The following article was featured in our October edition of The Perceptionist. Howard Partridge is also a feature link here on our Blogroll.
Famous for getting his start as a carpet cleaner, Howard Partridge has helped 100’s of different types of small business owners succeed through his marketing techniques. These tools can help any small business owner capture more sales which is why Perceptionist Inc. is proud to present Howard Partridge as this month’s featured author.
11 Reasons Referral Marketing is More Powerful than Advertising
Referral Marketing is the process of building a network of sources that are in a position to refer multiple clients to you. It takes the same amount of time, money and energy to market to a “source” that has an unlimited supply of customers as it does an individual prospect. Therefore referral marketing is much more powerful than advertising. In fact, my company was built on referrals. We bring in over $50,000.00 per month in new business just from referrals!
There are 11 important reasons that Referral Marketing is so powerful.
1. The “network” is unlimited - A referral source sends you a client. If you have a referral program, you can turn that person into an active referral source as well. As each referral sends their friends, neighbors, clients, and co-workers, the growth is absolutely endless. You can literally get to a point where you have to do absolutely nothing other than make sure that your referral sources and clients are happy. But you have to have the right referral program. All referral programs are NOT created equal.
2. You get a steady stream of NEW customers - Many times when you place an ad (if it works), you get all the calls at the same time. With referral marketing, you get a steady stream of new clients.
3. Higher Quality Clients – A KIA customer is not going to call a carpet retailer or Interior Designer to find a quality cleaning company. They will call the 3 cheapest companies in the yellow pages. Mercedes clients buy almost exclusively through referrals. They want the best, so they call their “consultant” to find out who to choose.
4. You get pre-qualified clients – By educating your referral sources, including filling them in on your pricing structures, your prospects will be pre-qualified before they ever come to you.
5. People Trust Referrals – Everyone that is in business has received referrals from time to time. Wouldn’t you agree that referrals already have a level of trust for you? You also have more trust for them. This makes for a much better business relationship. They are also much less price conscious.
6. Reduces Competition – With this process you are not jockeying for the best zip code in the coupon mailer, or competing with the other ads in the yellow pages. Your biggest competition is you. Will you invest in a referral program? Will you take the time to make the calls? It is all up to you.
7. Low Cost – Some materials and time is all that is required. If you offer a referral fee (which I highly recommend), the cost is still extremely low compared to advertising.
8. High Returns – The returns can potentially be huge. In my experience, any overall advertising program in the carpet
9. Returns Guaranteed – With a referral fee, you don’t pay it until after the job is done and the invoice is paid. With traditional advertising, you put your money on the line and hope for a return.
10. Small Time Investment – The time investment is not that burdensome either. I built my referral sources in between jobs mostly. What is required is a different mindset. You must now create a new lifestyle…a lifestyle that includes a regular, systematic effort to call on potential referral sources.
11. Exponential Multiplication - I will suggest to you that if you were to invest just a few minutes per day calling on a set of referral sources – people who have an unlimited supply of clients for you – that you could potentially increase your business over $10,000.00 per month in new business in 6 months.
Would you agree that if you had a great referral program, and you really worked it for 30 days that you could get $1500.00 in referrals? Sure you could. What I discovered about referral sources is that they repeat their habit. In other words, they will likely send you another $1500.00 next month. And of course you will be generating new referral sources that add a new $1500.00 each month. If you follow the math of the new referral sources and the recurring referral sources, in 6 months you would be generating over $10,800.00 in new business each and every month! I have done it. And so have many other carpet cleaners that have my program.
Get the FAST TRACK Referral Marketing System TODAY!
About the author: Howard Partridge built his carpet cleaning business from the trunk of his car to over $2.5 million per year. He has helped over 4000 small business owners from around the world dramatically improve their businesses. For a FREE Report that reveals how to get the highest prices for your service, and to get Howard’s FREE Business Building Tip of the Week, visit www.HowardPartridge.com
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