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The Right Way to Ask for Referrals

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When I left the car dealership, my sales guy had put a little stack of his business cards in the glove compartment.

“You’re going to get attention in this car, and when you do, I’d love it if you’d share my card.”

My shiny Z3 convertible has now been replaced by a minivan, but the lesson stuck with me. (And I did end up handing out a few of those cards.)

That salesman had fulfilled my car dreams, and in my moment of euphoria, made it easy for me to share the love.

Are you doing that with your customers?

Some people are afraid to make the “ask,” thinking that it might harm their relationship or might feel weird.

I don’t know about you, but I LOVE sharing useful tips with my friends and colleagues. If there’s a technology I’m excited about, or a new movie, or a fantastic local restaurant, I enjoy spreading the word.

But there is a right way and a wrong way to ask for that referral. Let’s start with the “don’t go there” list.

The Wrong Way to Ask for Referrals

Asking before the customer has had a chance to use the product or service. It’s a waste of time to ask me to Tweet out your app before I’ve even finished downloading it. I value my relationships too much to blindly recommend something. (Yet this is done all the time.)

Monetizing the referrals right off the bat. If I feel a strong relationship with a brand, and they immediately try to make me an affiliate or network marketer for them, I almost feel insulted. Sometimes, tangible rewards can actually demotivate people who already like you.

Making me blast out emails to my contact list in an online form. If I want to email my friends, I’ll compose my own message, thank you very much. I don’t need to be strong-armed into giving up my friends’ email addresses.

The Right Way to Ask for Referrals

Catching me when I’m at maximum happiness, or I’ve just complimented you. This is the ideal time to ask me for a referral, for a written review, or a customer interview. Go for it!

Giving me a brief, memorable phrase to connect with you and your service. I need to fill my mental Rolodex with names attached to simple categories. If my friend is in need of a PR agency, I know I can send them to XYZ Agency. If someone is looking for a freelance business writer, I know so-and-so is the right person. What’s your category?

Considering the context and your relationship with the person you’re asking. The looser the relationship, the simpler the “ask” should be. There’s definitely a sliding scale between asking someone to forward your newsletter to a friend and asking them to give you their friend’s email address or phone number.

Being judicious with your requests. Treat your stored-up goodwill like “Whuffie” gold, and use it sparingly, when it will have the most benefit. Don’t hassle your customers constantly to write reviews and share your content.

 

Referrals can be a wonderful way to expand your business. Are you asking for them?

Author’s Bio: Rosemary O’Neill is an insightful spirit who works for Social Strata — makers of the Hoop.la community platform. Check out the Social Strata blog. You can find Rosemary on Google+ and on Twitter as @rhogroupee

 

Image via Flickr CC: Scott Cresswell

5 ways to become a referral magnet

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“I’d get more done, if only I could clone myself!”

Productivity is an elusive beast.

And if you’re a solo entrepreneur or small business owner, you’re always limited by the number of hours in the day.

Or are you?

Set yourself up as a referral magnet, and leverage those 24 hours.

 

What do I mean by “referral magnet?” I mean someone who has meaningful business relationships with people who are willing and able to refer potential customers to him/her.

Let’s break that down:

  • Meaningful business relationships = established, mutually beneficial support network of business colleagues (not friends and family, not drive-by Twitter contacts, not cold called sales leads)
  • Willing to refer = someone who has been asked if they will refer business, and has said they will do so
  • Able to refer = someone who has the knowledge of your skills and expertise in order to refer appropriate leads

It helps immensely if you are also a “referral machine,” willing to refer and connect others as well.

5 ways to become a referral magnet

  1. Put yourself out there. You can’t start building meaningful business relationships unless you’re attending conferences, joining online chats, and routinely talking to your customers (and I don’t mean by email). Just like it was in the schoolyard when you were the new kid, you have to be willing to jump into the double dutch.
  2. Establish a habit of asking for referrals. It’s not obnoxious to ask your fellow professionals, happy customers, or business partners to connect you with people who need what you offer. It’s good business practice, and yet so many are afraid of being “salesy.” It’s only “salesy” if you make it so. You’re not asking for “prospects,” you’re asking to be connected with people who are in need, so that you can help them. Simple as that.
  3. Arm your referral partners with information. They can only refer people if they know what you are offering, so come up with a crystal clear, punchy way to describe how you can help. Leave out the industry jargon, and the mission statement, and embed an easy phrase that they can associate with you. When they hear someone say “I really need to get my taxes sorted out,” they can simply say “Jane Doe does an excellent job. Want her number?”
  4. Reciprocate. It doesn’t always have to be quid pro quo, but look for opportunities to connect the right people, with no thought of “payback.” If you do this often enough, it will work magic all on its own.
  5. Say thank you. I don’t want to publicly “out” this person, but someone I referred potential business to once sent me a beautiful bottle of champagne with a note.  What a lovely way to say thanks. If someone gives you a referral, always follow up with a note, a call, or some gesture of thanks.

Have you activated a business referral network yet?

 

Featured image via Flickr CC: Jeremy Keith

Author’s Bio: Rosemary O’Neill is an insightful spirit who works for Social Strata — makers of the Hoop.la community platform. Check out the Social Strata blog. You can find Rosemary on Google+ and on Twitter as @rhogroupee

 

Do You Have an SEO Game Plan for Your Small Business?

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Miguel Salcido

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SEO and ROI

With all that small business owners have to do on a daily basis, a thorough SEO game plan can often fall by the wayside.

In fact, some business owners end up neglecting SEO altogether, leaving them with missed opportunities for traffic back to their sites and a better return on investment (ROI). Think about it, your small business could very easily be missing out on free traffic, from qualified leads, who are interested in your products and services.

As a small business owner, do you feel you have a strong SEO game plan in place, an average one or you’re simply missing the boat when it comes to SEO?

Do You Have an SEO Game Plan for Your Small Business?

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In the event you find yourself in the latter category, take some time now before you fall further behind to see how you can get on the boat and sail towards better returns.

Among the advantages for your business having a solid SEO presence include:

  • Increasing sales through qualified business leads from search engines;
  • Better Web site performance and more traffic showcasing your brand awareness;
  • Added credibility and legitimacy for your brand;
  • Tie in to specific keywords that consumers will utilize to come to your site.

In taking a look at some of the above-mentioned items, keep in mind that your goal at the end of the day is to drive traffic to your site, preferably traffic that is interested in purchasing from your business. With the right SEO game plan, you are able to gain the attention of top business prospects, increasing the chances of a sale.

Another factor to keep in mind is that you are better served putting out products and services based on the keyword search terms that led visitors to your site in the first place.

Okay, doing what was just mentioned above makes sense, right? In order to successfully do that, you need to be recording and analyzing your SEO metrics.

Make sure you are able to see via statistics where you have a competitive edge over the competition and where you need to increase your efforts. Find the keywords that rank best for you in leading traffic back to your site, stay on top of the ones that are working, and look to improve upon other terms that need a little boost.

Lastly, many small business owners are working on tight budgets to begin with, so they go back-and-forth as to whether or not they should hire someone for in-house SEO or outsource it.


Remember that the most important question to answer is discovering how many people are searching for what you sell.

If you are a tech-savvy business owner or have a tight budget, you may look to do SEO efforts on your own or contract them out. If you have more of a budget to work with, consider hiring a company that specializes in delivering SEO results to small businesses.

At the end of the day, your small business wants and needs a steady stream of referrals coming to your site with the potential to buy.

When deployed properly, SEO marketing can be a very cost-effective means by which the small business owner drives quality traffic to their site, traffic that can very well lead to a purchase.

Author’s Bio:
Author , held executive positions with large search marketing agencies over the years and now runs an SEO consulting services agency and loves fielding questions over at his organic SEO blog so feel free to reach out to him there.

Thank you, Miguel. Understanding SEO as part of social business is so important.
–ME “Liz” Strauss