| The Marketing Imprint February 2010 |
Greetings!
The Marketing Imprint provides concise, relevant and timely information for marketing, sales, business development and customer support professionals. |
|
INTAgLIO Workshop Excerpt
 Asking for Referrals Creates Anxious Moments
Cultivate Introductions from Your Fan Base
The wrong approach to requesting referrals will make your customers feel uncomfortable if they decode your appeal as "please help me to make more money".
Earn the right to request an "introduction" to someone who can benefit from what you have to offer. The goal is for your customer to pick up the phone and call their friend while you are in the room - better yet, they introduce you in person.
Here's How I Earn the Right to Request Introductions from My Clients
Be Focused
Rather than asking if my client knows someone who needs a business development advisor, I mention a specific condition. I ask if they know someone who has recently started a new business [this is when they should root their marketing culture]. If they do, I ask them if they would be willing to introduce me to their contact.
Be Considerate
I spend one month in search of introductions relative to a specific condition, and I only ask once per contact.
Be Innovative
By searching for a new challenge every month, I am able to ask a client for introductions several times each year. For example, I ask if they know someone who has established new goals [execution needs the right people, process, programs and technology]. Next month I'll ask if they know someone who wants to penetrate a new market [they may require a different program than they're using for existing markets], and the following month if they know someone who wants to launch a new product or service [lifecycle stage drives the appropriate BizD strategy]. |
|
Offer Educational Seminars
People want to learn about relevant new topics
After they attend your event and feel comfortable knowing that you are not trying to trap them into a sales pitch, wonderful things begin to happen in return for the educational service you have provided. They start to trust you. They will attend future events. They will invite colleagues and friends. They become open to discuss their specific needs with you.
-
Bring a road show seminar to your targeted neighborhoods or to a local conference center, or to your chamber of commerce. Or host a seminar at your office, or at the library or community center.
-
The theme should be something new that is relevant to your target audience
-
Invite a subject matter expert or partner to be your guest speaker
-
Leverage your company's personalities who are knowledgeable about the theme
Treat each seminar like a campaign:
|
