Lets say you are trying to get referrals from another professional who sells related products and services in your market. For example, insurance agents and financial planners would love to get referrals from CPA’s and attorneys.
Or, Telecommunications equipment providers would love to get referrals from computer consultants, telecommunications consultants, or computer system providers (Mainframe computers, IT etc.).
Whatever the industry, there are other professionals who have the ability to send you referrals.
So how do you get them?
You put them into your marketing funnel, but you do not send them sales information. You treat them like they were your best clients. But be creative.
I learned this technique from one of Bill Glazers students who was either a Dentist or a
Chiropractor, and he wanted to generate referrals to his practice from several doctors offices in his area. Apparently his referrals skyrocketed by 300-500%.
The basic technique is to sequence a series of creative attention grabbing items like this:
Here’s a simple idea that will get you thinking:
One month you can send the staff candy popcorn and attach a letter explaining the history of popcorn and how it’s made.
The next month you can send fancy dark chocolates and attach a letter that describes the history of chocolate and dark chocolate. Or maybe a mentor you learned something from in the past enjoyed chocolates of this nature, and you can tell that story (get creative here). Be creative and thoughtful because you never know who in the office really has the power to send a referral your way.
The idea is to send something every month (or every 3 months). You can spend some time creating interesting marketing pieces that don’t look or feel like marketing pieces and send them to your prospective source of referrals, and give it 6 months or a year. Just be consistent.
Once the referrals start coming in send a hand written thank you note. Follow up with a phone call and let them know that the referral is being well cared for, and that you are grateful. Maybe have lunch. But don’t stop sending stuff every month!
Oh, and don’t forget to put them on your newsletter list. You have a newsletter, right?
What About Email and Social Media?
Yes, you can use email and social media to contact just about anyone you want, and you should. But you need to approach email and social media with kid gloves and do it right. As a matter of fact you should combine it with offline methods like the one above to really make it work well for you.
Social Media and Email marketing for joint ventures, referrals, and prospecting is a seminar in and of itself. I have a few articles on the each subject that can help you. But I want to encourage you to use renegade offline methods like this one because very few people have the confidence to do it. And I know, it does cost money.
Stay connected to read more about this prospecting and lead generation method for referrals and how to build your business. Sign up for my free course or hit me up on social media. Hey, like this page will you 🙂