More great ideas from Mr. Cates about how to get your clients generating positive word of mouth on your behalf. While value and service are critical ingredients in your recipe for getting your client talking about you to others, you can go beyond these.
Pretend for a minute that you are the client of a professional you work with on a fairly regular basis. If he dropped off a bushel of apples to your office, do you think you'd likely tell a few folks? Of course you would. You'd probably share the apples with your co-workers and they'd ask you why.
If he sent you a photograph of your favorite baseball team doctored to make it look like YOU hit the winning home run, do you think you'd hang it on your office wall to show others? Are you kidding? You'd hang it in the most prominent place. Others would ask you where you got it.
If he sent you a calendar that had all YOUR important dates already written into it (birthdays of relatives, wedding anniversary, etc.), do you think you'd tell others - maybe even show others? Naturally.
If he got you incredible seats to a sporting event, or hosted a fun party at the racetrack, do you think you'd invite others to share the experience? And even if you didn't bring anyone, would you tell others later? You bet!
These are just a few creative ways to geneate word of mouth. Being creative with thank-you gifts, client appreciation events, etc. can get your clients talking about you with excitement and appreciation. And getting your clients to talk about you - in any positive manner - will stimulate referrals.
Of course, you have to be good at your core work. Assuming that, when your clients tell others about you in an upbeat way - invariably they will ask them "are you happy with your ______________(insert your profession here) or "I haven't been happy with my guy lately, would you recommend yours?"
The next time you think about sending a thank-you gift to your client, or hosting a client-appreciation or referral event, don't go the safe, mundane route. Dare to be creative. Dare to do things in a way that gets your clients talking.
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
Two More Referral Tips
TIP #1
When you ask for referrals, sometimes you get the objection "he's already working with someone." If you have a strong relationship with your client - a bit tongue in cheek - you can come back to your client with "Perhaps he's ready for an upgrade?"
TIP #2
If you'd like to start asking for referrals a bit more than you are right now, here's who to ask:
1. Clients who love you.
2. Clients who came to you through a referral (they are 2.5 times more likely to give you referrals than your clients who came through other means.)
When you ask for referrals, sometimes you get the objection "he's already working with someone." If you have a strong relationship with your client - a bit tongue in cheek - you can come back to your client with "Perhaps he's ready for an upgrade?"
TIP #2
If you'd like to start asking for referrals a bit more than you are right now, here's who to ask:
1. Clients who love you.
2. Clients who came to you through a referral (they are 2.5 times more likely to give you referrals than your clients who came through other means.)
Thursday, May 10, 2007
Two Referral Tips
Here are two great referral tips from Bill Cates, who calls himself The Referral Coach. He specializes in working with financial services industry professionals, but many of his proven methods are universal.
TIP #1 : Bill Metzger with Thrivent shared this simple idea. With his prospecting seminars, he used to average 1-2 referrals per seminar. He started saying "Don't Keep Me a Secret" at the end of his seminars and he is now averaging 7-8 referrals per seminar.
TIP #2: Would you like a fun, simple, inexpensive gift to give to your clients who give you referrals? Check out the website www.oneshare.com. You can purchase one stock of many well-known companies. For instance, if your client has children, you can even buy them one share of Disney.
TIP #1 : Bill Metzger with Thrivent shared this simple idea. With his prospecting seminars, he used to average 1-2 referrals per seminar. He started saying "Don't Keep Me a Secret" at the end of his seminars and he is now averaging 7-8 referrals per seminar.
TIP #2: Would you like a fun, simple, inexpensive gift to give to your clients who give you referrals? Check out the website www.oneshare.com. You can purchase one stock of many well-known companies. For instance, if your client has children, you can even buy them one share of Disney.
Free Recordings Available from the Founder of BNI
Did you ever wish you could have a weekly one-to-one with Dr. Misner? Now you can, by subscribing to the Official BNI Podcast at http://www.BNIPodcast.com.
Your free BNI Podcast subscription provides you with a weekly 5-10 minute audio message from Dr. Misner. He talks directly to BNI members, and you can provide feedback via the "comments" section of the website.
Upcoming episodes will include educational material from articles and books Misner has written, updates on activities taking place in the organization, and brief interviews with special guests, including some of my friends from the worlds of publishing and entrepreneurial education.
The free recordings can be played right from your web browser while visiting the site, downloaded manually to your computer for later listening, transferred to an audio CD or MP3 player, or downloaded automatically each time they are posted via free subscription through the iTunes Music Store or other podcast directories, such as Yahoo! Podcasts.For more information, click the "About" button at the top of the homepage at http://www.BNIPodcast.com.
Your free BNI Podcast subscription provides you with a weekly 5-10 minute audio message from Dr. Misner. He talks directly to BNI members, and you can provide feedback via the "comments" section of the website.
Upcoming episodes will include educational material from articles and books Misner has written, updates on activities taking place in the organization, and brief interviews with special guests, including some of my friends from the worlds of publishing and entrepreneurial education.
The free recordings can be played right from your web browser while visiting the site, downloaded manually to your computer for later listening, transferred to an audio CD or MP3 player, or downloaded automatically each time they are posted via free subscription through the iTunes Music Store or other podcast directories, such as Yahoo! Podcasts.For more information, click the "About" button at the top of the homepage at http://www.BNIPodcast.com.
Chapter Production Report April 2007
Congratulations to the Metro East chapter and the Mid America Partners chapter, ranked #1 and #2 respectively out of 76 chapters for production in the month of April.
Each month we calculate and rank from your chapter VP reports the following numbers:
1) New members
2) Visitors
3) Referrals
4) Referrals per Member
5) Percentage of Referrals Converted
6) Attendance Percentage
We also track Show Me the Money and provide other statistics you might find useful, but the six listed above are the ones we use to calculate the rankings.
The top 25 also includes the following chapters and their rankings:
#5) Belleville (which ranked #1 overall with 328 referrals for the month)
#8) St. Clair County (tops in our 27-chapter region in Closed Sales at more than $660,000)
#12) Madison Central (which ranked #1 overall with 2.7 referrals per member)
#15) Edwardsville (which ranked #6 overall with 141 referrals)
#16) Leaders Council (which ranked #6 overall in Closed Sales with more than $292,000)
#17) Glen Ed (which ranked #7 overall with 94 MOM's)
#22) Business Builders Central (which ranked #2 overall with 27 visitors)
May stands to be an even better month, so keep up the great work! The complete 12-page chapter production report is available for download here or at the BNI website.
Each month we calculate and rank from your chapter VP reports the following numbers:
1) New members
2) Visitors
3) Referrals
4) Referrals per Member
5) Percentage of Referrals Converted
6) Attendance Percentage
We also track Show Me the Money and provide other statistics you might find useful, but the six listed above are the ones we use to calculate the rankings.
The top 25 also includes the following chapters and their rankings:
#5) Belleville (which ranked #1 overall with 328 referrals for the month)
#8) St. Clair County (tops in our 27-chapter region in Closed Sales at more than $660,000)
#12) Madison Central (which ranked #1 overall with 2.7 referrals per member)
#15) Edwardsville (which ranked #6 overall with 141 referrals)
#16) Leaders Council (which ranked #6 overall in Closed Sales with more than $292,000)
#17) Glen Ed (which ranked #7 overall with 94 MOM's)
#22) Business Builders Central (which ranked #2 overall with 27 visitors)
May stands to be an even better month, so keep up the great work! The complete 12-page chapter production report is available for download here or at the BNI website.
Sunday, May 6, 2007
Edwardsville Meeting Stimulant
When Edwardsville chapter president Christy Lexow decided it was time to liven up her BNI meeting, she put her thinking cap on and came up with a great idea.
Every member was to show up wearing a hat that helped explain their business, and incorporate the hat into their infomercial. Just in case someone forgot, a small supply of random hats was available to pick from. The rule of the day was "no hat, no infomercial." Included below are some photos from the day's event.
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David Rinaldi's hat is made up of old phone boxes, and then he attached phone chargers to make it look like hair. He sells Verizon wireless services and earned extra points for playing along even though he wasn't an official member yet!
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Mark Wiemers forgot his hat and used the available Viking crown to make a point about his videography services.
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Amy Bruhn represented the Lexow Financial Group with a birds nest hat that had eggs and money on top of it.
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Danielle Brown wore a blue and silver cornucopia hat to remind everyone that her technology company services Apple computers.
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"Best in Show" went to Sid Crane, and appraiser whose hat reminded everyone of who his best clients were.
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The Edwardsville chapter, in one their finest moments.
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