All of the advertising in the world will not bring in as much business as good word of mouth advertising does. Word of mouth is by far the most effective marketing method. People trust unbiased opinions from other people. It is the most believable marketing message. Customers are skeptical of what your advertising messages say because they know you aren’t going to tell them the god’s honest truth. They expect you to sugar coat your business in order to win more sales. But, they believe their friends and neighbors. If someone else tells them you are good or bad, that opinion will really stick with them.
Business owners don’t spend enough time getting referrals. They are cheap and easy to get so long as you are doing a good job in the eyes of your customers. Most happy customers are ready and willing to tell the world about you if you will just ask them to do it. All you really need to do is ask. Tell them that you really appreciate referrals. Then prove it to them by personally thanking them for the referral.
Every single time you get a new customer through a referral, you should either send a little fifty cent thank you card, send them a little gift or just get on the phone and say thanks. You must acknowledge that you know they told their friends about you. You must acknowledge it every single time.
You will find that there are some customers who refer ten or more other new customers. The people who are referring you that much work are extra special. Send them an extra special thank you and definitely a gift. Sometimes I send out scratch off lottery tickets. Just put a little note that says they are one of your best sources of referrals and you simply cannot express in words how grateful you are for their generosity. Maybe you could send that person a gift certificate for free products or services from you.
If you take the time to actually thank these people with a little note, you will create raving fans. You will find it exceptionally easy to grow your business. You won’t need to buy expensive display advertising. You will grow your business at a manageable rate. There are so many reasons you should do this.
Make sure you include a line at the bottom of your invoices that says how much you love referrals. If you hand out gifts for every referral, then say so. Be creative when coming up with methods of spreading more word of mouth. You can invite happy customers to leave feedback at websites like Google and Yahoo about your business. Remind them that they can rate you on there. Save this tactic for happy customers only. Do not remind bad customers about this.
One method I have seen used effectively is to send a letter about one week after you do a job for a customer. That would be a little thank you letter for their business. You could include a little survey that asks for their feedback about your product or service. Ask them for ideas about what you need to do to deliver exactly what they were hoping for. People love to give their opinions, but are afraid they will fall on deaf ears. If you send this letter, they will respect you even more. Along with that letter you can also include a little business card sized referral discount card. Include a handful of them. Ask them to hand these cards out to their friends so their friends will get a discount. Then whenever you get one of those cards, be sure to find out who gave it to them so that you can properly thank them.
This should be a substantial part of your marketing plan. You do have a marketing plan, don’t you? If not, then you had better get at it. Develop systems that are easily repeated each and every time you make a sale. This should be a cookie cutter system that is simple for anyone to execute. Systems like this are the keys to success in growing a business.
