Tool #7 – How to Create an Endless Flow of High- Profit Referrals…Now! With Yanik Silver
If you don’t have automatic referral systems in place for your business – you’re missing the boat! After this month’s new tool you’ll have everything you need to harness the incredible power of referrals.
Really, the lifeblood of many businesses is lots and lots of referrals. Maybe 20%-80% of your current business comes as a result of word-of-mouth.
These new customers and clients come because of the recommendation of someone else. Referrals are terrific because they cost you absolutely zero, they typically spend more, are easier to sell, come back more often and refer others.
Many people mistakenly believe that word of mouth is somehow out of their control. Wrong! I can assure you it can be controlled, influenced and stimulated. Read on to find out how…
I bet you believe that if you do good work, provide a good value, good service – referrals will somehow manifest themselves, right? Nope! You may be able to get some referrals this way – but a proactive, conscious effort to stimulate referrals and word of mouth should be employed.
Let me a share a story with you to better illustrate my point.
Last year, Missy and I were invited to our friends beach house. I was really excited to spend some time on the beach, play volleyball, golf, relax and have some fun. But one of the things I was most excited about was our dinner reservation for that Saturday night.
You see, our friends, Jen and Kenny, had built up this local seafood restaurant as the most incredible place with incredible food. They couldn’t wait for us to eat there and try it. It was one of their favorite restaurants called “Grove Market” and it was an absolute secret. I never even heard of this place and I’ve been going to this same beach since I was twelve.
One thing I should tell you is that I’m a very picky restaurant patron – it really takes a lot to impress me. I’ll go to the top-rated, 4-star seafood restaurants in D.C. and I’ll usually tell Missy “It was okay”. So Jen was really interested to hear my opinion of her favorite spot.
On the way to the Grove Market, Jen explained how this place is completely booked for months in advance. There’s no menu and you serve yourself beer or wine out of the fridge. “Hmmmmm….interesting”, I thought to myself as we hopped in the car.
When we arrived – Jen announced, “This is the place.” I wondered if we hadn’t come across somebody’s abandoned shack in the woods. (Now I knew exactly why I’d never seen the place when I had been at the beach – it looked more like an Eastern Shore cottage than a gourmet seafood restaurant.)
We walked in and our friends were greeted by name (they told us before that we have to keep our reservations or they’d “black ball” them.) The whole place consisted of 6 tables, the kitchen, a bathroom and a fridge. So much for fancy décor!
A silver-haired waiter came over and welcomed us, “new faces”, as he went on to explain the menu all from memory. There’s no actual menu so I guess you eat whatever the waiter remembers. I opted for the scallops after hearing him explain how they’re “plump, juicy and delicious”. Actually, nearly every dish sounded great as he went over it in minute detail with so many succulent descriptions. Well, I wasn’t disappointed – the scallops were fabulous. In fact, everything was delicious because we went around the table and shared some of the other dishes.
But, the real treat was dessert. I had peach pie and I’ve never, ever, ever had a pie like this. Honestly, it tasted like they picked the peaches that morning and put the whole peach in my pie. It was one of the most delicious desserts I’ve ever had. Yummy! I wish I could have brought home an entire pie.
The whole ride back home I couldn’t stop talking about the peach pie. Finally, Jen timidly asked me how I liked my food and I told her everything was “awesome!”
So what does my dinner have to do with word of mouth marketing and referrals for your business?
Everything!
Listen, when I got home, the first thing I told my parents and friends about the beach was about this “Grove Market” restaurant. I told them how there was no menu, they only take cash, it was a little shack in the woods, 6 tables, delicious food, 1-month wait for reservations, etc. I completely raved about this restaurant. Even when I was playing volleyball at the beach with a few people I had just met – I told them about the restaurant! You can’t buy that kind of advertising!
Truthfully, I’m not someone who goes around and regularly tells people they’ve got to eat here or they need to buy this. I don’t really care that much – but this place made such an impression on me that I did just that.
Okay, so let’s breakdown exactly why this place received such a positive reception from me.
- The place was completely different. If I had walked in and the restaurant looked like every other seafood restaurant I’d ever been to, it wouldn’t have made me take notice. Not only did this place look different – but things were done differently also. They only took cash, you have to get your own beers or wine out of a fridge by your table, there was no menu, etc.
- Exceeding my expectations. Our friends told us how good the food was at the Grove Market but they still exceeded my expectations. I knew the seafood would be good (it was) but I never heard one mention of their pies. That peach pie was incredible, so they really went above and beyond what I was expecting.
- “Inside information”. Everyone wants to be let in on a secret. And there’s nothing that lends itself more to sharing an experience than if you believe you stumbled across a “rare find”.
People are at a loss for what to talk about so if you bring these elements together – you can start harnessing the power of word of mouth.
Bottom line is this: You need to be providing a service/product that merits being talked about. It’s that simple (well, with a few other motivating wrinkles we’ll talk about). So let’s get going…
If you follow along I’ll walk you through every step you need to take you trigger an avalanche of those high profit referrals we talked about.
Okay, the first thing you need to do to start stimulating referrals is to astonish your customers or clients. You need to really WOW them!
I suggest making a quick list of everything people expect when they come to your office, have your service performed, buy your product etc.
For instance if I were an auto mechanic – my list would look something like this:
– Coming to a grubby customer area
– Not getting an exact estimate
– Worried about whether or not a repair really is necessary
– Not knowing when and if my car will be done on time
– Being inconvenienced
– Getting a dirty car back
Just keep brainstorming and adding to your list.
Then when you have your list of things people normally expect from your type of business, you can now go above and beyond that list to astonish them and generating that “Wow” experience.
Again with the auto repair shop example:
Maybe you tell customers that if their car isn’t ready the date/time you say it will be they’ll get some nominal free gift.
Maybe you could have cookies and fresh tea or coffee available all day.
Perhaps, you have a free shuttle service or a free loaner car.
What about a free car wash?
Yep, just keep thinking of new and wonderful things you can add that force people to talk about your business.
What about having a phone there for local calls, which they can use free of charge?
Or how about sending a little tin of chocolate chip cookies or at least a sincere “thank-you” note to a customer after their service?
I’d even go one step further and make a personal phone call after the car was fixed to see if everything is okay. If there were any strange sounds or anything unusual is going on.
Anything above and beyond their expectations will leave a favorable impression about you and enhance their positive experience with you.
Now some of this may require a little extra money each month, but not much. Really, a lot of the things involve being more creative and attentive. Focus on what your customer or clients want from their point of view. And of course continue doing excellent work and providing great value (but I already know you do that).
Think about your own life. When have you been influenced to try a new restaurant or see a movie? I’d bet one of your friends or someone you respected told you how great it was or you read about it from a reviewer. This is exactly how powerful word of mouth marketing is for your own business. And by strategically creating these “wow” experiences you can’t help but increase your referrals.
However, that’s still not good enough. Let’s give this technique a kick in the right direction. Shall we?
One of my favorite ways of getting more customer or clients to refer is by giving them a free gift or entering them into a drawing for a vacation.
Starting out, you need to provide an incentive for the referred customer to do business with you. That’s where a free offer works nicely.
Take a look at this letter with a fake check to see how well this would work. You can use a window envelope so it really looks like a free check coming in the mail.
The example I’m showing you is from a LASIK surgeon but it’s very easy to tweak that for your business.
Free ______ Evaluations Only For Referrals From Our Valued Patients During the next 2 months, I’ve set aside a limited amount of free _____ evaluations for family members or close friends of our patients. As you know our usual fee for a _____ evaluation is $100. However, for a limited time it’s completely complimentary only with the enclosed certificate. Please pass this certificate to anyone you know who might benefit from {procedure} . Somebody who would be thrilled to get , just like you have. Plus, for every referral, your name is automatically entered into our Caribbean Getaway Vacation Trip! If you’re the winner, you and a guest will spend a whole week in St. Martin just soaking in the sun and relaxing next to the crystal clear water. I look forward to personally meeting your referral. Sincerely, {Your Name} P..S. If you need additional referral certificates please call our office. |
When I headed up the marketing for a small medical equipment company, one of our top products was X-ray film. We had a private label of some terrific film and the prices were almost unbeatable.
Therefore we wanted to increase that business and one of the ways we used was simply using a little 1-page flyer we dropped in with every order. The flyer gave away a free polo shirt if they referred someone who bought x-ray film.
It wasn’t uncommon to get a crop of referrals every week in our fax machine.
Take a look at the example and you’ll see how you can easily make it work for you.
If you can’t make it out in this copy – it’s a picture of a polo shirt. Looking back now, I’d probably use something a little more appealing like a clock/radio or a camera. You can get those super cheap from Mitch Carson at www.impactproducts.net. Let him know I sent you for a deal.
I first head about an Australian dentist, named Paddy Lund, through a master marketer named Jay Abraham. This dentist pioneered a system where he only works about 23 hours a week (1/3 third less than other dentists), but he earns nearly 50 times what other dentists make.
And he has a 4 month waiting list of patients hoping to get into his practice.
His secret? He reinvented his practice to referral only. He changed the rules of doing business. He flat out told patients that they had to refer 2 patients of equal value, as themselves, or they would not be accepted into his practice.
And there’s no reason you couldn’t also. In fact, a dry cleaner in Virginia has used this technique and they currently have a huge waiting list.
So let’s breakdown what Paddy Lund did to achieve such dramatic results.
Respect & Value Yourself
You must have the confidence and worth to conduct yourself as proprietary. You no longer are just like every other doctor in your neighborhood.
You must value your skills and knowledge as one-of-a-kind. As a exceptional value you are worth much more. Think about Gucci or Tiffany & Co., these brands are respected and revered because they are not like everyone else and because not everyone can have them.
This process lets you charge more than your competition. Remember price is a correlation to value. The more value you can provide or people perceive you provide the more they expect to pay.
Change Your Posture
Paddy took some other major steps to set himself up as a preferred provider. He “fired” all his “pain-in-the-ass” patients, nearly half his practice. He decided that if he was to give the best quality care possible, he had to genuinely love his patients. And he couldn’t love those patients.
He locked his front door. You literally could not come into his office unless you had been referred by another patient. And the sign on his door said just that.
He took out his waiting room and put in a series of “salons.” Each salon was a private sitting room. Paddy then hired a gourmet chef to make fresh pastries and breads for his patients.
And he will not even work on your mouth, until he first sits down with you and chats over a cup of tea and a breakfast roll.
Paddy Lund completely changed his posture. And the talk he gives over that piece of pastry sets up the “by-referral-only” posture.
This is essentially what he tells every new patient:
“Before you can become a patient of mine, I have this bargain I want to run by you. One part of the bargain is I owe you an awful lot since you’ve decided to become a patient. I will give you…..(He goes on to tell what they can expect from him.) And the other part of the bargain is this; because you’ve become a patient of mine, you owe me some things. And one of the things you owe me is to refer to me at least two people of comparable value as yourself.”
That’s the quick and dirty version of what he tells every new patient. And surprisingly enough, everybody complies! At first he thought he’d be lucky to get 50%, but it didn’t turn out that way.
He has set them up as being special and valued. And they are special because they’re one of his patients. That initial contact is the time to create a deeper emotional tie, much like a dear and valued friend.
Simply put, the more exclusive you hold yourself out to be, the more people want what you have. So I submit to you that you make the rules!
After you’ve established your “by-referral” only posture, you should contact your current customer or client base with a letter similar to this:
Letter Example for moving to a “by-referral” type of business
| Dear Client
I’m writing to alert to the fact that my practice is getting extremely full. And I will be limiting the amount of new clients I accept. That’s why I wanted to give you first priority to refer a friend or family member before I take anymore people from the outside. Especially since you have been such a dear and valued client. Just give (your assistant’s name) a call at (xxx) xxx-xxxx to register their names so I will know how many spaces for reserve. Thank you for your business this year and I look forward to seeing you soon. Sincerely, (Your name) P.S. Please do not delay, because these limited slots will be filled up quickly. |
What you do is simply establish two prices. One for a referral and one without. Set your prices so that the customer would be almost a fool to take the “without referral pricing”. Here’s how this would work.
When you’re talking about prices with your new customer or client simply say something like this:
“Actually, there are 2 prices. You see, we’d rather provide customer/clients like you with better services than spending our money, time and resources trying to attract new clients/customers all the time. It just doesn’t make sense for us to waste all that effort advertising and marketing when we could be serving you better. That’s why we have 2 prices. One is if you provide us with a referral, only after you’re completely satisfied and ecstatic with our product/service. And the second price is if you do not provide us with a referral for whatever reason. The ‘by-referral-only’ price is $xxxx and the second option is $xxxx.xx.”
Online Referral Strategy #1:
“Refer-a-friend” after they buy
Once people buy it’s a perfect opportunity to try and get them to become your advocate and refer their friends. Here’s how we’ve done this on www.getfitwhileyousit.com
At the bottom of the download page they can get one more free, unadvertised bonus if they simply fill out the referral form. * * *
Online Referral Strategy #2:
“Refer-a-friend” without buying
On the BodyforLife.com web site there is a little link that says “Email this site to a friend”. This link send you to a page where you enter in your name, your friend’s name and they get an email like this:
I was just checking out a great Web site called BodyforLIFE.com. I found it informative and entertaining. The site is very interactive-great video clips about training, charts available for a complete nutrition and training program, and inspiring videos about real-life success stories. There is also this section of before and after photos of people who finished the Program-they’re incredible.
The site is located at: http://www.BodyforLIFE.com
Yanik
yanik@surefiremarketing.com
Pretty neat, right? There are forms you can set up on your web site that will automatically send out these “personalized” looking messages from one person to another. One place for this www.bignosebird.com
It worked great because patients were given a reason to refer, a reward and recognition (my 3 R’s). This insert would give subscribers the reason why the doctor was rewarding them for their referrals (because it costs less than advertising). Plus, it lets them in on a special free mystery gift for each referral. This way patients were invited to refer – but certainly not obligated. That way there never was a uncomfortable or awkward moment asking for referrals face-to-face with the patient. What’s more, you’re giving people a ‘crutch’ to refer. That makes them look good because they’re giving their friends a free service.
As an extra bonus you can see that the name of the person who referred is available to you so now you could recognize them in your newsletter, in your office, with a thank you note, etc.
Here’s the example you can use with a little modification:
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.