Tuesday, March 09th, 2010 | Author: Zeke Camusio
Last month I recommended this idea to a client and she made a killing with it. I figured I’d share it with you.
As you already know, getting business from your existing clients is a lot more effective than getting new clients. One of the best ways of capitalizing your existing clients is asking for referrals. The only problem with asking for referrals is that you’re ASKING for something and I’m a big fan of GIVING instead of asking.
There is a very sneaky way to ask for referrals without having to ask. This is how it works.
- Give your current clients gift cards. They can be $200, one free month or whatever you want, but make sure they offer something of value. It has to be something free, not a free upgrade. Also, using a dollar amount is much better than offering a discount percentage. $200 has real value; 50% off the first month doesn’t have as much value.
- Spend some money to get nice gift cards; a piece of paper with a dollar amount on it won’t do it.
- Don’t give your clients 20 gift cards; give them two or three. Play the scarcity card here. If you give them too many, they’ll feel they don’t have value.
- Give your clients a good reason to give them the gift cards. It could be because they’ve been with you one year, because they spent more than $x, whatever… just make sure it looks like you’re giving them something, not asking them to promote your company.
- Your clients will give these gift cards to their friends and they’ll probably use some of these themselves.
This is a WIN-WIN-WIN situation. Your client wins because people like giving gifts to their friends, their friends win because they’re getting a gift and you win because you’re getting new clients.
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Category: Internet Marketing
Friday, 12. March 2010
What if you run a specialized service-oriented business - what do you suggest to get referrals besides asking for them or offering referral fees?
Thanks for any suggestions!
Saturday, 13. March 2010
Hi Jennifer,
The first step is always to offer an outstanding service that people really want to recommend without you having to ask for it.
A possible second step might be to ask your clients if they know someone who could benefit from your services. If you’re really good at what you do and they know people who need your services, they’ll be happy to put you in touch with new prospects.
I hope it helps!
Zeke