Your business has a brand. You, as an individual, have a brand as well – your personal brand. Whether or not you want to incorporate your personal brand into your business marketing strategy is a decision you’ll have to make.
This is a simple concept that I covered on the podcast previously, but it’s a really big deal and I want to address it here as well.
You already know that one important step in earning more referrals for your business is by asking for them.
But have you ever thought about when the ideal time to ask your clients and customers for a referral really is? And have you created a system to make sure that it happens?
Every relationship ebbs and flows. There are high points and there are low points. And there are a lot of points in between. The relationship your business has with your clients and customers is no different.
It’s important that you understand what this looks like in your specific business. It’s important for many reasons, but it’s specifically important for our topic today because your clients and customers are far more likely to make a referral when they’re really, really happy with you.
For example, at Spotlight Branding, clients were universally thrilled with us when we launched their new website. They love sharing it with family and friends and hearing how great it looks. Consequently, they were very happy with us.
So we implemented a standard procedure that our account managers would ask for referrals shortly after launching a new site. And what do you know… we started getting more referrals!
What does that look like in your business? When are your clients and customers most thrilled and happy with you?
THAT point in time is when you should be asking for a referral. Don’t miss the opportunity to strike when the iron is hot.
The most popular item at any steakhouse is almost always the second-most expensive steak on the menu.
That’s because the second-most expensive steak looks like a bargain next to the most-expensive steak.
If you want to sell more of your $1000 watches, start listing them next to a $3000 watch.
This works because of a cognitive bias that’s built into all of us. We don’t judge prices objectively – we judge them comparatively.
The practical application of this is pretty simple. You should have a premium option on your pricing “menu,” no matter what you’re selling.
Most people aren’t going to choose that option, but that’s fine – the entire point of including it is to make the rest of your options look like great value by comparison.
Test it out and see what happens!
It’s important that you set the right expectations for your clients and customers – otherwise, you’re setting yourself up for failure.
The best time to ask for a referral is when your clients and customers are happy with your business. In this episode I’ll talk you through that process.
In this episode, I share practical strategies you can use to create more referrals and word-of-mouth recommendations from your existing clients and customers!
It’s important to understand that you can’t take a “me-first” approach to referral relationships – or really, any relationships for that matter.
Zig Ziglar said that “You can have everything in life you want, if you will just help other people get what they want.”
So your approach to relationships should be, first and foremost, how can I help the other person get what they want in their business and their life?
Are you investing your networking time and energy as effectively as possible? In this episode I’ll give you a framework to make sure that you’re investing into the right relationships.
Fundamentally there are two types of people that can refer you business – people who are clients or customers and have done business with you in the past, or people who have not. In this episode we focus on how to maximize referrals from non-clients.
Believe it or not, people want to make referrals to you, because it allows them to accumulate “social capital.” Your job is simply to make it easy for them!