have members go through some kind of training or informational session about how they can appropriately reach the professional and trade associations to which they belong. These are groups that hire speakers on a regular basis.
2. We could keep a scrapbook of copies of articles that were either written about us in newspapers and magazines or in which we were quoted. This book could be available to members at all meetings. In that way, a member could contact as a referral an appropriate newspaper or magazine writer and our marketing people could contact them about FSA. For TV and radio appearances, members could write up a page about their experience and the appropriate contact. We could also offer special workshops and training specifically geared to media people. In that way we could help them and make contact with them at the same time. I would definitely be willing to share my media resources.
3. I think we could increase membership by having one meeting a year devoted to bringing guests. That day the program could be run by members making presentations about how FSA particularly benefited them and their careers. We could have all kinds of membership perks on that day. To increase attendance, I suggest more networking time during each meeting.
Maybe each time we could have a roundtable time set up by area of expertise, location of business, by some kind of speaking skill like openings, closings, stories, etc., by the different aspects of the speaking business, or by speaker resources like photographers, printers, business plans, etc.
Stay tuned for part three tomorrow.
September 12th, 2008
Excerpt from Promoting Your Business on the WEB Special Report.
Develop Linking Strategies. They include the use of Reciprocal Links. Find complementary websites and request a reciprocal link to your site. Although I do all link requests manually there are a couple of automated link building software programs I recommend you check out are Zeus (fee-based) and Auto Link Exchanger (free).
Be sure to only link to complementary sites, no matter how many requests you receive to exchange links. Be careful not to link with those that have absolutely nothing to do with your audience or market – they could do you absolutely no good unless they have tons of traffic and are considered a highly trusted source for referrals.
The best link partners include those that serve your audience or an audience closely related. Make it desirable to a potential link partner by offering something her clients or customers wants or needs. Adobe software is a perfect example. They offer a Free PDF reader for those documents we create and read online. This FREE program is just one of the reasons Adobe is one of the top 500 websites in the world (according to Alexa.com)
Get a FREE copy of the 8-page Special Report Promoting Your Business on the WEB TODAY!
August 30th, 2008
“Communities can extend the edge of the corporation in truly transformative ways — tapping into new talent, helping design products and services, providing customer support and, most importantly, building the brand with the customer.” Ed Moran
What if your website could be THE place where people connect online? Where they could meet one another, exchange ideas and leads, keep up with current trends, learn about new opportunities and develop relationships?
I’m not talking the traditional Social Networking Sites that are made exclusively for meeting, mingling and networking. Not another Facebook, Myspace or LinkedIn. Although that is not a bad idea ~ and a topic for another post.
I am talking about a website that sells something and offers their visitors a place to share ideas and discuss items of interest to them along the theme of what you are selling. Add a forum to your website to increase your prospects! Forums can generate traffic, provide valuable customer feedback and build loyalty to the brand. Forums can give your customers a voice, a place to express their opinions about the product.
But online forums are not for everyone. It all depends on what you sell and if the product has enough diversity to lend itself to forum topics that would interest enough customers/clients to make the effort worthwhile. Lawn and Garden sites, Network marketing companies, sports fans and sites that sell products for pets are likely highly successful because the visitors have a PASSION for the product or the topic. If you sell detergent or mailboxes or office supplies your site might not be the ideal site to create a community forum. In my opinion a blog might be a more ideal option, a place where you can share your expertise with your customers about how to use the products as well as place to offer advice on ancillary topics that would interest them. Also another topic for discussion.
So why have an online forum for your business site? According to Bobybuilding.com CEO Ryan DeLuca “It’s about becoming the place where people come to talk and learn and meet.”
Consulting companies like the David Allen Company have a growing number of followers and active participants to their forums. According to their site, they have 10,761 Members. And their forum activity looks robust. Why? I am sure it’s because the topics are things their visitors are interested in learning more about or sharing.
I also found GAMING sites with active forums. Sites like GameReplays.org have forums that allow their fans to discuss the Company of Heros game at http://www.gamereplays.org/community/-CoH-Section.html. According to their site they have 90,736 registered members.
And then there’s sites like Bodybuilding.com which espouses more than 1.1 million users!
The drawbacks to forums are many. And you should be aware of them as well. Spam is perhaps the biggest issue. People posting stuff that has absolutely nothing to do with the topic at hand. I was on a forum the other day about how to turn an audio file into a podcast and one of the forum “members” posted the following: “I am searching for a partner to walk around the globe in support of our troups.” Well that may be a worthwhile post but had absolutely nothing to do with the topic. Of course everyone just ignored the poster. But I still find that sort of thing annoying and rude.
Other drawbacks include the cost of implementing a forum, the costs to monitor the forums, lack of participation, inappropriate participation and staying on topic (even for those who know and follow the rules this can sometimes be a challenge), marketing the forums so your target audience knows its available and also really expressing the benefits of participating so people want to be there. And let’s not forget the negative feedback that could occur from a dissatisfied customer. Too many of these can do more harm than good and be the downfall of a company. But then again, what’s wrong with that? If the company sells an inferior product then perhaps it shouldn’t be allowed to sell to unsuspecting buyers!
Building online forums is relatively inexpensive. If you’d like to try a do-it-yourself platform, try the Forum Co where you can set up a free forum at http://www.forumco.com/. vBulletin http://www.vbulletin.com/ is a professional, affordable community forum solution which according to their site has “Thousands of clients, including many industry leading blue chip companies, have chosen vBulletin – It’s the ideal choice for any size of community Or just ask your webmaster or webmistress to design it for you.”
The Wall Street Journal wrote a great article “Why Most Online Communities Fail. According to the article Ed Moran, a Deloitte consultant who just completed a study of more than 100 businesses with online communities said: “Not surprisingly, these sites failed to gain traction with customers. Thirty-five percent of the online communities studied have less than 100 members; less than 25% have more than 1,000 members … The article said one of the reasons for failure was that “Businesses are focusing on the value an online community can provide to themselves, not the community.” You can read the rest of the article here: http://blogs.wsj.com/biztech/2008/07/16/why-most-online-communities-fail/
Before you do consider adding a forum, think about your goals for the forum. What is the aim or purpose of the forum? What do you want your forum to look like? Who would you like to participate? How will you market the forum? And the big question: WHY? Why do you want a forum in the first place?
Forums are one of the original social networking platforms for building communities online. Once you have done your due dilligent, answered the questons above and studied your target audience for receptivity, you will be able to make a better decision about marketing your online business with a forum. Your forum can help you build word of mouth referrals for your small business, help you develop and perfect your brand, your business operations and your business offerings and more than that you will be able to help your targe market have, do or be better at something.
August 25th, 2008
Last week on HER Mastermind Network Dr. Leah Jackman-Wheitner, Ph.D. posted some thought-provoking questions to the group. The responses were interesting and helpful so I thought I’d post my responses here.
Q1. “What do you do to market when holding your head above the water is your primary goal?”
I think that if people are experiencing the negative impacts of the economy as far as their businesses are concerned then “holding your head above water” seems fitting. The most important thing to remember is to ALWAYS BE MARKETING ~ it is the #1 way to recession-proof your business. And #2 is something I was recently reminded of and that is when a marketing program is working well… keep doing it. I for one, will start something, see it through to a certain point and when I get bored with it will stop doing it. Our customers and clients EXPECT us to keep our name in front of them. When we don’t, they often forget about us and go elsewhere.
When times are tough I tend to get more involved locally to reaquaint others with my products and services. I give away samples and I offer incentives (not discounts per se). In February we created the Daisy Dollars program to reward customers who refer others to us. So far, we have invested about 3 hours coming up with and promoting the program and have seen at least a 10% increase in referrals since it’s implementation. And, we have sent the “Daisy Dollars™” to the referring parties and only one out of about 20 have redeemed them so far ($50 worth).
Note: Did you know that only about 5% of all discount offers, gift certificates ever get redeemed? I’m not sure that is good, because that may mean they are not coming back to you ~ so my next suggestion would be that if you keep track of who you send them to, then make it a part of your program to remind your clients of their incentive and ask them if they would like to redeem them? Since people forget they have them, they appreciate the reminder and you see an increase in business ~ and more importantly Referrals!
Q2. How do you pick and choose your marketing and networking commitments when time and energy are tight?
I choose those that have worked in the past as well as find fun new programs to showcase our products (see above answer). When time and energy are tight, it is just as important to market as not. If you are busy because of all your marketing efforts never think that it will last forever. Marketing is an ongoing effort. When times are good some people slack off on marketing and then wonder what happened when times get slow.
Q3. How do you know which activities are going to be best for you?
That is a tough question and the one marketers have asked since the beginning of time (or at least since there was something to be sold to someone who needed to buy…)
That’s why its so important to TEST the waters ~ if you are doubtful of the success of a program, test it on a small basis and see if it workings. If not, it gives you a chance to either modify the direction or plan or to drop it for something else. Before I do anything new I always run it by my mastermind group, my staff, a couple of friends I think will be impartial as well as my husband whom I consider my VOR (voice of reason). Sometimes I am so excited about a new program, I don’t fully analyze the cost versus benefits (ROI). Of course if it’s a very simple campaign that has a small financial investment to get off the ground such as the Daisy Dollars™ Program, I just run it by my staff.
You will read about some of the other contributions over the next few days.
July 28th, 2008
