30 Knowing the three ways to grow a

business
O Get new customers
O Sell more to existing customers
O Sell more often to existing customers

To grow any business you will need to either attract new customers or increase
transaction value and frequency of purchase of the customers you have already
got. Or even better you can do all three.

If you were the owner of a baker’s shop one way to sell more would be to attract
more customers. You could do this by offering a free loaf to every new customer.
Another way would be to sell more to the customers you have got. You could offer
a special meal deal that consists of a baguette, a cake, a packet of crisps and a
drink at a special package price. A third way would be to encourage the customers
you have got to come in and shop more frequently. You could do that by creating a
loyalty card and giving discounts for frequent visits.

Why is this information important?

Many people focus on getting new customers as if this was the only way to build
business. This is in fact the most costly and time-consuming route to more
business. Building business with existing customers by creating ways for them to
buy more and more often is a far cheaper and quicker way to increase revenues
and ultimately profits.

Your challenge
Your challenge is to know your figures and to open your mind to ways to develop
each of the three ways to grow any business.

The dimensions of business growth

Your total business revenue will be made up out of the number of customers you
have, multiplied by the amount they spend, multiplied by how often they spend it.

Customers x Value x Frequency = Total

82
 DETERMININGYOUR MARKETING METHODS

Example
If you have ten customers who spend £1,000 twice a year your total
revenue will be £20,000.

If you get one new customer and get those 11 customers to spend 10%
more three times a year you will see your revenues reach £36,300.

If you get five extra customers and encourage all 15 to spend 50%
more four times a year you will be looking at a cool £90,000.

And finally if you manage to double your number of customers to 20,

double their spend and increase the number of times they buy from you
to five times a year, you will increase your turnover from £20,000 to
£200,000.

CHECK YOUR OWN DIMENSIONS OF BUSINESS GROWTH ^ SPECIAL RESPONSE

QUESTIONS
" How many customers do you have right now?
" How much do they spend in an average transaction with you?
" How many times ayear do they spend this with you?
" What would happen if you increased these ¢gures by 5%,10%, 20% or 50%?
" What ideas do you have that could increase transaction value?
" What ideas do you have that could increase frequencyof purchase?

How to use this information

Evaluate some of the tactics for boosting business with existing customers and
attracting new customers. Choose the best to integrate into your business and you
can expect to see a measurable impact on your bottom line.

Think three ways to grow and maximise

your business potential

83
 31 How to test and measure the return
you get from marketing
If 50% of your marketing is working,
which 50% is and which isn’t?

What is testing and measuring?

Testing and measuring means finding out what specific results you are getting from
the marketing activities you engage in. It is about generating some tangible facts
and figures to support your future marketing plans. It will enable you to go beyond
gut feel or ‘suck it and see’. By testing and measuring you will create the figures,
the sales results and the numbers to support your marketing proposals.

Why is it important?
Do you know for sure which of your current marketing methods work the best?
Can you tell where the majority of your new enquiries come from? Do you know
how much of your product or service you sold as a direct result of a particular
advertising campaign? If you do not have this information you have no way of
learning about your business or your customers’ responses to your marketing
activities. How can you fine tune your delivery to improve results if you don’t know
what they are in the first place? How can you make decisions about where to spend
your budget year on year? How can you decide what to drop and what to repeat?
Testing and measuring the specific results you get from marketing is absolutely
necessary if you want to evaluate your return on any investment you make.

Your challenge
Your challenge will be setting up a system to test and measure each of your
marketing activities. You will need the discipline to work your system until you
have gathered enough information to come to meaningful conclusions. Don’t give
up before you have had a chance to test and measure thoroughly. It will be worth it
in the long run. You will save time, money and effort by ultimately focusing on
what works and stop wasting money on what doesn’t.

Some marketing methods will be harder to test than others. Direct response
marketing like advertising, direct mail, email campaigns and telesales campaigns

84
 DETERMININGYOUR MARKETING METHODS

are easier to test and measure than general brand awareness marketing like poster
campaigns, transport advertising and billboards. To come to a buying decision
customers may have come into contact with a number of your marketing messages
over a period of time before a positive response is triggered.

What makes testing and measuring successful?

Testing and measuring needs to be systematic. You need to decide how each
method will be tested and measured prior to starting. You will also need a system
of recording the information. A simple spreadsheet can be an easy way to do this.

Test on a smaller scale first

If you are planning a direct mail campaign, test a smaller number on a targeted
group and count up the responses you get before you send out the larger batch. If it
doesn’t work well enough you will have a chance to fine tune the approach, then
try a different headline or a different offer.

Get team understanding and support

If you have a team of people working in your business it is likely that they will be
involved in gathering customer response information. The more they understand
about the importance of finding out what is working and what isn’t the more likely
they will be to follow through with the system necessary to get it right.

Choose the right measure for the right method

Make your measures creative and different. You may make a specific offer in one
advert. You might have a particular response process that applies to a sales
campaign that enables you to track the results. You could propose an outrageous
freebie in a local directory listing. You may set up different codes or reply
references on email campaigns. You may have signed up to a website traffic report.
The measure will need to be appropriate to the marketing method used and easy to
monitor.

Ask people where they heard about you

Asking people where they heard about your business is probably the easiest and

85
85 INSPIRING WAYS TO MARKET YOUR SMALL BUSINESS

most instant way to get answers. Get everybody in your organisation to gather this
information. It can be done on the telephone when you get an enquiry. It can be
asked in conversation or at the end of a customer transaction. This information
needs to be recorded, collated and evaluated.

YOUR TESTAND MEASURE ^ SPECIAL RESPONSE CHECKLIST

" What marketing methods are you using at the moment?
" How are you testing and measuring the return you get?
" Do you know what is working best?
" If not, what could you do to introduce relevant measures?
" How could you systemise your testing and measuring process?
" Decide on what you can test and measure.
" How you are going to do it?
" How and who is going to record the information?
" Review results and make decisions.

How to use this information

The information must be used to optimise the return you get from your marketing.
Cut out those methods that do not work after thoroughly testing and fine tuning.
Use more of the methods that work by doing everything you can to maximise
impact.

For example if your window display is one of the most popular customer magnets,
then make the most of it. Change the display, promote special offers, use it to
introduce new products. Keep it clean and clear. Use testing and measuring to
support continuous learning about your marketing and your customers’ responses.

Think test and measure and find out

what works and what doesn’t

86
 32 Choosing the best methods to
market your business

What are the best methods?

The best methods to market your business are those that enable you to target the
right people with the right message and gain the greatest return on your
investment.

Why is it important to analyse the right methods for your

business?
There are so many methods out there in the marketplace to choose from that you
could be overwhelmed with information and possibilities. There is a lot to learn
about how each method works and what is involved in getting it set up. It is
important to understand and appreciate how each method could form a vital part
of your marketing strategy before you make big decisions about how you spend
your marketing budget. Poor decisions can result in a lot of wasted time and effort.

Your challenge
Your challenge will be to avoid getting overloaded with information and allowing
that to stop you taking action. Paralysis by analysis can be a problem for many.
Find quick and easy ways of exploring the potential of the marketing methods that
could be ideal for your business. This book is designed to give you the essentials,
enabling you to move forward swiftly to create a strategy that has the best chance
of working for you.

YOUR BEST METHOD SELECTION CRITERIA ^ SPECIAL RESPONSE CHECKLIST

When evaluating any potential marketing method you can check out its viability by
running it through this checklist.

" What is the method?

" What do you know about it?
" What marketing goals do you expect this method will help you to achieve?
" What other business similar to yours has used this method and got results?
" Can you ¢nd this out?
" What kind of result is it possible to achieve?
" What are the potential bene¢ts for a business like yours?

87
85 INSPIRING WAYS TO MARKET YOUR SMALL BUSINESS

" Is there any guarantee of success?

" What are the risks involved?
" What resources, investment and time are required to get it set up?
" Have you got the resources and time to set up and run this marketing method?
" What will it cost you in terms of time and money to do this?
" How will you measure your success?

How to use this information

Read this book and take note of any of the methods that you think could work for
your business. Run each you choose through this checklist before you add it to your
marketing plan.

Think best method and make the best choices

88
 33 Being creative with your ideas

What does being creative mean?

Being creative is all about your ability to come up with ways of doing things
differently. It is about thinking outside of normal boundaries and rules, thinking
outside of the box that the majority stay within. Creative thinkers use more of their
right brain which is that part of your brain that accesses ideas and concepts, as
opposed to their left brain which controls logic and order. We can all be creative if
we allow ourselves to be and being good at marketing your business will need you
to develop ways to capture the spirit of your business and stand out from the
crowd.

Why is it important?
With the persistent competition for market share and the ever increasing pressure
to do things better, cheaper and quicker in order to stand a chance of success,
creative thinking is a must. If you can, come up with innovative ways of promoting
yourself you will be remembered when others are forgotten. It is often easier to
follow the crowd in any industry, to do something because it is expected or because
it has always been done that way. It takes courage to break free and be different.
Good creative ideas can propel you forward and help you to stimulate the mind of
your customer.

Your challenge
Some business owners would not describe themselves as being creative. This is
probably because they have never really allowed themselves to be. By creating the
right circumstances and allowing your mind to run free we all have the potential
for bright ideas. Being creative is all about opening your mind to possibilities and
letting go of the reins of control. Most of us come up with our best ideas when we
are relaxed, enjoying ourselves or being stimulated by a new environment. It is
hardest to be creative when you are walking the treadmill of familiar daily tasks.
Your greatest challenge will be to create opportunities to let your mind relax
giving it a chance to get stimulated outside of a normal routine environment.

89
85 INSPIRING WAYS TO MARKET YOUR SMALL BUSINESS

Creative marketing ideas – small business examples

Here are some good examples of how some small businesses have used
their creative minds to come up with different ways of generating new
leads and interest in their businesses.

A new hair salon wanted to get more attention in their city centre
location to drive new customers to book appointments and to collect
contact details for their customer database. Thinking outside the box
and utilising the resources they had they came up with the idea of
running a hair styling competition for the stylists at their salon, the
results of which were modelled and voted on in the city centre on a
busy Saturday. Shoppers who voted had to complete an entry form
which allowed those who voted for the winning style entry into a draw
to win a free makeover at the salon. The entry form included full
contact details which enabled all those who took part to be mailed a
special thank you voucher giving discounts on hair appointments.
They achieved free press coverage both advertising for the models to
take part and the event itself. Their stylists got some good exposure as
well as generating entertainment and interest for shoppers on a
Saturday.

A retail outlet selling teddy bears and a range of soft toys wanted to
encourage more families with children to visit their shop. They wanted
to communicate fun and excitement and to drive the right people to
their door. They came up with the idea of running a hunt the bears
competition. They took picture of all their top bears and gave them all
a special name. They arranged to put pictures of the bears up in
different places in the town centre. To enter the competition, families
had to complete an entry form that requested contact details. The
competition involved correctly matching the named bears with a
location. All correct entries were entered into a draw to win the bear of
their choice. Competition entry forms had to be delivered to the shop
where entrants were given a special gift voucher. This creative
marketing idea generated a lot of fun and attracted a crowd of
excited kids who all wanted a bear.

An Indian restaurant promoted its special lunchtime menu by offering

a tray of tempting sample dishes at a local riverside event which was
taking place only five minutes’ walk from their restaurant.

90
 DETERMININGYOUR MARKETING METHODS

A ball gown specialist who wanted to target the local student market
advertised for aspiring student models and ran a free fashion show and
modelling competition at one of the universities. Students voted for
both the best model and the best gown. The winner wearing the chosen
gown got their picture in the local newspaper along with an excellent
write-up about the event.

HOW TO BE CREATIVE ^ SPECIAL RESPONSE CHECKLIST

" Where are you when you ¢nd you come up with your best ideas? Go there more
often.
" Have you tried a creative marketing ideas brainstorming session with your team?
" Take your team out of the o⁄ce and just let your minds run free: all ideas are
accepted no matter how crazy. If you create an environment that is free from
criticism and analysisyou will be amazed at what comes up.
" Some of the reality business programmes on television like Risking It All,The
Apprentice, Dragons’ Den are great for stimulating ideas. If you see something you
like, think about how you could apply it to your business in a di¡erent way.
" What kind of fun creative activity do you think would get your business some
attention?
" What kind of competition could you run?
" What could you do that would attract some positive press coverage?
" What could you do that is di¡erent and unique?
" Get yourself a brightly coloured artist’s pad and some coloured pens. Help yourself
think creatively by drawing and linking ideas together. Mind maps are a useful way
of connecting your ideas and allowing one thought to branch o¡ into another.
" Keep a record of your ideas whenever theyoccur to you and let them develop.
" What could you do that would really communicate the spirit of your business?

How to use this information

When you come up with a new and different approach to the marketing or
advertising of your business make sure that it has the best chance of attracting the
right people and giving out the right message about your business. Keep your eye
on your brand image and make sure that anything you do is supportive of it. If
your idea ticks all the right boxes give it a try and just like any other marketing
method you use it will need to be tested and measured.

Think outside the box and stand out from the crowd

91
 10
Marketing methods that boost
business with existing customers

34 Communicating with your existing

customers
35 Building trusting relationships
36 Reviewing customers’ needs
37 Encouraging referrals and
recommendations
38 Publishing case studies
39 Selling up and selling more
40 Packaging your products
41 Creating a newsletter
42 Making the most of email marketing
43 Using hospitality and special days

inspiring ways
to market
your small business

92
 34 Communicating with your existing
customers

What is a communication system?

A communication system is a planned series of activities that ensure that you keep
in constant communication with your existing customers. Elements of a
communication system could include a monthly e-newsletter, new product or
service alerts emails, an annual or biannual customer review meeting, an invitation
to a special event or hospitality day, Christmas cards and gifts, free tickets to
events, a golf day, day at the races, free useful information or learning opportunity.

Why is it important?
When you first get a new customer there is usually a lot of energy and enthusiasm.
Your customer has made a decision to use you because they believe that you will
provide the solution they are looking for. You are keen to deliver and pleased
because you have successfully attracted a new customer to your business. This is
where the relationship starts. There are many factors that will influence the length
of time that customer is active with you. The longer you can keep that customer an
enthusiastic purchaser the stronger your business will be.

A well-planned communication system will help to keep your customers focused on

you and what you have to offer them. It will help you to retain customers.

A communication system can also help you to bring back inactive customers or
those who have been customers but, for whatever reason, have stopped doing
business with you. It will help you to reduce attrition.

There are some interesting statistics that show the main reasons why business is
lost and their relative percentages.

& 1% of customers died

& 3% moved out of the area
& 5% were influenced away
& 9% got a better deal
& 14% because of unresolved conflicts
& 68% left because of perceived indifference i.e. apathy or lack of communication.

93
85 INSPIRING WAYS TO MARKET YOUR SMALL BUSINESS

By nurturing your customers from the start and maintaining the communication
and the relationship, you will avoid losing the 68% who stop using you because of
perceived indifference. This could have a significant effect on your sales results.

Your challenge
Your challenge will be to develop and deliver a system of customer communication
that adds value to your relationships. Communicating with customers is a
balancing act. People do not want to be bombarded with information day in day
out. They don’t want to be overwhelmed by so many invitations and gifts that they
have to keep saying no. They don’t want to buy one thing from you and find that
suddenly they are being forced to contend with more and more offers of products
and services that they really don’t need. You know from your own experience what
this can be like. You will need to create a communication system that appreciates
your customers’ situation and maintains rapport.

What makes a communication system successful?

& It is set up with the customer in mind first and foremost.
& It offers the customer added value.
& You surprise and delight your customers from time to time and show appreciation
for the business that they do with you.
& It is focused on building a greater rapport.
& You regularly ask for feedback and are prepared to fine tune your system.
& When you have details of the personal interests of your best customers you tailor
your offers of events and information to suit them.

COMMUNICATION SYSTEM ^ SPECIAL RESPONSE CHECKLIST

" Decide what you want your communication system to achieve for you.
" Be aware of the level of attrition (customers who stop using you) that is
experienced in your business.
" Understand why people stop doing business with you.
" Do you want to continue towork with those who have stopped doing business with
you?
" What could you do to re-contact those people who have stopped using your
service?
" Find out as much as you can about your key customers’ interests.

94
 MARKETING METHODS THAT BOOST BUSINESS WITH EXISTING CUSTOMERS

" Be aware of special events coming up for anyof your customers that are important
to them such as a shop opening, business anniversaryor winning an award.
Simple congratulations or good luck cards will always be appreciated.
" What kind of special events, days out, tickets or information would these people
potentially be interested in?
" What could you do once ayear that would be appreciated by your customers?

How to use this information

The following chapters will give you more details about what you could include in
your communication system. A well-organised customer database management
process will help to make this whole process easier for you to implement and
manage on an ongoing basis.

Think customer communication and keep the connection

95
 35 Building trusting relationships

What is a trusting relationship?

A trusting relationship is built when your customers feel connected with you as a
person and confident that you have their interests and needs at heart. You will be
their first choice when they have a relevant problem that needs solving. Trust is
built up over time and through experiences. If you have always maintained a level
of service that delivers exactly what has been promised, you do what you say you
are going to do and your customer is completely satisfied then it will be easy to
build trust. Trust is about integrity and values. It matters deeply to people and is
very personal.

Why is trust an important relationship ingredient?

Trusting relationships form the backbone of successful businesses. In a world
where there is a lot of choice people will always support those that they trust the
most. Customers are actually looking to build trust. They want it. It builds buyers’
security. Trust is a high value for many. If the trust is there then customers will
listen to your advice, make decisions based on your suggested solutions and often
not question your prices as much as they would if they were unsure of you.
Building trusting relationships can help you to retain customers, gain customers
and increase the amount of referrals that you get.

Your challenge
Depending on the nature of your business you will no doubt come into contact
with a lot of people. You will need to work hard to maintain your standards and
make sure that however brief your contact is with each individual, it is positive.
Small things can break trust in an instant: not getting a proposal or a telephone
follow up you have promised done in time; a sharp word when you are tired or
stressed, forgetting a name, an important detail about a business or worse making
silly mistakes that affect your customer ’s belief in your service. Trust can take a
long time to build and an instant to break.

What builds trust in relationships?

& Demonstrating a natural respect for people.
& Asking questions and really listening to what people want.

96
 MARKETING METHODS THAT BOOST BUSINESS WITH EXISTING CUSTOMERS

& Showing you understand what matters to each individual.

& Being honest, even if it means that you do not sell your services.
& Giving ideas and advice away for free.
& Delivering whatever you promise.
& Letting people know if for any reason you cannot deliver.
& Doing the best you can for people.
& Being genuine.
& Time and contact.

YOUR EXISTING CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP ^ SPECIAL RESPONSE CHECKLIST

Consider the level of trust that you have with your existing customers. Ask yourself the
following questions and be honest in answering them.
" How do you know if a customer trustsyou?
" Name the customersyou have with whom you think you have a trusting relationship.
" What is the di¡erence between those with whom you have a trusting relationship
and those you don’t?
" How do you build trust with people?
" What could you do to build more trust?

How to use this information

Be conscious of the trust you have with the people you do business with. Notice the
signs. Work harder to both build it and maintain it. It will be worth it.

Think build trust and build business

97
 36 Reviewing customers’ needs

What do customers need?

The reason a person became a customer of yours the first time may not be the same
reason that they continue to buy from you in the future. Existing customers have
changing needs the same as any new potential customer would. They need ongoing
understanding and communication.

Why is understanding them important?

Taking the time to understand what your existing customers’ changing needs
might be will ensure that you are right there with answers before they think of
using anyone else. It is important that you keep talking to your customers as they
are a great source of information for you. Their changing needs can be
representative of market demand which could influence the longer term
development plans for your product or service. Taking the time to find out what
your existing customers’ needs are likely to be in the future could give you business
development ideas. Taking your existing customers’ business for granted without
reviewing their needs could be dangerous. Do they know about the full range of
products and services you offer? If not they could be attracted elsewhere if someone
new comes along with an answer to a problem you didn’t even know about. You
could be missing out on new business opportunities with existing customers.

Your challenge
You will need to introduce a system for reviewing your existing customers’
ongoing and changing needs. Your system will need to fit with customers’
schedules, your resources and will need to produce feedback that you are able to
action in the appropriate way.

What are the key elements of a successful review?

The right approach

It is important to use a customer review opportunity to build on your existing

relationship. Your customers are busy like you and will need to be given a good
reason to spend the time reviewing their needs with you. So your approach is key.
Just inviting your customer for a long lunch without setting up the reason for that

98
 MARKETING METHODS THAT BOOST BUSINESS WITH EXISTING CUSTOMERS

lunch is likely to waste both your time and theirs. You have to give them a reason to
meet you. The review meeting could be set up as a form of regular free consultancy,
where you follow a distinct structure looking at the past, present and future.

The right time

It is a good idea to set up the expectation of this with every new customer. It could
become part of your commitment to your customers when you start your
relationship. Your review meetings need to be set at a time that anticipates any
changing needs your customers might have. This might be annually at the end of
their financial year, or end of the year. It might be biannually. It might be
seasonally. Each business and customer relationship may differ. The time needs to
be right for both parties.

The right preparation

To successfully review your customers you will need to have full details of their
purchasing history with you. You can anticipate some future needs based on past
patterns. Taking the time to find out a little about their marketplace and industry
may also predict some future needs of which the customer themselves might not yet
be aware. You will need to have available a list and/or samples of the work that
you have completed for them.

The right questions

Your review will need an outcome and an action plan both of which can be
achieved with the right questions guiding the review. Here is a list of some
questions that you might like to incorporate into your customer reviews.

& What do you want to achieve at our review meeting?

& How happy/satisfied have you been with the service/product we have provided for
you over x period?
& What, if anything, could we improve on?
& In terms of the services we offer, what is most important to you?
& What are some of the problems you anticipate might need solving in x area over
the next year?
& What is your focus for the next six months to a year?
& What are your priorities?
& How could we help you over the next 12 months?

99
85 INSPIRING WAYS TO MARKET YOUR SMALL BUSINESS

An action plan and new proposal

It is important to have an agreed action plan at the end of the review which could
be confirmed by a review proposal for future business. A good structure for a
review proposal is as follows:

& introduction
& summary of achievements over x period
& your feedback
& your aims for y period
& suggested solution/proposal/follow up
& price
& next step.

Create yourself a template that you can adapt for use with all your customers. This
will save you considerable time and effort.

YOUR REVIEW ^ SPECIAL RESPONSE CHECKLIST

" Who are you going to review? ^ make a list.
" How are you going to approach it? ^ what is in it for your customers?
" Decide on a timescale for completing your reviews and set a deadline.
" What isyour aim for each review?
" How are you going to structure your review? ^ what questions do you need to ask?
" Have you done your preparation? ^ can you anticipate any future demand or
needs?
" What information do you anticipate each customer will want to know about your new
products and services? Do you have that information to hand?
" Have you got a proposal template to use for following up reviews?

How to use this information

If you do decide to review your existing customers’ needs in a structured and
focused way, it will be useful to measure the outcome noticing the impact that it
has on your business.

Think customer review and build

more business for the future

100
 37 Encouraging referrals and
recommendations
What is a referral?
A referral is when one of your satisfied customers who trusts and values what you
do, actively refers your service to other potential customers. Having referred you
they will give you the potential customer’s contact details to follow up. You are in
control of the follow up.

What is a recommendation?
A recommendation is when one of your satisfied customers simply gives your name
to one of their contacts endorsing your service. This contact will call you
themselves if and when they need your service. The new potential contact is in
control of the follow up.

Why are they important?

They are important because there really is no better way to get new business easily
than through a referral or strong recommendation from someone who is already sold
on your product or services. If you are active in encouraging referrals and
recommendations you could build your business very inexpensively. People love to
refer and recommend someone they have received a good service from. You will find
that business that comes from a referral or recommendation is a virtual guarantee.
The more trust the potential prospect has in the person that refers or recommends,
the more likely they are to buy from you, bypassing any initial concerns or
scepticism. This will make it much easier and quicker for you to build business.

Your challenge
Many people don’t like to ask for referrals or recommendations although welcome
them with open arms when they get them. Many do not have an active procedure
for encouraging referrals and recommendations. Your challenge will be to develop
a system for encouraging referrals that you feel comfortable using and that
motivates your satisfied customers to help you. You will need to remember that
when you have performed and delivered a high standard that delights your
customer, most will be more than happy to refer you. This is especially true as
most people like helping other people. It is up to you to make it as easy as possible
for them to do that.

101
85 INSPIRING WAYS TO MARKET YOUR SMALL BUSINESS

What gives referrals and recommendations the best chance of

leading to business?
Of course there will be a type of referral or recommended business that is ideal for
you and there will be some that do not fit with the type of customer you are
looking for. When encouraging referrals you will need to be clear about the type
of problems you can solve and the type of potential customers that you are looking
for. This will enable your referrers to recognise someone who would benefit from
the service you offer.

How to ask for referrals

The key to getting more referrals is to have a strategy for it and plan ahead of
time. If you choose to ask someone at the end of their contract with you to make
sure they send people your way they will almost undoubtedly say yes. But will
anything happen as a result? ... unlikely. Or if they do, the person they mention you
to may still not call because they don’t know you and it still feels risky.

There are ways of encouraging referrals and recommendations that ensure that
you get the best chance of making personal contact with the referred potential
client and that your happy customers do actually take action in generating some
for you.

Timing is key when you ask

When you ask for a referral it is usually best when you are discussing the successful
results of your work and your client is at their most enthusiastic about you and what
you can do. At this stage you might say ‘Who else do you know who would benefit
from a service like this?’ You then take details of this person there and then.

Plan ahead what you are going to say

You could also try, ‘I am really glad that you are happy with the work that we have
done for you. Much of our business comes from referrals or recommendations. Do
you know of any business associates who are looking for the same kind of results
we were able to accomplish for you?’

102
 MARKETING METHODS THAT BOOST BUSINESS WITH EXISTING CUSTOMERS

Be clear about what you are looking for

It is much easier for your clients to think about someone when you are very clear
about the kind of person, organisation or problem you are able to help with. ‘The
kinds of people that I am able to help are small business owners who want to make
their marketing work. They may be start-ups or existing businesses which need to
create a new or fresh identity in the marketplace.’

Tell customers how to refer people to you

You need to stay in control here and not just hand over the reins to your
prospective referred customer. If you say, ‘If you know someone just get them to
call me,’ this will just leave it up to chance that they will. Instead you could say, ‘If
you know someone, give me a call first and we can discuss the best way to approach
them’. This puts you back in control of the opportunity.

Direct them to your website

If you have a good way of capturing the attention of new prospects and an
incentive for getting their details, then asking your referrers to direct prospects to
your website is a good idea. People are more likely to check out a website before
they call you and if yours is good then it will create a positive first impression.

Reward your customers for their referrals

If you get a good piece of business from a customer referral you could send them a
thank you note and a gift in the post. The chances of that person doing it again for
you because they feel appreciated are much higher.

You could also consider referral incentives to encourage customers to give you
referrals. This may be a discount voucher for future work with you or other
incentives that they would value highly.

How to use this information

Try it out and see what works for you. Measure the return you get. Make sure you
always thank people for any referrals you get and reciprocate if you can.

Think referral and get FREE marketing

from your satisfied customers

103