Viral Marketing - Referral Programs in the Real World
I'm sure you've heard that old standard, "The best advertising is word-of-mouth advertising." Well, that isn't necessarily so all the time, but there's little doubt that word-of-mouth advertising is a powerful tool to add to your marketing arsenal.
The only problem is, you have little control over when the words flow out of your clients' mouths! So while this form of advertising may be very beneficial, the big drawback is that you can't plan on it as a consistent way of getting more business.
Up until now, that is.
In this chapter, I'm going to show you four very simple secrets for getting as much word-of-mouth advertising as possible. However, I prefer to call this type of advertising "Referral Advertising".
The primary difference is, a referral system is something you can build into your marketing plan and use to consistently bring in a steady flow of new business, while word-of-mouth implies a random event that occurs only when a client feels moved to tell a business associate, friend or relative about you.
Another important difference is that word-of-mouth only brings you business from your clients. But a carefully planned referral system will get you business from your clients, prospects who have not yet become your clients, prospects who will never become your clients, and other business owners.
So, as you can see, my approach to referrals is far more dynamic and productive than passively relying on clients to say good things about you on a very limited basis.
The 4 Secrets Of Getting Your Prospects, Clients, And Other Businesses To Funnel A Steady Stream Of New Clients Into Your Business
There are four secrets to getting tons of referrals on a consistent basis. They are:
1. Ask before you make the sale
2. Ask after you make the sale
3. Schedule regular referral events
4. Become the Resident Expert for other businesses,
groups, and organizations
Let's take a look at the first technique in detail and find out precisely how you use them to get as many referrals as possible.
1. Ask Before You Make The Sale
This technique is so easy to use, it's mind boggling. Yet ninety-nine percent of service professionals will never use it. Why? Because they'll never think to, even though it's based purely on common sense.
Here's how this technique works. Whenever you deal with a prospect, if they are going to end the transaction without doing business with you, regardless of the reason, ask them this powerful referral question:
"Who else do you know who could benefit from (whatever your main benefit is)?
Let's say you're a financial planner and you've just finished a free evaluation for a prospect. Even if they are not going to sign a contract that day, you ask them for referrals. Using a customized version of the question I just gave you, you simply say,
"Who else do you know who could benefit by protecting a lot more of their income from taxes?"
There are two important reasons why you ask this question now. First of all, most businesses only close 10% to 25% of all their prospects. So if you don't ask this question now, you'll lose out on tons of hot leads you could have had for the asking. You see, contrary to conventional wisdom, you don't necessarily have to make a sale before someone will refer other people to you. All you have to do is ask for the referral!
The second reason why you want to always ask prospects for referrals is that people tend to know and associate with other people just like themselves. Think about it...
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