Offline marketing: $100 discount made me $4,000 extra!!

Lou Diamond · 07-07-2009, 12:32 PM

Hello,
I just wanted to share my success story from last week.
I have been doing offline seo marketing for the last few months.
My last customer was very happy with the results.
When it came time to pay I handed him two bills,
one for the agreed upon price,
the other was a bill for $100 off with a blank piece of paper
with ten lines on it for referrals for ten friends that may need my service.
He looked at me kind of puzzled and said is that all I have to do to save $100.00 ?
I said that's all I want,he filled it out and paid me and he was even happier that he saved
an extra $100.00
Well,a week later I made over $4,000.00 in sales to his friends,
I plan on repeating this process with all of my new customers.

Travis Clark · 07-07-2009, 12:35 PM

referrals are always the best type of customer / lead.

Congrats on the additional income

jimojeda · 07-07-2009, 12:35 PM

Wow Lou, that's an ingenious idea. That's the art of mastering customer service and the ability to see things from the customer's view point at work!

Way to go on your ability to think outside the box.

Jim

Anteros · 07-07-2009, 12:37 PM

Very nice business model, congratulations and thanks for the tip!

herrick · 07-07-2009, 01:02 PM

Congratulations! Thanks for sharing the tip!

clbeav · 07-07-2009, 01:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lou Diamond

Hello,
I just wanted to share my success story from last week.
I have been doing offline seo marketing for the last few months.
My last customer was very happy with the results.
When it came time to pay I handed him two bills,
one for the agreed upon price,
the other was a bill for $100 off with a blank piece of paper
with ten lines on it for referrals for ten friends that may need my service.
He looked at me kind of puzzled and said is that all I have to do to save $100.00 ?
I said that's all I want,he filled it out and paid me and he was even happier that he saved
an extra $100.00
Well,a week later I made over $4,000.00 in sales to his friends,
I plan on repeating this process with all of my new customers.

Congrats and excellent idea. Good way to build a consistent system of customers!

Sam Smith · 07-07-2009, 01:15 PM

I love stuff like this... it's the kinda thing we've all heard about and forgotten, and just need reminding about.

Thanks for sharing Lou.

(friend request sent).

Riz · 07-07-2009, 01:31 PM

Congrats Lou

Referrals from existing happy customers are the best type prospect.

RA

Shaka · 07-07-2009, 02:32 PM

Thank you for sharing your success story. Unexpected bonuses are a wonderful way to build customer goodwill. And in your case, showing unexpected financial appreciation for referrals is a way to create lifetime customers. Congratulations on your $4,000 bump in sales to his friends.

Nightengale · 07-07-2009, 02:50 PM

Awesome tip! Thanks for sharing.

Michelle

Loren Woirhaye · 07-07-2009, 03:03 PM

that's such a delightfully goofy ploy! I love it!

Totally makes sense.

Good job.

gapsapman · 07-07-2009, 03:05 PM

this is a great idea, thanks for sharing. I think it is the first i have heard of it.

pavel100 · 07-07-2009, 03:21 PM

This is really intresting. I'm gonna try it, thanks!!

Jagged · 07-07-2009, 04:18 PM

Nice job Lou...

Thats a nice return on your 100.00. Asking for referrals is often over looked. It's a vital part of any local "service related" business.

Good luck,
Ken

rhelaine · 07-07-2009, 04:31 PM

i use a similar technique.

I tell them if they refer someone that sign up with me they will get 20% back, 2 sign up 50% etc....

Al Andrews · 07-07-2009, 09:19 PM

Congratulations on your success and thanks for sharing. What a great return on a $100 investment.

Thanks
Al

maco · 07-07-2009, 09:24 PM

Great idea, well done.

chrisnegro · 07-07-2009, 10:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lou Diamond

Hello,
I just wanted to share my success story from last week.
I have been doing offline seo marketing for the last few months.
My last customer was very happy with the results.
When it came time to pay I handed him two bills,
one for the agreed upon price,
the other was a bill for $100 off with a blank piece of paper
with ten lines on it for referrals for ten friends that may need my service.
He looked at me kind of puzzled and said is that all I have to do to save $100.00 ?
I said that's all I want,he filled it out and paid me and he was even happier that he saved
an extra $100.00
Well,a week later I made over $4,000.00 in sales to his friends,
I plan on repeating this process with all of my new customers.

Nice tip Lou! After you satisfied the business owner (of this surprised discount for the 10 referrals) ask him when you are about to leave...."hey...would you mind giving me a testimonial of my service to you so other business can know what they expect from me when they use my seo services".

You see....most business owners would be GLAD to give you 10 referrals for $100 discount.....so after you get the 10 referrals....THEN YOU PITCH THEM FOR THE TESTIMONIAL. Its all about timing and WHEN you present the information.

At a glance, using this strategy, you would get a testimonial and 10 referral leads for business owners for $100....not bad if you ask me.

Much continued success to you Lou!

Chris Negro

TheDebtEliminator · 07-08-2009, 01:47 AM

I have see coupons that were printed to look just like a super jumbo $100-bill that was given after receiving a referral.

But was cashable on new purchases by the old customer after his friend completed a purchase.

Everyone wins and you cost is buried in the new customer's purchase

jasonl70 · 07-08-2009, 02:12 AM

What at awesome idea Lou!

peterzhang · 07-08-2009, 02:30 AM

Wow, it's really a nice tip to expand the market, thanks for sharing with us, Lou. I wrote a new post about 2 useful seo tips which was summarized according to my own experience and I hope it will be helpful for you too. Thanks again and I will try this model

AndrewCavanagh · 07-08-2009, 03:20 AM

Nice simple referral system.

Referrals are so much easier to turn into paying clients...especially referrals from other business owners.

Did you have any other requirements for him?

For example did you ask him to call his friends or did you get him to okay a letter you would send to his friends on his behalf?

Also can you put the $100 in perspective for us...what was the total bill before the discount?

Kindest regards,
Andrew Cavanagh

Fernando Veloso · 07-08-2009, 09:50 AM

Nice technique Lou, thanks for sharing. Definitely will test it next days.

pmlharry · 07-08-2009, 12:52 PM

You may want to try adding a tweak to this already excellent referral strategy...

Instead of just offering $100 discount for the referrals, add some leverage/sweetener on the other side of the deal too. In other words, structure it such that you can go to the referrals and say "your friend loved this service so much he instructed me specifically to give you this $100 voucher with his compliments."

It's been proven that people hate to lose what they already have, so you think this tweak will help to increase your conversion rate?

akira · 07-08-2009, 01:29 PM

Excellent idea. Thanks for sharing!

GoGetta · 07-08-2009, 02:13 PM

Great referral idea, LOVE IT!

GoGetta

Mustafa Khundmiri · 07-08-2009, 02:15 PM

Congratulations! Nothing gets more targeted than word of mouth. Kudos!

Droopy Dawg · 07-08-2009, 02:17 PM

OMG... that's outstanding... I'll try this with my next couple clients and see what happens. thx

rmholla · 07-09-2009, 10:03 AM

Just curious... Did you use any graphics, like a picture of a hundred dollar bill, on the "bill" for referrals?

Ron Killian · 07-09-2009, 11:46 AM

Great post Lou! Something so simple, yet so effective. Too many people complicate everything.

IMDimWit · 07-09-2009, 12:25 PM

Lou,

This technique along with some of the suggested tweaks makes this an excellent deal to offer clients. Thanks for sharing.

Hugh · 07-09-2009, 03:12 PM

Thanks Guys,

Adding a new dimention to my system!!!

07-07-2009, 12:32 PM	#1
Lou Diamond Senior Warrior Member War Room Member Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: Long Island N.Y. Posts: 1,154 Thanks: 29 Thanked 192 Times in 101 Posts	Offline marketing: $100 discount made me $4,000 extra!! Hello, I just wanted to share my success story from last week. I have been doing offline seo marketing for the last few months. My last customer was very happy with the results. When it came time to pay I handed him two bills, one for the agreed upon price, the other was a bill for $100 off with a blank piece of paper with ten lines on it for referrals for ten friends that may need my service. He looked at me kind of puzzled and said is that all I have to do to save $100.00 ? I said that's all I want,he filled it out and paid me and he was even happier that he saved an extra $100.00 Well,a week later I made over $4,000.00 in sales to his friends, I plan on repeating this process with all of my new customers.
	Something new soon.

07-07-2009, 12:35 PM	#2
Travis Clark Active Warrior War Room Member Join Date: May 2009 Posts: 35 Thanks: 0 Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post	Re: Offline marketing: $100 discount made me $4,000 extra!! referrals are always the best type of customer / lead. Congrats on the additional income

07-07-2009, 12:35 PM	#3
jimojeda HyperActive Warrior War Room Member Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: San Diego, CA, USA Posts: 152 Thanks: 15 Thanked 8 Times in 8 Posts Social Networking	Re: Offline marketing: $100 discount made me $4,000 extra!! Wow Lou, that's an ingenious idea. That's the art of mastering customer service and the ability to see things from the customer's view point at work! Way to go on your ability to think outside the box. Jim
	Something Good Is Coming Soon

07-07-2009, 12:37 PM	#4
Anteros Warrior Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: , , Chile. Posts: 10 Thanks: 3 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Re: Offline marketing: $100 discount made me $4,000 extra!! Very nice business model, congratulations and thanks for the tip!
	Monetize your spanish-talking money making traffic My first info product :)

07-07-2009, 01:02 PM	#5
herrick HyperActive Warrior War Room Member Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: new york Posts: 130 Thanks: 26 Thanked 11 Times in 11 Posts	Re: Offline marketing: $100 discount made me $4,000 extra!! Congratulations! Thanks for sharing the tip!
	Conquer Marketing Now

07-07-2009, 01:15 PM	#7
Sam Smith HyperActive Warrior War Room Member Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: United Kingdom. Posts: 176 Thanks: 13 Thanked 3 Times in 3 Posts	Re: Offline marketing: $100 discount made me $4,000 extra!! I love stuff like this... it's the kinda thing we've all heard about and forgotten, and just need reminding about. Thanks for sharing Lou. (friend request sent).

07-07-2009, 01:31 PM	#8
Riz RizAliMarketing.com War Room Member Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Scotland, United Kingdom Posts: 784 Thanks: 280 Thanked 188 Times in 117 Posts Contact Info	Re: Offline marketing: $100 discount made me $4,000 extra!! Congrats Lou Referrals from existing happy customers are the best type prospect. RA

07-07-2009, 02:32 PM	#9
Shaka Carpe diem War Room Member Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: U.S.A Posts: 63 Thanks: 5 Thanked 3 Times in 3 Posts	Re: Offline marketing: $100 discount made me $4,000 extra!! Thank you for sharing your success story. Unexpected bonuses are a wonderful way to build customer goodwill. And in your case, showing unexpected financial appreciation for referrals is a way to create lifetime customers. Congratulations on your $4,000 bump in sales to his friends.

07-07-2009, 02:50 PM	#10
Nightengale Senior Warrior Member War Room Member Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: West Palm Beach, FL, USA. Posts: 1,425 Thanks: 299 Thanked 350 Times in 189 Posts Social Networking	Re: Offline marketing: $100 discount made me $4,000 extra!! Awesome tip! Thanks for sharing. Michelle

07-07-2009, 03:03 PM	#11
Loren Woirhaye Who'm I kidding? War Room Member Join Date: May 2006 Location: Easthampton, Massachusetts Posts: 4,542 Blog Entries: 15 Thanks: 117 Thanked 904 Times in 651 Posts Social Networking Contact Info	Re: Offline marketing: $100 discount made me $4,000 extra!! that's such a delightfully goofy ploy! I love it! Totally makes sense. Good job.
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07-07-2009, 03:05 PM	#12
gapsapman Warrior Member Join Date: Jul 2009 Posts: 10 Thanks: 0 Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post	Re: Offline marketing: $100 discount made me $4,000 extra!! this is a great idea, thanks for sharing. I think it is the first i have heard of it.

07-07-2009, 03:21 PM	#13
pavel100 Warrior Member Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Ann arbor, MI Posts: 2 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts Social Networking	Re: Offline marketing: $100 discount made me $4,000 extra!! This is really intresting. I'm gonna try it, thanks!!
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07-07-2009, 04:18 PM	#14
Jagged Ken Perry War Room Member Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Tucson, Phoenix AZ Posts: 844 Blog Entries: 11 Thanks: 151 Thanked 406 Times in 197 Posts Social Networking	Re: Offline marketing: $100 discount made me $4,000 extra!! Nice job Lou... Thats a nice return on your 100.00. Asking for referrals is often over looked. It's a vital part of any local "service related" business. Good luck, Ken

07-07-2009, 04:31 PM	#15
rhelaine Learning...as always... Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: colorado Posts: 143 Thanks: 4 Thanked 12 Times in 12 Posts Contact Info	Re: Offline marketing: $100 discount made me $4,000 extra!! i use a similar technique. I tell them if they refer someone that sign up with me they will get 20% back, 2 sign up 50% etc....

07-07-2009, 09:19 PM	#16
Al Andrews Active Warrior Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: , , USA. Posts: 30 Thanks: 0 Thanked 5 Times in 4 Posts	Re: Offline marketing: $100 discount made me $4,000 extra!! Congratulations on your success and thanks for sharing. What a great return on a $100 investment. Thanks Al

07-07-2009, 09:24 PM	#17
maco HyperActive Warrior War Room Member Join Date: May 2009 Posts: 259 Thanks: 30 Thanked 11 Times in 11 Posts	Re: Offline marketing: $100 discount made me $4,000 extra!! Great idea, well done.
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07-08-2009, 01:47 AM	#19
TheDebtEliminator Senior Warrior Member War Room Member Join Date: Jun 2009 Posts: 2,297 Thanks: 107 Thanked 1,337 Times in 1,098 Posts	Re: Offline marketing: $100 discount made me $4,000 extra!! I have see coupons that were printed to look just like a super jumbo $100-bill that was given after receiving a referral. But was cashable on new purchases by the old customer after his friend completed a purchase. Everyone wins and you cost is buried in the new customer's purchase

07-08-2009, 02:12 AM	#20
jasonl70 Software Developer War Room Member Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Ohio , USA. Posts: 2,273 Thanks: 416 Thanked 408 Times in 250 Posts	Re: Offline marketing: $100 discount made me $4,000 extra!! What at awesome idea Lou!
	-Jason

07-08-2009, 02:30 AM	#21
peterzhang Warrior Member Join Date: Jul 2009 Posts: 17 Thanks: 0 Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post	Re: Offline marketing: $100 discount made me $4,000 extra!! Wow, it's really a nice tip to expand the market, thanks for sharing with us, Lou. I wrote a new post about 2 useful seo tips which was summarized according to my own experience and I hope it will be helpful for you too. Thanks again and I will try this model

07-08-2009, 03:20 AM	#22
AndrewCavanagh Senior Warrior Member War Room Member Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Cairns, Australia. Posts: 3,267 Thanks: 3 Thanked 784 Times in 425 Posts	Re: Offline marketing: $100 discount made me $4,000 extra!! Nice simple referral system. Referrals are so much easier to turn into paying clients...especially referrals from other business owners. Did you have any other requirements for him? For example did you ask him to call his friends or did you get him to okay a letter you would send to his friends on his behalf? Also can you put the $100 in perspective for us...what was the total bill before the discount? Kindest regards, Andrew Cavanagh
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07-08-2009, 09:50 AM	#23
Fernando Veloso Portuguese Warrior War Room Member Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Good Old Europe Posts: 3,488 Blog Entries: 6 Thanks: 1,311 Thanked 810 Times in 556 Posts Social Networking Contact Info	Re: Offline marketing: $100 discount made me $4,000 extra!! Nice technique Lou, thanks for sharing. Definitely will test it next days.
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07-08-2009, 12:52 PM	#24
pmlharry Warrior Member Join Date: Jul 2004 Posts: 18 Thanks: 0 Thanked 5 Times in 4 Posts	Re: Offline marketing: $100 discount made me $4,000 extra!! You may want to try adding a tweak to this already excellent referral strategy... Instead of just offering $100 discount for the referrals, add some leverage/sweetener on the other side of the deal too. In other words, structure it such that you can go to the referrals and say "your friend loved this service so much he instructed me specifically to give you this $100 voucher with his compliments." It's been proven that people hate to lose what they already have, so you think this tweak will help to increase your conversion rate?

07-08-2009, 01:29 PM	#25
akira Warrior Member Join Date: Jun 2009 Posts: 14 Thanks: 6 Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post	Re: Offline marketing: $100 discount made me $4,000 extra!! Excellent idea. Thanks for sharing!

07-08-2009, 02:13 PM	#26
GoGetta I Get Mine, Got Yours? War Room Member Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: United Kingdom. Posts: 1,686 Blog Entries: 6 Thanks: 363 Thanked 505 Times in 197 Posts Social Networking	Re: Offline marketing: $100 discount made me $4,000 extra!! Great referral idea, LOVE IT! GoGetta
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07-08-2009, 02:15 PM	#27
Mustafa Khundmiri HyperActive Warrior War Room Member Join Date: Nov 2007 Posts: 362 Thanks: 85 Thanked 145 Times in 50 Posts	Re: Offline marketing: $100 discount made me $4,000 extra!! Congratulations! Nothing gets more targeted than word of mouth. Kudos!

07-08-2009, 02:17 PM	#28
Droopy Dawg Advanced Warrior War Room Member Join Date: Aug 2008 Posts: 926 Thanks: 67 Thanked 139 Times in 103 Posts	Re: Offline marketing: $100 discount made me $4,000 extra!! OMG... that's outstanding... I'll try this with my next couple clients and see what happens. thx

07-09-2009, 10:03 AM	#29
rmholla RhondaHolland.com Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: PA Posts: 532 Thanks: 40 Thanked 23 Times in 20 Posts Social Networking	Re: Offline marketing: $100 discount made me $4,000 extra!! Just curious... Did you use any graphics, like a picture of a hundred dollar bill, on the "bill" for referrals?
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07-09-2009, 11:46 AM	#30
Ron Killian Senior Warrior Member War Room Member Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Arkansas, USA. Posts: 1,518 Blog Entries: 17 Thanks: 86 Thanked 124 Times in 98 Posts Social Networking Contact Info	Re: Offline marketing: $100 discount made me $4,000 extra!! Great post Lou! Something so simple, yet so effective. Too many people complicate everything.
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07-09-2009, 12:25 PM	#31
IMDimWit Active Warrior War Room Member Join Date: May 2007 Location: Southern, CA, USA. Posts: 55 Thanks: 3 Thanked 4 Times in 4 Posts Contact Info	Re: Offline marketing: $100 discount made me $4,000 extra!! Lou, This technique along with some of the suggested tweaks makes this an excellent deal to offer clients. Thanks for sharing.
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07-09-2009, 03:12 PM	#32
Hugh HyperActive Warrior Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: , Florida , USA. Posts: 490 Thanks: 136 Thanked 27 Times in 24 Posts	Re: Offline marketing: $100 discount made me $4,000 extra!! Thanks Guys, Adding a new dimention to my system!!!
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