|
Stop_Begging_for_Referrals
| Stop Begging for Referrals!
Copyright 2005 David Frey
Just about every course or book that deals with getting
referrals teaches you one single referral method - - "asking"
for referrals.
Yes, they'll teach you how you have to give good service and
then they give you a formula for asking for referrals and that's
all well and good....BUT...
...there's a HUGE problem with this approach. People HATE to ask
for referrals. You hate it, I hate it, and the people that get
asked hate it.
And the bottom line is...people won't do what they hate to do.
That's just simple human nature.
Asking people for referrals is right up there with asking your
friend to come to church with you on Sunday. It's downright
uncomfortable.
The sad result is that people don't get even a tiny amount of
the referrals they could be getting simply because the whole
"asking" process is flawed.
_____________________________________________
Here's the Other Problem with Asking for Referrals...
_____________________________________________
Let's just suppose for a moment that you do ask for referrals.
Do you ask all your clients and customers? Do you ask them every
time you see them?
Probably not.
Why?
Because it's not a systematic process for you. There's not a
bell that goes "ding!" to remind you to ask for a referral every
time you're with a customer.
But if you REALLY want a LOT of referrals. I mean an avalanche
of referrals, you need to have a systematic process for getting
them.
Referral S - Y - S - T - E - M - S
Systems are business processes that have predictable results and
outcomes because they happen the same way ever time, day in and
day out.
I like to think of systems using this acronym:
S-ystems save
Y-ou
S-tress
T-ime
E-nergy and
M-oney
If you want to get more referrals you need to implement referral
s-y-s-t-e-m-s.
And the referral system needs to be "transactional" and NOT
"relationship-based."
NOTE: I'm about to ruffle a LOT of feathers with this one. It
goes against everything you've been taught about getting
referrals.
_______________________________________________________
"Transaction-Based" Referrals - The Key to Getting a Consistent,
Predictable Flow of Fresh Referrals
_______________________________________________________
A lot of people who teach you about getting referrals will tell
you that if you nourish your relationship with your customer or
client they'll give you referrals.
That's not necessarily true.
I'll bet some of your very best customers haven't given you one
referral.
Why?
Because they're busy and have a thousand other things on their
mind...just like you.
If you rely on just your relationships to get you referrals
you'll be disappointed.
The key to getting a consistent stream of referrals is to build
the referral process into the transaction!
That's right, you need to build your referral system INTO the
TRANSACTION.
_______________________________________________________
Here's a Great Example of a "Transaction-Based" Referral System
_______________________________________________________
The other day I received a promotional letter from TXU Energy
(a Texas Energy Company).
In the promotional letter they included a leaflet that offered
$40 to anyone who referred a friend and became a customer.
Would you like to see it?
Here's the front side:
http://tinyurl.com/3wwq7
And here's the back side:
http://tinyurl.com/3mynj
They also send this leaflet along with their billing
statements. When someone comes out to your house to do
maintenance work or respond to a call they leave behind this
leaflet.
You see, when a "transaction" happens, they ask for a referral.
There's no face-to-face asking.
They don't wait until it's the "right time."
It happens every time there's a transaction.
Because of this, TXU gets a steady stream of referrals. In fact,
they can predict with some accuracy that if they give out X
amount of leaflets, they'll get back in X amount of referrals.
The results are...
(1) predictable
(2) consistent
(3) repeatable
________________________________________
Applying this Referral Strategy to Your Business
________________________________________
Ask yourself how you can apply this referral strategy to your
business.
It doesn't matter if you're a consultant, dry cleaner, auto
dealership, or even a large energy company...you can use this
referral strategy.
And there's so many variations and applications of this simple
referral technique that ANY business can do it. Even yours!
About the author:
David Frey is the author of the Small Business Marketing Bible
(www.TheMarketingBible.com) and the Senior Editor of the Small
Business Marketing Best Practices Newsletter. To get your
lifetime free subscription visit
http://www.MarketingBestPractices.com
|
|
| |
| |
