July 23 2012
21:44,
Hey readers, fans and
groupies [you know who you are :)]. You probably know that this is the #1
marketing website in South Africa. Nobody disputes that. Heck it even says so
on the homepage of this website. Okay. Enough of that. Let’s get down to
business.
More importantly YOUR
business. Are you getting enough clients? Could you close more? Could
you sell more? Are you pounding the phones like a maniac? Are you
meeting people? Are you hustling enough? You say you are raking it in like a
kid in candy store? Good. Good. Good.
No wait, what’s that?
Oh you want to do better. You want to get the fastest growth for your business
in the shortest amount of time possible, with absolute zero investment?
Sheesh, you sure want
it all don’t you. You greedy little cave goblin you. Well fine. Raymond the
Rainmaker is going to give you what you want. More business!
This translates to:
Getting a constant stream of customers
Look. Clients are your
business. End of discussion. Without a repeat stream of them (and lots &
lots of them) it’s nigh impossible to build an empire. And here is how to do
it. My latest creation:
Raymond’s pre-emptive
referral marketing
Just a fancy way of
saying: create conditions in your
business where referrals become automatic. Don’t wait for customers to give
you a referral. Ask for it! But ask for it before the job complete. Roughly 2/3rd
of the way through the job.
This gives the client enough time to evaluate your service (get more
sold on you, your company and your product) plus that golden window where
referrals happen.
Okay you’ve opened the
door. If the client gives you a referral you don’t dare stop there. (who says
you have to stop there?). Ask for the endorsement/cross promotion. Here’s how
it can go:
“Say Joe, thanks for
the referral, I’ll be sure to render a proper and just service to the client
you referred. I’ll even give you an update as we move things along.”
10.5 Referral/Cross Promotion
Mechanisms
·
“Now Joe, I see
you have a 1000 facebook fans, could you recommend me to them as well?”
·
“Now Joe, I see
you have a company profile on your website with you and all of your staff,
could I write up something about myself so I can put it on your website too? As
your legal/marketing/advertising/financial [or whatever you sell] department?
·
“Joe could you
mention me to your twitters fans?”
·
“Joey my boy
could you give me a shout on your google places page?”
·
“Joe, could you
give me a linkedin recommendation?”
·
“Joe could you
send a couple of emails to your contact list? Ja the emails are all here, I
just need you to approve them and click send. No wait you won’t even have to do
THAT. I’ll copy and paste them, you give me a nod and I’ll hit the send button.
After all, hitting that send button is just waay to much work for a lazy bum
like you (Never talk to your clients like that … unless you can go all the way
through.)
·
“Joe could you mention
me on a facebook status update?”
·
“Joe could I
leave my business card/marketing information on your desk in your store for a
few days?”
·
“Joe could you
make a little youtube video for me on your youtube channel?” [Scratch this one –
you do all the marketing for the client and put it on his channel. Clients don’t
want to do any ‘work’.]
·
“Joe what if I
made a small insert into your monthly direct mail newsletter?”
·
“Joe could I
write a guest post on your blog?”
These are just some
ideas to get the ball rolling for you. But remember these are only mechanisms.
A channel to get the referral. You still have to warn your client in advance
that you will be asking for one. You still have to educate your client on why it’s
in his best interest to refer you. Basically you still have to do referral
marketing 101 and choose the right channel for the right client in getting the
referral.
Okay my brain is fried
right now, so this is it. Hope you work those referrals and I’ll see you next
time!
Raymond H. Smit
"South Africa's Marketing Guru"
P.S. There is nifty
little function in Facebook where you can tag people. If you’re a company doing
a tradeshow/event for example you can meet a lot of people, take pictures with
them, and then tag them later on Facebook. They may just give you a like on
Facebook … hint, hint.
