"Offline On Autopilot"!! - Power of Referrals Example

The easiest way to get new offline clients !!!

BR LASSE

That's a great story!

There is honestly a load more money offline than there is online as your venturing into an area that those guys have no idea about! Heck they are probably the ones who have brought into those hyped up make millions at a push of a button products and fallen flat on the floor.

All the same that's a great plug for you especially coming from a business owner and great news for you!

Tim

Hey John...check your PM's.

To me, it makes sense to GO AFTER referrals like a dog after a bone. Have a system. Here's mine. At the first meeting and/or when I give the invoice and ask for the deposit, I also give/send a referral sheet and point that I'll fill it up with them if they are satisfied with my services. Than when I take the final payment, I will dig for those referrals.

I also give 10% to the referrer for those I close on my own, and 20% if the referrer closes them for me, or if the referral calls me to do business. I'm thinking of adding the option of 20% & 30% as rebate on future services, etc. Oh, I always have an instant rebate (think OTO) on the final receipt on another offer.

Cold calling works, big time, especially when starting from nothing, or when wanting to branch out to a new possible network. But IMO, you'd better get to warmer prospects ASAP if you can.

John,
It has been said I'm sure millions of times and is such a simple thing to understand yet so many marketers and sales people just don't get it, don't see it or just are clueless.

We hear the cliche's so many times for example, the money is in the list which is repeated so much by all the gurus. What is a list? It's prospects. However what is even better? Lists of buyers. What are buyers? That's quite obvious.

What do we try to always get from buyers, (besides another sale) we want testimonials. What are testimonials they are generalized referrals. So we drill more.

What is better? Specific referrals from a customer. You get this wheel a turning and you can make a fortune. Offline, online or anywhere in between. Why is this concept so hard to grasp?

The most wealthy people on the face of the Earth we always hear are investors. How do they make the majority of this investment wealth? By drawing interest and reinvesting. That is what our customers are. Investments.

So why not put our customer investments to use? And guard them like pure gold.

One little example I know about personally. This was an offline endeavor some years past. 225-300 calls from a state business directory. 25 new accounts started. Eventual referrals, asked for in most cases, yielded 17 more accounts. Up front gross revenue and continuity has to date been 3+ million dollars. Personal net revenue has been over 300K.

I might add this is just chicken feed compared to what the real pros do. Now this was not an Internet related business but the principle works just the same. You get a good and satisfied customer and get repeat business and referrals from a core of these customers and they will be 10x's more profitable than finding new one time customers.

I still profit from the above example and have not added new accounts to that business since I left it in 1989.

Get a strong core of satisfied buyers and you will never regret it. That should be the primary part of your business plan. When you get a customer you want your relationship to be an "until death do we part" relationship. The customers you take good care of will want to take care of you also. They will want to show you off to their sphere of influence often without even being asked.

Such a basic fact of sales and so grossly over looked. Your customers are the goose that lays golden eggs. Don't eat them but rather feed and nurture them.

O.D.

It always seems that i end up getting clients when im not trying through random referrals, more so than when i am actually TRYING to get clients.

I agree John. Here's one of my stories about auto-pilot referrals...

Last year September, a client complained a year after I'd finished and handed over his site that he actually didn't really like the site I'd initially built for him (especially the choice of colors among other stuff), and would have liked something less corporate.

Actually, HE had requested a very corporate look, and I gave him what he wanted, colors and all. He actually made that complaint because I asked him for referrals after picking up an annual hosting and site maintenance check.

He said "Well I'd have referred you, but the people I know are big timers and I'd want to show them a great site you did for me, this one I'm not so sure about..."

At first, I took it as a personal put down, but I quickly repositioned myself as a marketer and said "Well, you requested that look, but, I can do you another that you'll like if you'll give me full-on creative control, what's more, I won't bill you for the remake, and I'll have it ready for you in a week"...

He said OK. I built the site. He "liked" it. End of story.

I didn't even do it for the referrals, I just wanted him to be happy even though he had been responsible for the initial concept.

5 months later...

I'd forgotten about him as a possible referral source, and guess what...

I get a text message asking if I have space to take on a friend of his in a city 20 or so hours away by road (which means I won't ever see this guy and we both know that).

I said sure, the year is young, what does he want. He gives me his friend's number, I call and the deal is closed a few days later, turns out this referral was my first client for 2012 (that's 1 year 5 months after I met the guy who referred him!)

Now, my take on offering freebies...

While I don't like offering too many freebies so I don't devalue what I do for clients, my customer support is always priority no. 1 for me (in many cases, unless I'm dealing with a VERY VERY difficult client eating up tons of my time and that I simply have to fire).

So far, I have bookings going all the way through March and all my work is coming in as referrals from those clients that I went above and beyond for (read that as did pro bono stuff for) and who I felt really deserved it and wouldn't have taken undue advantage especially after I made it clear I was doing extra work worth a lot, free of charge just to keep 'em smiling.

I think we often forget that our offline clients are just as human as we are, and would be really happy to repay a good turn with another good turn. The more you give to clients (especially those who act professional and respect your time, and value your skills), the more you're likely to get back... on "Offline Autopilot".... love that by the way.

Thanks again for the share John.

Kunle Olomofe

Referrals work because:

1) the people who get them are already qualified--they're experiencing an issue like the one you solved for the person referring them

2) you have built-in credibility with the people who are referred, from the person referring them...who they already know and have confidence in.

The Golden Rule is powerful. Do a little extra for people and your life will be much easier.

One of the things that constantly amazes me is a small business owner's need to do everything themselves, including marketing, websites, ad designs, whatever. I mean, they are an expert at their business and NOT likely marketing or they would be a marketer. OK, OK, I'm a do-it-yourself type guy (to the point of building my own house soon), but I am still going to hire a guy to do the things I have no idea how to do or the least inkling to want to learn, like the finer points of putting in a septic system. Man imagine if I get it wrong! Will I be in a world of sh!t or what? Wonder why the average small business owner cannot see that as well. I've been trying to get owners to read "The E-Myth" to get the idea that they are good at what they do and people pay them to be good at it and I am good at what I do and earn my pay from what I do for them. Gotta love this business! As John said, get them with the $100 service and then show them over time, perhaps I can do another thing for you or even your friends as well...build it that way.