How and When to Ask for Business...

This is a little different with every business but if you're a personal services business starting out with new connections, this is how I suggest you do it.

First, after you’ve developed a genuine connection with another person, and you have defined your business to where they understand the benefits to them, then you need an opportunity to ask them business questions. Ask them for a "business meeting" or "a time to meet and discuss business". This acknowledges to both parties that you are meeting to "help each other" specifically in business and opens the door for you to discuss, ask questions, determine problems, probe the problems and the successes of your friends business.

This is the same thing as asking them for their business. You're asking them for an opportunity to observe their needs. THEN, you can interpret if you can help or maybe you can direct them to someone who CAN help them. They also may not have a way for you to help them, but they may know someone else who who has been looking for what you provide.

Know someone that needs to hear this information, please pass this along. If you need assistance getting leads, prospects, and clients cost effectively, please contact me:

Your confidentiality will not be compromised.

Measuring Marketing Programs

Taking a break from generating referrals blog, will be back. I feel a need to address measuring marketing...

It's important that you measure your marketing programs. First identify your KPI (Key Performance Indicators). Then you can develop a plan for getting as close to objective as possible in measuring your programs.

How you measure will differ based on the industry and the product. There are a lot of marketers that suggest that you should not measure marketing with sales, but I don't care what industry you are in, marketing and sales are at least indirectly related and should be measured similarly. Marketing is generating leads, prospects, and clients. Sales, is a part of marketing, or you might categorize marketing under sales depending on logistics, but they are related, and should work together. At minimum, there should be a way to measure the ease of sales with a good marketing program.

Traditional marketing methods are getting more diluted by sheer numbers and competition from other ads. They're getting ignored more by unwilling and uninterested customers. People are used to businesses telling others about how good they are. Why not build some marketing programs to make it easier and more EXCITING for someone ELSE to spread the word. When you begin "paying" your refers they become what Seth Godin calls a "sneezer". You want to stay away from this as much as possible. I'm not saying you shouldn't give incentives. But, are they more interested in the value of your company or the value of the monetary incentive? Focus on the first, and diminish the second as much as possible. There are LOTS of ways to do this and should be explored more as the ROI for marketing grows smaller.

Know someone that needs to hear this information, please pass this along. If you need assistance getting leads, prospects, and clients cost effectively, please contact me:

Your confidentiality will not be compromised.

How to Define Your Business to Generate Referrals

Define your business: benefits, not features. Solutions, not tools. Example, in this era, production is not where the value is. Production can be outsourced. Ideas and solutions are where the real benefit is. You provide ideas that produce results. The production is a marginal part of the equation. The idea and the focus is what gives value to your clients. So, provide benefits in the form of a solution or idea.

For example, James Smith is an accountant. When his new friend, Bob, asks James what he does for a living, James does not say, “I’m an accountant”. This is a very “loose” benefit but what makes it a bad definition is it is a tool, not a solution. More specifics are needed. If James is a tax accountant that works with businesses, James’ defining his business should sound more like this, “I provide tax relief for business customers” or “I work to give companies the greatest tax return possible”. This is something that Bob can immediately relate to and understand the value behind what James does. Solutions and benefits. If you provide a product, it gets a little more tricky, but the idea is the same. For instance, you don’t “sell a new board game for kids under 12”, instead, you "provide a board game that allows young kids to use math equations while having fun”. This provides a solution for people to grasp and love about the product. This is a product that has benefits and a great idea to go with it.

Once you have had an opportunity to define the business, then you must look at when and how to ask for business. This will be explained in the next blog.

Know someone that needs to hear this information, please pass this along. If you need assistance getting leads, prospects, and clients cost effectively, please contact me:

Your confidentiality will not be compromised.

Networking: How to Get Referrals

Networking is about mutually beneficial relationships. If you plan to register at a Chamber of Commerce organization or any other organization for "networking" and go to two events and hand out a business card or two and expect to get business, you're going to be disappointed. You could even go for years and not get the contacts you need. You need relationships of value, people who know you and trust you. This is going to start with the people who know you or know your parents. This is not multi-level marketing, this is real life. Outside of this, you need to be ready for opportunities, make a good and strong first impression, and find a reason for a second meeting. The truth of the matter is, people sell to who they like.

You might wonder, what is the fine line between being a "walking sales pitch" and a friend? How do you distinguish the two? But, if you ask that question, you are missing the point. The point is, you are a friend and you give. Take notice if they give back. One way to gauge if the person that you're talking with understands the concept of mutually benefitting one another [you could also call it, others-oriented] is to ask them how they are doing or another general question. Do they answer the question and return the question to you or do they sit and stare and expect you to do all the asking? You know the people I'm talking about. This is a strong sign that this person doesn't understand the first thing about being a friend. This person is a "ministry" and not a beneficial relationship. Ministry is serving others without expecting a return. This is a good thing but goes in a different category. If you want business any time soon it's probably going to be better to find people who believe in mutually benefitting relationships. In some cases, you may need to try harder to gain friendship, but if a person can't carry a simple give and take conversation, then you need to consider this one a ministry. Move on to those that actually care about getting to know you. Some of you may turn me off for saying that, but it's the truth. I'm not saying be phony or rude, but I am saying, don't waste your time looking for something where you aren't going to get it.

So, you can join an organization if you would like. But, if you don't harness the organization to gain relationships and build credibility and trust, then you are wasting your time.

If you have trouble meeting people, then, you are going to continue not having business. From my experience and study of excellent networkers, the majority of networking is learned. But, the main part is: give. Give a lot. When you meet someone, how can you give to them. Then, and only then, will you get something of real value in return. The second thing is appreciation. Do you appreciate others? For example, do you remember people's names or information that they tell you when you meet them? Work on these for effective networking. Make them a priority.

The next blog will be about how to define your business. Because, when you get to a mutually beneficial relationships status, you need to be ready to communicate this well when the opportunity comes.

Know someone that needs to hear this information, please pass this along. If you need assistance getting leads, prospects, and clients cost effectively, please contact me:

Your confidentiality will not be compromised.