For many businesses referrals generate a significant amount of new contacts. And businesses that actively seek out recommendations usually gain a higher benefit than those who just leave it to chance.
Think about it – even if you have provided the greatest service or product your happy customer may not think about telling other people or giving you information about other business people who are looking for what you offer. And it’s not because he doesn’t want to help you. . . it is purely because he is busy and it doesn’t occur to him.
That’s why it is up to you to have a structured, almost automated, referral generation system in your business.
When to ask?
The best time to ask for recommendations is when your customer has just experienced your product, or service. If you have a quality-check follow-through during which you make sure your customer got exactly (or perhaps more) than he was expecting then asking him who else is looking for the same good result is a natural step.
If you send out products you can include referral cards for your customer to complete and send back.
Offering an incentive
Depending upon your business it may be appropriate to offer an incentive – or as I prefer to think of it – a ‘Thank You’ gift. I’m sure you’ve seen companies who offer gift vouchers to you and to the person you recommend or a discount on future purchases.
Personally, I prefer to give a ‘Thank You’ gift that is linked with the service or product I supply – rather than something that is not related to my business and, therefore, may not be of interest to my customer or contact.
For example, if you decide to invite 3 people you know to visit this blog (using the link in the right hand panel) I show my appreciation of your support by gifting you an MP3 audio recording.
In the MP3 audio gift I describe some of the techniques high-performing direct response copywriters use to craft irresistible sales letters so they enjoy the highest profitable mailing possible.
It reveals:
- 4 Sales Letter Writing Rules That Persuade People to Buy
- How Answering This Critical Question Turns A Mediocre Sales Letter Into A Results-Generating Dynamo
- 8 Design Secrets To Compel Your Prospect To Continue Reading
- How Powerful Headlines Gain Massive Sales Increases: 10 Proven Examples for You to Adopt
As you can see the recording is closely connected with my products and services; writing for business sales and marketing.
Automating your gift
Now I’m sure you’ve already realised that delivering my gift is automated. With the web page being open 24/7 it is completely impractical for me to respond personally whenever a visitor decides to recommend this website. And besides, if you make a recommendation you want to get your promised gift of appreciation straight away, don’t you? How to automate?
You have a huge choice of tools you can use to automate delivery of electronic gifts like this. It can be rather bewildering which is the best option for you. I looked at quite a few before deciding upon the tool I use: TAF Pro (Tell A Friend Pro).
I chose it because of the easy implementation and facilities it gave me – including checking that the email address is entered correctly; you know how easy it is to mistype an email address especially the more obscure ones (my brother’s is xzavyaw@ – you can’t get more obscure than that!)
Stunning Service
What I hadn’t realised when I bought the product was that in addition to all the features (I’ve only used a third of them so far) there was also stunning service from the vendor, Paul Galloway. And I do mean stunning!
Let me explain. I bought the product last July to use on another website. About 3 or 4 days after I downloaded the program (and successfully followed the set up instructions) I got a phone call from the US. It was Paul Galloway.
He said “I’m going on holiday in a couple of days and I just wanted to be sure you were OK with the TAF Pro program before I left. Have you got any questions you need answering?”
Now that is service.
And on top of that… the service continues.
One of my blog visitors contacted me a few days ago to say that a couple of emails (which were valid) were being rejected by the TAF form. So I popped an email over to Paul asking if he had any ideas why that might be happening. He tested the email addresses on his internal system and came back to me with suggestions within a couple of hours. That’s impressive bearing in mind he is in a time zone that is at least 5 hours behind us.
So what’s my conclusion from all this?
- Create a formal system for getting referrals & recommendations.
- Decide when is the best time to ask for referrals and don’t let the opportunity slip.
- Consider giving Thank You gifts or incentives to encourage recommendations.
- Automate your gift delivery wherever possible – especially if you have a web site you want people to visit.
- Choose the delivery tool carefully; ease of use, reliability and support when there is a problem is vital.
Do you have referral systems that work well for you? Are you willing to share? Use the comments link below to tell me and my other visitors about it . When you add your comment your name has a live link to the website address you enter. You never know, if what you share is valuable you may get some new visitors 
~ Carol Bentley
technorati tags: business tips marketing TAF Pro
Have you got your birthday celebration gift I posted on Friday? Remember the gift expires today at 12p.m. GMT.
You’ll need the password that was in Friday’s notification email to open the gift post.
~ Carol Bentley
In my post on 21st December I said I’d let you know what I’m currently developing – and why. . .
How do you actually do what many marketing experts tell us is the most powerful action you can take? It can seem like an insurmountable challenge. But having done it I can assure you it is not as daunting as it may seem. But of course, it is a lot easier when you know exactly what to do as well as the how.
What am I talking about? Writing and publishing a book. As I’ve said in a previous post being a published author positions you as an authority on the subject; an expert.
I am currently discussing a joint book venture with a close friend and colleague. We plan to start preparing the book content towards the end of January. The project will include writing, preparing the manuscript for publishing, getting it out to bookstores and on-line stores, like Amazon, and all the marketing that needs to go into getting the book known.
So why should you be interested? Because as we go through the project I will be creating a video record of exactly how it is all done. My intention is to have an extremely easy to follow step-by-step instructional video programme that anyone can use.
During the project development I’ll be sharing gems on this blog which, if you’ve thought about writing a book, will guide you through the process.
And I may be asking for your help because I will be looking for beta-testers before launching the programme as a live product.
In fact, if you have thought about it but have not done anything to get your book written and published. Or you’d like to write a book but you are not sure how to go about it, you could get some starting tips straight away.
Simply tell me what’s preventing you from doing it.
What questions would you like answered?
What advice can I give that will help you get started?
How can I help you show your target market that you are the go-to expert in your field?
Use the comments link below this post or the blog contact form in the right-hand panel to let me know.
~ Carol Bentley
P.S. No, I’m not working today – I wrote and published this post in advance because I said I’d let you know today what I’m developing – but I’m out enjoying my day. 
Have a good weekend – speak to you on Monday.
technorati tags: writing a book business books marketing copywriting
Written by Carol Bentley |
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When you are planning your future goals for your business how much notice do you take of last year’s achievements and disappointments?
Many people concentrate on what they are going to do without fully considering the experiences they have already had. I know I’ve been guilty of that over the years, even though I’m continuously building on what I’ve already produced.
But this post at Rich Schefren’s blog made me stop and think. He describes how to analyse your experiences, good and bad; how to learn from them and – more importantly – decide what action you’re going to take so you benefit from those lessons.
Tie that in with my post on setting goals 2008 and beyond and you have a powerful system for improving your business – and personal – success.
Take a look – even if you already do this in your business and life – Rich’s explanation is worth reading.
~ Carol Bentley
technorati tags: goal setting new year resolutions business planning
Just a quick reminder that the deadline for entries for the Cialdini book and Advertising Secrets audio CD competition closes tomorrow, 4th January.
Check the original post at my post How persuasive are you.
~ Carol Bentley
technorati tags: persuasion Cialdini copywriting
Just how positive are you about your success or failure – in life or business? Have you noticed the way people think seems to support the outcome they experience?
So tell me, are you a ‘the glass is half-full’ or ‘the glass is half-empty’ type of person? And does it really matter?
For many years experts have encouraged us to ‘think positively’ in order to be successful. But some people find that far more difficult to do than others. And thinking about it, I realised that the worriers in this world; the people who get stressed; the people who agonise over what’s happening when things don’t go quite to plan are often those who have a ‘glass half-empty’ approach.
So why have I brought this up? I’ll tell you.
I recently received an ezine with an article that gave a very interesting – and quite different view – of positive thinking. In fact it started off by saying ‘Positive Thinking Does Not Work‘.
Have you had people say that to you? Maybe that’s the experience you’ve had.
The author went on to say:
“And, not only does positive thinking NOT cause transformation but it could actually be a root cause of people living life in a vicious cycle.”
Now that caught my eye because I’m one of those positive, ‘glass half-full’ people and this seemed to be heresy!
But I’m also open minded and, after reading the remainder of the article, I concluded it not only makes sense, it is also an insightful explanation for anyone who has tried positive thinking with disappointing results.
It might be just the refreshing start you need for the New Year and, even if it isn’t, it certainly helps to understand why positive thinking doesn’t work for some people.
You can read the full article at Positive Thinking Doesn’t Work
My best wishes to you for a prosperous 2008 and good luck with all you aim to achieve this year and beyond.
~ Carol Bentley
technorati tags: positive thinking inspirational thoughts
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