Referrals Shouldn't Just
Happen By Chance...

The answer is almost always through referrals. Or, through word of mouth.

That's the most common answer I get when I ask small business owners where most of their clients come from. It's likely that would be the answer you give me as well if I asked you.

But when I ask those same people what kinds of things they're doing to proactively generate a consistent stream of word of mouth business, the response is usually nothing. "I just do great work and my happy clients tell others about me."

You see most people simply fail to ask. Even if you know that word of mouth is you best source of new business, you're likely taking a very passive approach by just waiting for others to recommend you.

Simply hoping that your best clients are happy with you and waiting for them to tell their friends, colleagues, and business associates about you is not enough.

What You Need is a Word of Mouth Strategy

Depending on the methods you choose, referral marketing can be implemented with very low and in some cases no costs. Compared to traditional advertising and other marketing methods such as direct mail, it can provide you the absolute best return on your investment of time and money.

Plus, a well thought out strategy will provide you these additional benefits:

• Higher quality leads because the leads you receive are much more likely to fit your definition of an ideal client than leads that are generated from an advertisement.


• Increased profits because the trust passed through the recommending party means you're likely to spend less time and money converting those prospects into new clients.


• Higher levels of client loyalty because by helping their friends, colleagues, and business associates you're helping your clients look good.

Referral marketing is so powerful that many small business owners have built thriving businesses based entirely on this strategy.

So How Do You Build Your Own Strategy?

The first thing you need to do is adopt a referral marketing mindset. You must expect them and make it easy for others to recommend you. Bill Cates shows you how to develop such a mindset and much more in his outstanding book entitled Get More Referrals Now! When you have a referral mindset, you won't just wait around for them to happen. You'll be able to make them happen.

One of the major mistakes most small businesses make when asking for referrals is that they don't stress to the client the key benefits of doing business with them. Your best marketing results happen when you continually inform and re-educate your clients and business associates why doing business with you is so beneficial.

Be sure to target what kinds of leads you want. You need to be able to tell others exactly what makes a great referral for you, what solutions/results you deliver to your clients, and how you intend to deal with any contact information passed on to you.

Be willing to thank the act of someone referring you, not just the outcome. There are a lot of ways to express thank you to someone for referring a prospect to you. Movie tickets, gift baskets, or even money are all excellent ways to reward someone who sends potential business your way - without breaking the bank.

Don't overlook the simplest, most personal way to say thanks and keep your contacts up-to-date on how you're coming along with their referrals - A Hand-Written Note! The power of a personal, hand-written note is actually the best way to generate more of the same because they show how much you care.

Would you like to learn about a way to actually automate the process of sending hand-written notes? You have to check out this incredible system put together by Send Out Cards.com! Now when I get a referral from someone, I use this system to send them a 'thank you' note almost immediately.

When you get a referral from someone, don't drop the ball by thinking there's no marketing left to do. In some cases, all you really have is a prospect who may be willing to hear your message. You still have to help them understand what your value proposition is and how they will benefit from doing business with you.

Even if someone that has been recommended to you doesn't become a client initially, you must continue to communicate with them. Never forget the power of a stay-in-touch marketing strategy (ok, that's a whole other page on this web site).

Keep them interested by sending them information that's useful to them. Even if they never become a client, the likelihood that they pass you on to someone else is higher because of how you stayed in touch.

Create A Systematic Approach

In his unbelievable program called Referral Flood: How To Create A Flood of New Business Without Spending One Dime on Advertising, John Jantsch walks you through step-by-step building you own powerful referral marketing system.

Since I got John's manual and started working on my own system, I've watched my own business go to a whole new level. I was getting referrals here and there before, but I was not making them happen. Now I not only know how to make them happen consistently, I know how to convert them as well.

And while he doesn't go into near as much detail, Steve Hackney offers 18 Proven Referral Strategies as one of eight bonus products with his Power Marketing Super System.

Does It Really Work?

First we sent out a survey that included the killer question "If you were recommending us to someone, what are the qualities and benefits you'd be telling them we offer?" Then directly underneath their response area we went ahead and asked for the name of three people they thought could benefit from the services being offered.

Anytime someone's referral came in, the recommending party was sent a gift certificate for $15 off their next visit, plus their name was entered in a drawing to win a day of beauty package. For very little money but well thought out effort, the beauty salon owner's leads and profitability soared.

That's the power of referrals.