Archive for January, 2009

Shared by Steve
So – with this gem in mind – it’s obvious where to focus our referral marketing rewards and customer service satisfaction efforts – no?

The more I read from this guy’s blog - the more I like it. Hope you all enjoy.

All the best,

Women are responsible for countless purchases, but they need help to create efficiency in their buying decisions. So what they tend to do is find a person who they can really trust, and then use that person as a filter when making specific decisions.

Take for example, someone with a legal issue. If they have someone who’s been doing great legal work for them, they will go to that person every time for legal issues, either for direct help or trusted referrals.

So you need to not only understand the core services you provide, but the appropriate referrals around your industry – how people find you, who they ask first for help, why people trust others in the professional world. This is especially important to do with women, because they have been found to refer business services at twice the rate of men.

On average, a woman will refer a person that she is pleased with 26 times, while men only refer about 13 times. It might take longer to get a woman as a client because she does two things more than men. First, she will rely on more peer and expert recommendations. Second, she’s going to ask around more and do research on the Web about your business.

The good thing is, once a woman finds the right candidate to serve her needs, she tends to stay loyal longer because she’s already invested a lot of time in finding the right one. And was mentioned, she’ll refer your business twice as much as a man.

These numbers should also encourage you to take extra good care of your female customers. Because if you don’t, then that means they’re handing off a negative message about your business at least 26 times.

Original Article link back here

Next in this series: What women want

This post is the second in a series of excerpts from OneCoach CEO John Assaraf’s interview with Lisa Johnson, CEO of ReachGroup, formerly ReachWomen, an international marketing consultancy. She also co-authored: Don’t Think Pink: What Really Makes Women Buy and How to Increase Your Share of this Crucial Market.
By OneCoach CEO John Assaraf’s interview with Lisa Johnson, CEO of ReachGroup)

This is an issue I have been sensing for quite sometime, especially as a 2nd Generation Insurance Broker who was force fed the mantra of the good old days … “Just Get Out There and Walk Into Businesses”.

Yes, action is critical, massive action is paramount for some.  The fact is now you can no longer – as in the old days  – merely Hang Your Shingle Out There and survive on sheer persistence.  You have to work both Hard and Smart in this economy and IMHO for the last several years.

The Insurance agency model has become much more complex.  Demanding volume commitments to obtain and maintain quality carriers [ for us Independent agents ], Loss Ratio requirements, and now more than ever the tremendous expense of Insurance Specific Technology and Training.

I feel the complexity of owning and running a small to mid-size agency has exponentially increased in the 24 years I’ve been involved in the industry. Staggering really, when I reflect back on our first FAX machine   Our first IBM PC with dual 5.25″ floppy drives.  WOW!

Tying in the timely piece below from Brian Tracy … We can No Longer as agents, expect to remain viable with the age old activities of sending our clients a bill at their annual renewal, and hope to survive.  Excellent service is the expected Norm.  Lightning speed and turnaround, and instant gratification are as well.

With the difficulty we go through just to obtain clients, shouldn’t we do everything we can to RETAIN them?

Is your retention strategy a nice smile, a few kind words, and a billing statement at renewal? If so, you better re-think that strategy, else your carrier field rep might be on his way with a form for you to sign … that you acknowledge you’re being terminated.

Develop a plan and a strategy today! I encourage you to consider the one I deployed.  One that is turnkey, cost effective and can start having an immediate positive impact. The Ultimate Retention and Referral System.

Take Action – Implement!

I wish you all the best,

The Complex Sale Today

By: Brian Tracy

The Sale is More Complex Today

The entire process of selling today is more complex than it has ever been before. It used to be that we would make a single call on a single buyer who would make a single decision on our product or offering. In this simple form of selling, we used the attention/interest/ desire/action (AIDA) model of sales presentation and focused intensely on numerous different ways of closing the sale. Then, once we had made the sale, in many cases we never saw the customer again.

Everything Has Changed

Today, however, everything is different. Today we must make multiple calls, an average of five or six, in order to make the sale. We deal with multiple decision makers in an organization, each of whom can influence the purchase. Much of the sale takes place when we are not present. Sometimes we never even meet the final decision maker who signs the check. And it is not unusual for a sale to be derailed at the last minute by something completely unexpected.

The Competition is Fierce

If that weren’t enough, there is more competition than ever before and it is more determined and resolute than it has ever been in the past. Not only must we compete on the basis of price, quality, services, capabilities, financing and warranties with many other vendors of our product or service, but we must also compete with every other vendor of every other product or service who is striving to get the same customer dollar that we are after. Our competitors are extremely determined, driven the same as we are by tight markets and careful customers. They are committed to starting earlier, working harder, and staying up later thinking of ways to take our customers away from us.

Customers Are Overwhelmed

Our prospective customers are beset on all sides by every conceivable sales offering. Because they are drowning in details, options and choices, they are in no hurry to make up their minds. With markets changing and contracting, the amount of discretionary funds they have available has shrunken and they are more careful today than they have ever had to be in the past.

The Key to Profitability

The purpose of a business is to create and keep a customer. If a business does this in sufficient quantity and with proper cost controls, it will make a profit. The profit is the result of creating and keeping customers efficiently.

Create and Keep Customers

As the president of your own professional sales corporation, your job is to create and keep customers as well. And just as a company must continually restructure and redesign its product and service offerings to satisfy the changing tastes of a demanding and competitive customer marketplace, you as a salesperson must constantly upgrade the quality and sophistication of your sales procedures and approaches if you are going to create customers in sufficient quantity.

Action Exercises

Here are two things you can do immediately to put these ideas into action. First, be prepared to make multiple calls on a customer to close a large or complex sale. Plan your sales work systematically so you always have a new reason for calling back. Second, think continually about how you have to change and improve your selling and your offering if you want to succeed in a tough market. Work on yourself every day and never stop getting better.

Brought to you by World Class Sales Trainer - Brian Tracy |  http://www.briantracy.com

From Steve

As you go through the hints and tips all the “gurus” provide – there’s a common underlying theme,  appreciation [see item #4 below] .. but How exactly?

What shall I send, when?

Wow.. this is time consuming to keep track of !

Well, the Ultimate Referral Marketing System has helped me tremendously in solving these issues.  If you want to be able to actually IMPLEMENT the following referral generating strategies – you’re going to need a system!

Good luck all and enjoy these ideas from Evan Carmichael

Youngentrepreneur.com presents …

Growing a business through referrals can be one of the most effective strategies an entrepreneur can embark on. Referred clients are more loyal, buy in greater quantities, buy more frequently, are less price sensitive and cost less to acquire than clients who come through traditional advertising / marketing avenues.

So how do you go about getting more referrals for your business? Here are five quick tips you can follow.

1) Just ask. Most entrepreneurs don’t get more referrals because they don’t bother asking for them. You would be surprised at how frequently an existing client would be willing to give you a referral but they don’t because they either a) don’t know you are looking for more business or b) don’t think about it because they have so much happening already in their lives. Simply by asking for referrals you will dramatically increase the amount of new business from word of mouth connections.

2) Wait for the thank you. When is the right time to ask for a referral? I prefer to wait until a client has had a positive experience with me and thinks highly of my business. What I wait to hear is the words ‘thank you’ come from them. If you have gone beyond the call of duty to help them and they have expressed their gratitude, now is the perfect time to ask them for a referral. They recognize your value, are in a positive frame of mind, and are likely to help return the favor you have just given them if they can. Try to train your mind so that when you hear the words “thank you”, you ask for a referral.

3) Become and introducer. Always try to think outside the box for your clients and help them in ways they don’t expect. I make introductions for them to other people I know who can help them. When reporters contact me for stories I try to involve my clients as well. If I spot an article or read a book I think might help my clients I’ll save it for them and gift it to them the next time we meet. I am always looking for ways to help my clients because by becoming an introducer you are more likely go get more of those ‘thank you’ moments. If you help a client land new business, for example, through one of your introductions, they are likely to thank you for your efforts which brings up a perfect opportunity to ask for a referral.

4) Recognize their efforts. Another important factor is to recognize the people who have given you referrals. This can be in the form of a specific contribution (a percentage of the sale for introducing a new client), but the people I work with typically don’t like to feel like they are being paid to sell their friends. They prefer to feel like they are helping their colleagues as well as helping me. So how do you recognize them? What I do is every quarter assign a certain % of my revenues towards thanking the people who have helped me with my business in the past quarter. I use the money to buy them gift certificates of various kinds and write a handwritten message with each reward. They always enjoy receiving the gifts and it’s another way to encourage them to send you even more referrals. (Note: I also do this for the people who I employ.)

5) Stay Top of Mind. This final element is important for every business owner to follow. If you want people to refer you to their friends they need to be thinking about you. To get them to think about you, you have to find ways to stay top of mind. If a client hasn’t heard from you in a couple of months it’s unlikely that they will have you at the front of their mind – they have busy enough lives to live without having to worry about you. Find ways to keep in touch. You can use a newsletter, host events, call to catch up, suggest a lunch, invite them to a party you are going to, send them information you have found valuable recently. The goal is not to sell them but just to remind them that you are there and that you value the relationship with them.

Referrals are not as scary as you might think. Get into the habit of following these five strategies and you will have new business being sent to you in no time!

Evan Carmichael
YoungEntrepreneur.com Blog Manager

See this article here: http://www.youngentrepreneur.com/blog/2007/09/12/how-to-get-more-referrals/