This is the third in a four part series of making sure that you are generating endless rush of quality referrals for your business.
Over the past two weeks we have looked at Trust: developing trust with your referral partners Education: providing education tools that make it easy for them to refer potential clients to you.
The third element in the Referral Rush System is support. Make sure that you have systems in place that make it EASY for your referral partners to refer business to you.
Think about those business owners that you regularly refer business to. What is it about them that makes referring business to them easy?
Some of the things that probably spring to mind include:
1. They maintain themselves at the top of your awareness by continuing to stay in touch and nurturing your relationship with them.
2. They make it easy for you to recognise potential clients for them by keeping you informed and educated as to what they do, what benefits they provide and what problems they solve.
3. They make it easy for you to refer clients to them by providing you with tools and strategies which are easy, quick and comfortable for you to implement (Education).
4. They continue to build your trust that they do the right thing by clients you refer to them by keeping you informed of the outcomes of your referrals.
Here are some ideas to help you get started:
• Have a regular Referral Partner Communication system – postcards, thank you cards, newsletter; ezine; Blog
• Meet regularly with your referral partners on a one on one basis.
• Run Referral Partner Information Events.
• Keep your referral partners informed about the progress of all referred leads and let them know which ones were ideal, or NOT, and why.
• Include a section on case studies, success stories and testimonials in your regular communications with referral partners.
• Give them checklists of things to look out for or diagnostic tools for identifying a good potential lead for your business.
• Provide them with web-pages and web-links that they can refer people to.
• Give them marketing collateral to pass on to potential clients – brochures, gift certificates, referral cards. All of the ideas that you have developed to educate your potential customers will also make excellent tools to assist your Referral Partners to refer business to you.
• Give your referral partners something of high perceived value to give away, a book, a special report, a CD or DVD. • Run special events for them that they can invite potential leads to.
• Run competitions and loyalty programs that they can involve their clients in.
• Provide them with a book of testimonials and case studies that they can share with potential clients
• Get together with a group of businesses in the same supply chain and create a Referral Partner Book – a combination of referral partner tools for each of you.
• Have a special Referral Partner section on your website where they can see the status of leads that they have referred to you.
• Send them copies of testimonials and success stories from clients that they have referred.
• Invite them to be part of your unofficial “Board of Directors” so that they are closely involved with your ongoing business success.
• Keep them informed of your business successes, awards and the like.
Watch out next week for the final segment in this four part series on creating a Rush of Referrals to YOUR business. Networking is one of the best ways to find and connect with potential referral partners. To learn more about networking for referral partners and other was to maximize the ROI on your networking go to http://smartbusinessnetworking.com.au/ and subscribe to the free e-course “Ten Common Networking Mistakes and how to Avoid Them”
PS Looking for more.. more.. more.. information on how to make referrals really work as your primary marketing strategy? You can learn from not one, but fifteen of the world’s leading Referral Masters
