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Getting ReferralsBryan Brandenburg Referrals A substantial part of your business can come from referrals. The key is to provide extraordinary customer service and educate your clients and influencers to this fact. You must actively cultivate referrals; otherwise you’re just leaving it to chance. Referrals Start with Great Service The foundation of great referrals is great customer service. A large part of your business can be generated through referrals. Make an investment in your business and your client’s satisfaction by doing excellent work. Characteristics of a Referral Source Understanding the characteristics of a strong referral source, allows you to spend your time with the most qualified prospects. Below are the conditions of the optimum referral source: Must have a relationship with your target client Must understand your target client profile Must be educated on what you do Must respect you and your company Must be respected by your target client Must be motivated to refer clients to you Existing Clients You should regularly ask for referrals and you should have a formal referral program with your existing client base. We simply send a letter out regularly to our clients explaining that we would rather spend our money enhancing our services then marketing for business. We ask for referrals. We send coupons that can be distributed, business cards, and newsletters that can be forwarded. We’re not pushy; we just are up front that if they are satisfied with our services they should recommend us. Complimentary Vendors With other vendors you need to be more formal about your referral arrangement. The promise of mutual reciprocation rarely works. Immediate gratification does. If you’re clear about the value of the client calculated earlier in this section, then be generous with your fellow vendors when they bring in a client. If you’re going to make a profit of $10,000 over the life of the client, writing a check for $1000 to the referral source shouldn’t be painful. You may have friendships with some of these vendors but they’re also business people and should be concerned that they spend time improving their bottom line. When you propose a solid cause and effect financial arrangement, you’ll get significantly better results. Evaluate all the businesses that are non-competitive but end up doing business with your target client. Examples of this are: Cabling Companies Management consultants Phone Companies Software Companies VARs Hardware Companies Make it worth their while and put the offer in writing. It could be a major source of new leads for you. Seminar Participants If you provide great value at your seminars, this could lead to a lucrative referral pipeline. But like anything else, you must consciously cultivate the referrals. Include extra business cards or coupons in the seminar package and on your evaluation questionnaire, specifically ask if there is somebody the participant knows that could use your services or should receive a discount coupon for the next seminar. Ask and you shall receive. Professional Services Some of the best referral sources you have available are from those that provide your company professional services. You’re their client, so they’re naturally inclined to provide extra value. They also have a great deal of insight into the work you do and your success. Examples are: Bankers Leasing agents Commercial real estate broker Accountants Attorneys Secondary sources that could surprise you are: Regular delivery people Vendor contacts; office supplies, hardware, etc. Cleaning services; contact the managers or owners Cultivate and groom these sources of referrals. Behave professionally in all of your interactions. Keep them informed on new clients, products and services, press and so on. Supply them with business cards and actively ask for referrals. Other Referral Sources There are other referrals sources that may have already generated business for you without having a formal referral system in place: Friends Members of your church Neighbors Employees Prospects – If they don’t buy, ask for a referral Members of other organizations you’re associated with – school, political, etc. When to Ask for Referrals You should always be asking for referrals if you deliver a quality product or service. There are times when you’ll get better results than others. Here are some guidelines for when to ask for referrals: After signing a contract. Periodically with a letter, say once a quarter When successfully completing a project and your client signs the final approval. When a prospect turns you down. Guilt is a beautiful thing. When you’re doing a client satisfaction survey. When you’re calling an inactive client. When you’re calling an active client. If you’re unclear on how to ask for a referral, here are some variations to try: “It was a real pleasure working with you and I look forward to our next project together. In the meantime, if you know somebody that needs quality software development services, I hope that you pass on what a good experience you had with our company and have them give us a call.” “I’m glad things are going well for you. Do you have any acquaintances that might need my company’s services” Keep Them Informed You should keep the referral source informed during the early part of the new relationship. You’ll get a sense of how much but at least make a call and tell the source “Thank you” for the referral. Inform them that you’ve met, started a contract and then simply ask them if they want to stay informed on their referral. You should almost always send a letter thanking the referral source. It’s polite and prudent. If it makes sense, you can send them a credit for your services, a dinner for two or tickets to a ball game. Show your appreciation. Motivating Referral Sources Motivating the referral source depends on the kind of relationship you have with them. If it’s an existing client, it may be as simple as just providing stellar service and actively requesting the referral. For vendors and professional relationships, setting up a formal commission that is attractive is more effective. And don’t forget to give referrals yourself. If you can comfortably recommend a company, you’ll build reciprocation credits and it doesn’t take a lot of effort on you’re part. The key is to refer only businesses that can really deliver and then make sure you follow-up with the vendor to see how the relationship is going.
| ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | RELATED ARTICLES How To Make Easy Money on the Internet -- But This Time Its Actually TRUE! Introduction: The Metaphors of the Net I. The Genetic Blueprint How Much Risk is Necessary to Grow Your Business A business owner is thoroughly responsible for their own financial survival and possibly the financial survival of their employees. Business owners, for the most part, seem to be "risk takers", who really dont easily "go with the flow". They are inventive and somewhat confident, as just having their own business does mandate that they possess these qualities. Internet & Mortgage Calculations “You’ve been approved!” The words you have always wanted to hear when you filled out the home loan application. It swirls through your mind the opportunities and memories you will cherish in your new home. Before you even start shopping for a home it is best to understand in real terms what you can afford. Your income level may make it tight for you every month to make the mortgage payment if you purchase too much home. Determinants Of Success- Revisited, Again. If you have been a long time subscriber to this newsletter you have read about the determinates of success before. If you are new, hold on to your hat because this is some powerful stuff. Attention To Details Helps Homeowners Sell Fast In A Buyers Market Your boss has just given you the career opportunity of a lifetime, but the job is in another state. Dealing With Dual Real Estate Agents Historically, real estate agents have represented the seller of a property. The seller, after all, is usually the one who pays their commission, and agents therefore have a fiduciary relationship with the seller. This in no way means that agents may operate outside the bounds of the law and ethical conduct of course. It just means that the real estate agent is just that, an authorized agent of the seller for a particular transaction. The Curious History Of Wine Consumption In America The history of wine consumption in America has been frought with starts, stops, and inconsistencies.The American population has always had a love-hate relationship with alcohol.Historic prohibitionist attitudes amongst much of the American population have blurred the line between moderate wine consumption and detrimental alcoholism.As a result, regular, moderate consumption of wine by the American public continues to face ideological and legal impediments. Adjustable Rate Mortgages Offer Alternatives For Home Buyers When looking for a mortgage to meet your needs, consider these key questions:Is your income expected to increase in the coming yearsHow long do you plan to live in your new homeAnd, which mortgage will provide the lowest interest rate Does Your Copy Look "Fake" To the Search Engines From the early days of search engine optimization, keywords and content have always been vital to achieving your goals.Starting back in the days when we used to shove every slightly relevant keyword into our Meta tags, it has been obvious that search engines love text.The more advanced the engines have gotten over the years, the more complex and sophisticated many writers have gotten with their search engine copywriting. 1,001 Deals and Steals: A Guide To Online Classifieds Some naysayers way back in the 1990s predicted that online shopping wouldn’t last. Sure, and they said television was a passing fad, too! As we all know, just the opposite has occurred. There’s a television in every household, and more than likely, the homeowner bought their television online—along with his books, music CDs, clothes, and maybe even his home. How Creditors Measure Your Credit Rating Creditors will measure your credit rating based on the following three main things.CapacityCollateralCharacter A Singles Game of Real Estate This discussion leans toward answering questions asked most often by our youthful men and women in there early twenties. They often begin to ask themselves the question, “Should I consider buying a home, condo/town-home or some other type of real estate that I can call my own” Due to the fact that housing has up to this point always been provided for or lived in on a rented basis we tend to find that our newest contributing members of society find themselves at a loss for the most beneficial and advantageous way to enter this next phase of self-sufficiency. Private Mortgage Insurance PMI If your down payment on a home is less than 20 percent of the appraised value or sale price, you must obtain private mortgage insurance, known as PMI, with your lender. This will enable you to obtain a mortgage with a lower down payment because your lender is now protected against any default on the loan. A Real Estate Investing Primer There are a great many books and web sites devoted to real estate investing out there, but most of them concentrate on one specific area of investing.Its often hard to find a general description of real estate investing, one that lists the various real estate investing strategies and how to get started.Thats what this article will set out to do. 10 “No Money Down” Ways to Buy Real Estate Turn the Television on any Sunday morning and you’ll find yourself in the middle of a “how to buy real estate” infomercial. Can you really buy a house with no down payment Can you really make thousands or millions of dollars buying real estate. Of course the answer is “yes” and “no”. The real question is, are you willing to pay anywhere from $500 to $5000 for the information, classes and hotline Most important are you self disciplined enough to follow the program. Linking is Queen If content is king, then linking is the queen that shares his throne. We have all heard about adding content to your site to give the search engines fodder to consume. But the secret to luring the search engines is the links to your site. Todays search engines look very carefully and critically at who is linking to you, and what it is that they are saying about you. A link from a leader in your industry carries a lot of weight and means that your site is important. Two links from industry leaders means your site is even more important. 100 links from random web sites, from industries you are not even related with, means almost nothing. Thus, getting links is only the start; the important thing is getting good links from quality web sites. Tax Advantages In A Home Business Every year, several thousand people develop an interest in "going into business."Many of these people have an idea, a product or a service they hope to promote into an in come producing business which they can operate from their own homes. Is Accumulating a $1,000,000 Net Worth Easy Yes and NO Is accumulating wealth as easy as following a 3-step plan Yes it is and no it isnt. As with many things in life, accomplishing a goal such as accumulating one million dollars or even $100,000 depends on your desire, your personal choices and your daily actions. Turf Wars: Author/Landlord Offers a Few Words of Advice for Tenants Richard Rusdorf, author of "The Landlords Handbook: A Complete Guide to Managing Small Residential Properties," managed a 400-plus-unit apartment building in Chicago 20 years ago. The past president of the Chicago chapter of the Institute of Real Estate Management, he has served as a real estate broker, consultant, writer, architectural photographer, and certified property manager. With such a diverse background in real estate, Rusdorf has plenty of perspective on what peeves both landlords and tenants. Tenants number-one point of contention, he says, is "responsiveness to complaints -- even if theres nothing that can be done about the problem." Residential rental properties are a literal obstacle course of sticky situations. These fairly tight quarters are home to many people with specific concerns that they expect their landlord to address and pay for yesterday. Landlords, whether at fault or not when tenant complaints arise, find themselves between a rock and a hard place on such issues as security, water quality, the neighborhood, neighbors, their guests, and noise. ![]() |
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