Do you see your clients as magnets for referrals?
You should.
You want to be able to attract the kind of clients you know, like and trust and who already know, like and trust you. It's fair to say there’s already a base of clients you are already doing business with who know you, like you and trust you and who feel the same about you and would refer you. People like to hang around like-minded people so the chances are pretty good that you are going to attract a similar type of person from that referral partner. That’s the kind of referral you want. So if you are going to begin new lead generation, you might as well include referrals among them because you are going to get more of the type of client you want.
You want to makes sure your marketing is hitting the right target market so you’re getting the right type of clients. If you get referrals from your clients and you don’t have the right clients, you’re going to get referrals that aren’t the right referrals.
Referrals allow you to lower your cost per client. What do I mean by that? Right now, you are going out and buying leads. You are working to get those leads to turn into sets to shows to hires. There’s a cost to that and some of you know that number, and for some of you, you are just beginning to figure that out. When you start to market to existing clients for referrals or those from allied service professionals who also know, like and trust you, your cost per lead goes down. You’re not going to have to go out and spend the money to acquire that lead, instead you are going to do it from your own herd. Usually there is a much lower cost for these AND the conversions from those referrals are more likely going to be a hire.
Typically, these referrals are likely to show more often too, and as I said, they’re going to hire more often. As your conversions rise, your cost to acquire a new client goes down. When you start digging in this referral machine of your client list and referral partners, you are going to experience this more often.
Be sure you include a system that lets your clients know you thank those who refer you and that you are not only open and welcoming to their friends, but that you are ‘asking' for them as well.
Building a better business, one referral at a time.
