Referral  Marke*ng  

Leading  Results  Overview  •  Marke*ng  services  firm  –  coaching  and  consul*ng    

»  1:1  Coaching,  Group  Coaching  »  Frac*onal  VP  of  Marke*ng  »  Social  Media  Coaching  and  Learning  

»  Referral  Marke*ng  Coaching  and  Classes  

•  Authorized  Duct  Tape  Marke*ng  coaches  

•  Offices  in  Boston  and  Philadelphia  •  Clients  throughout  North  America  

•  We  help  our  clients  stop  was*ng  money  on  marke*ng  that  does  not  create  results  

Who  is  this  Dan  Kraus  guy?  

•  25  year  sales  &  marke*ng  veteran    –  9+  years  with  Great  Plains  SoVware  (‘89-­‐’98)  –  6+  years  with  SAP  (‘03-­‐’09)  –  Allaire  – Macromedia  

–  Infinium  SoVware  

–  ADP,  Con*nental  Cable  (Comcast)  

•  Founded  3  companies  •  UMASS  Amherst,  Marke*ng  

Leading  Results  Core  Marke*ng  Mantra  

•  Don't  talk  about  the  products  you  sell;  talk  about  the  problems  you  solve.      

•  Then  talk  about  the  remarkably  different  way  that  I  will  experience  working  with  you  as  you  solve  those  problems.    

•  Be  sure  you  tell  me  what  I  get;  NOT  what  you  do.    Because  I  don't  have  *me  to  figure  out  if  what  I  need  is  what  you  do.    

                   The    

         reali&es                                      of  referral  

People  make                referrals  because                        they  need  to  

All  business                  involves  risk  

Consistency                      builds  trust  

Marke*ng  is                    a  system  (and  referrals  are  marke&ng)  

The  funnel            is  broken  

“When  it  comes  to  lead  and        referral  genera3on,  customer        experience  is  the  new  black.”  

"The best prospect is the client who has already dealt with you. The second best is the one referred to by a client who has dealt with you previously. The third best is the one referred to you by another trusted professional or friend.” - Marilyn Jennings, Award winning real estate

sales person and author

• Who  and  how  • Ads  • Referrals  Know  • Web  site/blog  • Recep*on  • Newslejer  Like  • Search  • Expert  content  • Sales  presenta*on  Trust  • Webinar  • Evalua*on  • Nurturing  Try  • Service  team  • New  customer  kit  • Finance/delivery  Buy  • Post  project  survey  • Cross  selling  • Quarterly  events  Repeat  • Results  reviews  • Partner  intros  • Peer2peer  events  Refer  

The  Marke*ng  Hourglasssm  

©  Duct  Tape  Marke3ng  –  all  rights  reserved  

Know  

Like  

Trust  

Try  

• Customers  Buy  

• Repeat  Customers  Repeat  

• Evangelists  Refer  

The  Marke*ng  Hourglasssm  

©  Duct  Tape  Marke3ng  –  all  rights  reserved  

Authen*c  strategy  

•   Ideal  customer  •   Core  talkable  difference  •   Suppor*ng  elements  •   Culture  to  match  •   Expecta*on  •   Create  a  customer    community  

Why  are  referrals  so  rare?  

•  Referrer’s  need  a  frame  of  reference,  a  posi*on,  to  think  of  referral  within.  

•  They  need  to  know  what  you’ll  do.  

•  They  need  to  know,  like  and  trust  you.  

The  Solu*on  is  in  the  System  

“No  majer  how  arpul  or  talented  you  are,  you  must  follow  a  specific  methodology  to  be  successful  in  expec*ng  and  geqng  quality  referrals.“  

             -­‐  Scoj  Kramnick,  Author  

             Expec*ng  Referrals:  The  Resurrec*on  of  a  Lost  Art    

               

What  is  Referral  Marke*ng?  

Systema*c  process  that  takes  word  of  mouth  adver*sing  to  its  highest  level  

•  New  clients  •  Qualified  leads  •  Repeat  business    

Passive  vs.  Ac*ve  Referrals  

Passive  •  No  system  or  process    

Ac*ve  –  organized  system    

•  Works  in  any  industry  

•  Works  for  any  business  

Referrals  are  Powerful  

•  Great  ROI  •  Shorter  sales  cycle  •  Qualified  leads  •  Fewer  price  issues  

Target  referral  sources  

•  Customers  •  Strategic  partners  

»  Anyone  who  serves  your  target  market  

»  Doesn’t  compete  with  you  

Customer  community  Understanding  your  customer  referral  rela*onships  is  key  to  crea*ng  a  referral  engine  for  your  business  so  that  you  can  consistently  count  on  building  your  customer  base  from  referral  marke*ng.    

Things  that  you  should  be  tracking  about  your  clients:  

•   What  type  of  business/they  do?  •   Main  execu*ve  contact?  •   Other  contacts?  •   Why  did  they  refer  you?  •   Who  has  been  the  primary  person  that  referred  you?    •   Is  their  ideal  customer  the  same  as  yours?            •   Number  of  past  referrals  received:  •   Number  of  past  referrals  given:  •   Number  of  common  customers:  

•  Promoters  »  ID  your  champions  and  evangelists  and  foster  them  

•  Educa*on  »  User  Groups  (virtual)  »  Newslejers  »  Knowledge  Flashes  

How  do  you  create  that  community  

•  Offers  »  Customer  only  offerings  »  Portal  

•  Tools  »  Pass  along  offers  »  Perfect  Introduc*on  

Customer  Referrals  

•  Set  Expecta*ons  •  Educate  on  your  process  and  perfect  referral  •  Choose  moments  of  truth  to  act  

•  Follow  up    •  Reward  

Set  Expecta*ons  

•  Introduced  in  the  sales  process  •  Reinforced  in  contract  nego*a*on  

»  Full  price  or  referral  price?    •  Stated  again  during  consul*ng  engagement  •  Introduc*on  of  your  perfect  prospect  to  en*re  client  site  

•  Reinforced  again  at  user  groups  •  You  will  also  refer  to  them  (Blank  perfect  introduc*on  for  your  client)  

Educate  on  your  process  

•  How  you  can  spot  our  ideal  client  »  List  of  trigger  statements  

•  How  to  present  our  core  message  

•  Our  follow  up  process  •  Tes*monials  –  It’s  not  just  you…  

Moments  of  truth  (touchpoints)  

•  AVer  the  first  mee*ng…  •  AVer  contract  signature  •  AVer  cri*cal  milestones  are  successful  

•  Quarterly  communica*on  

•  Handwrijen  notes  •  Execu*ve  Networking  

Write  down  and  rehearse  the  words  

Follow  Up  &  Reward    

•  Follow  up  is  cri*cal  » Make  sure  they  know  what  the  status  is  of  the  referral  they  gave  

•  Return  the  favor    »  Get  them  to  complete  the  perfect  profile  in  return  

•  Rewards    »  Personal,  business  or  community  

»  Small  token  just  for  thinking  of  us  

Strategic  Partner  Referral  System  

•  Target  •  Educate  •  Offer  and  then  Execute  •  Follow-­‐up  Consistently  

Target  Specific  Industry  partners  

•  Who  else  could  be  mo*vated  to  refer  business  to  you?  »  Obvious  Ones:  Technology  providers,  Management  Consultants,  Marke*ng  Consultants    

»  Less  so:  Lawyers,  Accountants,  Telephony,  Copier,  Bankers,  VCs  

•  Think  next  in  line,  think  outside  your  industry  »  Real  Estate  Agents,  Chamber  Leaders,  Business  Brokers  

•  Ask  YOUR  customers  

Research  before  Approach  

•  LinkedIN  •  Facebook  •  Twijer  •  Other  Social  Media  Sites  

•  Their  web  site    …It  is  a  sales  call!  

Educate  –  Use  the  perfect  intro  

•  How  you  can  spot  our  ideal  client  •  How  to  present  our  core  message  

•  Our  referral  offer  •  Our  marke*ng  process  

 Get  agreement  to  a  lunch  &  learn  and  reciprocate  

Strategic  partnering  

•  Newslejer  or  web  content  •  Endorsed  mailings  

•  Leverage  of  lists  for  marke*ng  programs  

•  Win  win  workshop  

•  BNI  •  For  business  (soV)  or  for  revenue  (formal)  

Give  them  an  offer  to  make  for  you  

•  GiV  Cer*ficate  Giveaways  »  Free  “area”  assessment  

»  Tune  up  

•  Special  price  for  their  customers  

•  Cobranded  informa*on  or  product/service  

Create  a  group  of  referral  partners  

•  Create  a  referral  group  of  complimentary  services  »  Each  service  markets  for  the  group  to  their  clients  

•  Share  Nurture  or  Customer  Lists  

•  Provide  co-­‐located  training  classes  or  joint  seminars  

The  value  of  a  group  

YOU  

Partner  

Partner  

Partner   Partner  

Partner  

Partner  community  

Crea&ng  a  Referral  Marke&ng  Pla@orm  of  Business  Partners  

•  Decide  whether  your  referral  group  will  be  geography  based  –  (eg  Dallas  Area)  or  Industry  based  (eg  Non-­‐Profits)  or  both.  

•  Inden*fy  the  specific  types  of  businesses  to  include  •  Name  your  candidates  to  include  

•  Ask  customers  who  they  know  for  the  open  slots  you  have  &  ask  for  a  referral  

•  Meet  with  vendors  1:1  and  explain  the  referral  group  you  are  building.      

•  Gain  commitment  to  par*cipate    

•  Get  the  whole  group  together  face  to  face  with  a  formal  agenda  •  Decide  on  a  referral  reward  system  that  is  consistent  

Follow-­‐up  strategy  

•  Con*nue  to  market  to  referrals  that  don’t  turn  into  clients  -­‐  Nurture  

•  Implement  a  process  to  systema*cally  communicate  the  progress  to  referral  sources  

•  Return  the  favor  •  Be  Gracious  

A  referral  may  not  be  a  lead,  but  may  have  tremendous  value  

 -­‐  An  introduc*on  

-­‐  A  new  partner  -­‐  A  new  vendor  

Summary  

•  Ideal  Customers  refer  good  prospects  •  Referrals  don’t  just  happen  •  Create  your  customer  community  

•  Set  Expecta*ons  •  Plan  (manufacture)  M-­‐O-­‐T  

•  Follow  up  and  Over-­‐communicate  

Result  Ul*mately,  an  effec*ve  marke*ng  system  has  your  phone  ringing  and  eliminates  the  need  to  compete  on  price.  

Offer  #1  

Complete  the  evalua*on,  get  the  slides  

What  Next  

•  Marke*ng  Hour  Glass  Audit  »  You  complete  our  ques*onnaire  

» We  spend  45m-­‐60m  with  you  to  review  your  marke*ng  against  the  Marke*ng  Hour  Glass  

» We’ll  provide  you  with  a  blank  copy  of  this  calendar  template  

Check  off  the  box  on  the  eval….  

Thank  You  &  Ques&ons  

We  help  small  businesses  stop  was*ng  money  on  marke*ng  

Contact  Us  

Web:  www.leadingresults.com  

Email:  dkraus@leadingresults.com  Phone:  978-­‐562-­‐4161  

Twijer:  @LeadingResults  

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