Monday, January 26, 2015

8 Tips for More Client Referrals

“The system is the solution,”  says Joe Stumpf,  of “By Referral Only” fame.  
A good system opens doors to client referrals.

Building your business by referrals is both a  philosophy and a mindset.

Gold Star Referral Clubs, can be part of your system to generate referrals, now look at what else you can do to increase referrals with your customers and clients.

What's your referral marketing strategy? Do you have a system in place?

8 Tips For More Client Referrals:

1. Don’t wait to create a plan to increase your business by referrals. Write down your plan and follow it. Share it with your staff on a regular basis and keep everyone engaged with rewards, contests and appreciation.

2. Connect with your clients with permission-based emails with social media.  Share news, photos, value, education and humor. Consider blogging.

3. Invite past clients to at least one event a year, for example, you can invite them to join you at a Chamber event, Festival, or Charity event. You might consider a Client Open House with great food and fun.

4. Deliver what you promise when you promise it, and deliver superior value to your clients. Address complaints immediately and professionally with remarkable customer service.

5. Don't wait until your pipeline dries up to look for referrals. Have a 12 month plan and put it into place for a consistent stream of high quality referrals.

6. Proactively refer clients to other quality business people that you know, like and trust. Let those businesses know that you referred them to a client and you'd appreciate the same. Your clients will appreciate being referred to quality services. It shows that you care.

7. Create a referral reward program for your clients. Think of some type of reward or recognition for anyone they refer to you

8. Recognize and thank your referral sources. This could be with a simple phone call, email, or even better, a handwritten note. You'll encourage MORE referrals when you're generous with appreciation.

REMEMBER, referred clients are more likely to refer their family and friends to you because they already understand and trust the process.


Monday, January 12, 2015

Referral Productivity Exercise


It's easy to get lost in activities. I know - I do.

Look at the pyramid above. Do you see where "High Repeat Referral Source" is at the top? That's because the best way to increase your business with referrals is to find referral sources that we refer to as "the Golden Goose." A Golden Goose is a business or person that gladly and continually refers business to you. They are a huge source for referrals. It's evident that devoting time and energy to form a relationship with a good referral source is time well-spent. It's productive time.

Yet, how often do you actually think about what your networking time is supposed to produce? Is it really that simple to categorize business networking actions for more profit? I think so.

Identify and list the activities you do each week that fit in the four categories above. Once you assign your referral activities to one of the four categories, you will be able to clearly see why you have and why you don't have the results you have.

Here are some examples of activities for each category:

High Repeat Referral Source Activities:

  • I meet often with business friends that can repeatedly refer clients to me because of what they do.
  • I create and give the right tools and appreciation to my referral sources.
High Dollar Referral Value:
  • I set up one-to-one meetings with business people who work with high dollar clients that I might be able to serve.
  • I invite visitors to my business networking meeting that could be a high dollar client for me in the future.
One-Time Referral Value Activities:
  • I deliberately craft a memorable 60 second presentation for Chamber networking meetings that is specific about one amazing product.
  • I have created a business card with appointment information on the back that offers a free consultation.
Zero or No Referral Value:
  • I have come to realize that I would rather sleep in than get up early to attend a networking event.
  • I prefer to eat alone and check my email.
Hopefully, with this simple exercise, you will see how to grow your business with referrals by investing productive time into the right activities. 


Monday, January 5, 2015

Measure For Motivation

Yogi Berra

"If you don’t know where you’re going, you’ll end up someplace else.” 


Well said by Yogi Berra, Hall of Fame American Major League Baseball player and famous coach, who pushed his teams to success. He trained them to set goals and to measure their progress. That kept them on track, focused and motivated to do better.

Why spend time tracking your progress in business? Tracking referrals?

Tracking and measuring your business growth, your referrals and closed sales can seem time-consuming and unnecessary. 

However, the time invested in tracking and measuring your progress is repaid with the driving power to do more. One of the reasons you measure is for motivation. It motivates you... and others.

In Gold Star Referral Clubs, we measure how many referrals have been passed and what referral dollars were earned on closed business. This proves that Gold Star works and it motivates us and our visitors. Our groups do millions of dollars a year in business through referrals that they give to each other.

Cory Best, a Gold Star Regional Director in Ohio, recently sent me an email about his referral club in Powell, OH with 21 members. They keep track of how much business they get from referrals.

He said:

This group exchanged 988 referrals and $487,176.42 in business in 2014.  Here is what some of the members said in 2014:
"This group accounted for $16,364.00 worth of business and could have not had the success without these people in this group"
"Gold Star allowed us to have 6 real estate closings worth $44,000.00, I believe the small investment to be part of this is well worth it"
"Our group accounted for just slightly more then $24,000 in revenue for me.  Gold Star is a major part of my marketing plan and it accounts for 1/5 of my annual production"
"Over 30% of my annual sales are attributable to Gold Star in 2014".

FOLKS---THIS IS HUGE

I get motivated when I hear how well businesses do in Gold Star and I'm sure that it motivates them also.

This year, set goals for how you want to grow your business with referrals and track the progress of your referral pipeline. You will be amazed how inspiring it is to actually see the success you can have.