1 Conversations with Target Markets

Assume you have identified your target market.  This is not always easy but if you can do this you have no excuse for not having conversations with it!  Conversations with target markets are vital, if you are not going to waste time developing products or services no-one needs.

This post is about opportunities for such conversations but first let’s recall why they are important: your target market always has a better idea what it needs than you do.

That seems clear-cut.  Disagree by all means but if you think you know better, there’s no harm in checking out your ideas with your target market.

However, people don’t always know what they need.  Possibly, they know what they want.  This is why you need conversations.  Conversations enable ideas to develop; when this happens you have a potential customer in front of you.

In-Person Conversations

With a local market, you have many opportunities for in-person conversations.  If not, you will still be able to meet some people potentially interested in your business.

If you review my posts about testimonials, you will see recorded interviews are a good way to get testimonials; to discover what your clients might value from you in the future.

You can just as easily interview potential customers as you can actual customers.  If you find people who want to support you and are part of your potential market, you can ask them what they need.

So, how do you find people for your conversations?  Any referral marketing approach helps.  Ask contacts if they can think of anyone who might be in your market and willing to meet you for a conversation.

Online Conversations

You can hold face-to-face conversations online using Skype, Google Hangouts or other similar means.  Other possibilities include conversations:

There are no guarantees these will work but they are all worth a try.

If you have an email list, the chances are the people on it are interested in what you are doing and so it is worth asking if they would like to make contact for a conversation.

Seed Product Launches

These are usually online but could be done as a local event.  This is a general outline of the approach.

You decide on a product you want to develop.  This is likely to appeal to your target market.  Let it be known you are planning to develop the product and are looking for people to help you.

You charge a modest amount to those who are taking part.  This cements their commitment to several meetings with you.

You present your ideas at online or in-person meetings and receive feedback.  The aim to engage the group in developing the product.

Once  you have finished the product, give a copy to each member of the group and then you are free to sell the product, most likely at a higher price than the price you charged the seed launch group.  The seed launch group experience both working with you and the finished product and so their fee is well worth it!

Developing a product this way means it is more likely to meet the needs of your target market than a product developed in isolation.  You still do most of the work but guided by the insights of a group of people who will value the finished product.  They may also be pleased to recommend the finished product to their contacts.

There are many more ways you can find opportunities to hold conversations with a view to shaping your products or services to meet your target market’s needs.  Have you any favourite approaches?

0 My First Keynote Talk

Here is the first ten minutes of my first keynote talk!  The rest of it has not been written yet and altogether it will last about 40 minutes, with options to do some group exercises.  This excerpt comes in just under 10 minutes.

I’m not going to explain what has gone into it but I would be interested to hear your reactions.  I have to watch it a few times and spot my mistakes as a part of my public speaking course.  So any feedback would be really helpful.

The rest of the talk will cover the four cornerstones of local marketing.  I shall illustrate them using a worked example.  Then there can be opportunities for the audience to work on their own business in the light of the content.  The final section will be a call to action, an opportunity to sign up for my community marketing conversation.

Comments

Comments on either the content or the structure and delivery of the talk would be really helpful.

Please note I occasionally walk off-camera to address the audience.  I mostly forgot about the camera!

See if you can spot the main sections of the talk.  These include the initial hook, how I establish my authority and then set up the main section of the talk.

My first ever presentation of the full keynote talk will be on 21 June, in a couple of weeks time.

1 In-Person Marketing: Public Speaking

Public Speaking is a valuable local marketing tool.  This post focuses on speaking itself and the next is about how to organise public speaking as a marketing activity.

My main advice is practice speaking and listen to others speak.  You can learn a lot by listening, even to poor speakers.  You need opportunities to find your voice and become confident in your ability to hold your audience’s attention.  Despite what people say about audiences with the attention span of a gnat, the truth is a good speaker can capture and hold their attention for long periods.

One important aspect of any compelling public speech is the use of stories.  If possible you should have a keynote or origin story, which is a story about you.  Its aim is to build rapport with your audience.  I won’t dwell on this here but refer you to earlier posts about the use of story.

Rhetoric is the process of speaking in public and involves several skills you need to bring together.  It isn’t easy but it is easier than it sounds!

Arguing

You may on occasion share a platform with someone with a message to some degree opposed to yours.  However, when you are the sole speaker you still need to hone your arguing skills.

Your argument is the strategy you use to engage your audience and keep them with you.  It may include telling a few stories and illustrating the point you want to make.  The argument should culminate in a call to action.  This means those persuaded by your speech can follow-up by taking some action.

The awareness ladder is one way you can structure your argument, starting where your audience is and carrying them forward to the point where they are ready respond.  There are of course other ways of structuring an argument.

Proving

Proving something may be part of your argument.  It can be central to your argument or else it may be a minor element.

For proof you need to marshal hard evidence and soft evidence as well as ensuring your narrative makes sense and actually proves what you claim it proves.

I recently attended a debate about the European referendum.  The Brexiter made two mistakes; despite being the most engaging speaker, his account did not stack up.  He claimed the European Union plans to create a single European state, which is not the subject of the referendum and then he went on to show that as 28 countries would have to vote in favour of such a state, it is almost impossible.  First, the chances are the UK would not support such a change as many pro-Europeans would not be in favour of it.  This is not the subject of the referendum, the pro-European speaker actually said he would not support a European state if that was the question for a referendum!  His second mistake was his proof (if we assume each state is 50% likely to join, the chances of agreement is one half raised to the power of 28) actually favours the “remain in Europe” argument.  After all, if a European State were on the agenda it is very unlikely to get the support it needs.  We can stay in Europe confident that we won’t be somehow turned into a single state.

So, make sure your proof proves what you claim it proves because if it doesn’t, it will favour the other side.

Inventing

The speaker at the European debate had invented what to him was a compelling argument.  He was a good speaker, let down by his own material.

By all means be inventive.  If I were speaking in the same debate, I would argue against the holding of a referendum at all!  I don’t believe the referendums, organised in recent years, have been democratic.  They are divisive and narrow down the debate to a binary decision that in no way mirrors political reality.

If I developed that argument, solely my own as I haven’t seen or read anything like it elsewhere (such arguments are beginning to appear, eg Irvine Welsh), I am confident I’d hold my audience’s attention.  I know this because I broached the topic in a two-minute speech recently and the response was positive, people wanted to hear more (which does not mean they agree with me).

Your invention can be in the argument you choose, the way you structure it and the stories you use to support it.

Memorising

Memorising relevant passages can be effective.  The chances of you stumbling means the audience will be with you and cheer you on.

However, that is not the main meaning of this point.  Memorising means getting away from your notes.  You remember the flow of your argument and put it into your own words.

This is impressive albeit difficult to do.  Especially in a long talk, it is easy to get off the point or forget the order of the argument.

But memorising frees your eyes to make contact with your audience, so that you can gauge how the talk is going down.

Delivery

And this brings us to how you deliver your message.  How you stand, what you wear, your tone of voice and the words you use to communicate.

This is an enormous topic and the value of training in public speaking is you receive feedback about how you are coming across and what you can do to improve it.

Figures of speech

Finally, figures of speech are what is normally understood as rhetoric although a small part of what you do when you deliver a speech.

They often involve some form of repetition.  If you can vary the rhythm of your speech and include memorable turns of phrase, it will impress people.  You can’t rely on these techniques alone because on their own they don’t add up to an effective speech.  However, they can be used to spice up a speech and are effective when used to support the other elements in your rhetoric.

This is a fairly standard list of the elements of rhetoric.  What do you find to be the most important consideration when you are speaking to market something?

0 How to Manage Multiple Offers

There is no rule about whether you make single or multiple offers.  If you walk into a shop, you expect multiple offers.  There may be a few shops that sell only one thing but I can’t think of any examples.  A shop that sells only cupcakes, will have many varieties of cupcake and it may be academic whether some lines are really cupcakes.  (Giant cupcakes are cakes, surely?)

It’s hard to make a single offer with no variations or alternatives.  Getting it out there may be all you need to find inspiration for variations.

Let’s say you’re a training agency and you have offered a course successfully for several years.  Demand has stayed constant and whilst the course itself has evolved, there has been no need to develop an alternative.

You find your profit margins fall, even though participation in the course remains constant.  You have increased fees but fear further increases might reduce sales.  Here are few things you might consider.

Context

Are there ways to extend and develop the course that were not available to you at the start?  Your context will have changed over the years in at least two ways:

Making Choices Between Multiple Offers

If you have the choice between offering one course or several, it is worth considering how you market your offers.

If you offer one course, the customer has two options, take it or leave it.  Offer two courses, perhaps at different prices, and the customer is more likely to choose one.

You might have several courses on offer but if you’re able to discuss the customer’s needs, you may be able to narrow down your offer to two options.

Note this cuts across the single versus multiple offers and shows how you can structure your offers to market them.  Having just one offer means people can say no (they can always say no of course) whilst several options can be confusing.  Narrowing the choice to between two offers, makes a yes more likely because it reduces confusion and tailors the offer to the customer’s needs.

So, the answer to the question: single or multiple offers?  Have several but try to simplify the choice for customers.  To do this you need several alternatives from which you can select two offers for each customer according to their needs.

How do you structure your offers?

0 What Does Transformation Mean for Your Market?

The word transformation appears in marketing literature from time to time.  In some respects it is an exciting word.  Surely transformation is what we’re all after?

But in other respects transformation is hardly an undiluted good.  The word does not imply a change for the better but just change of any sort.  I’m sure a prince transformed into a frog would not view transformation as good!

I’ve used the word several times in this blog and here are some of the meanings I have attributed to it.  Transformation as:

• Conversatio Morum – St Benedict’s principle of the person’s responsibility to achieve their full potential.
• Roberto Unger‘s small initiatives that foreshadow wider social change
• Where your origin story recounts a major change in your life’s direction
• Change to the economic system, perhaps to a national localised economy model

It is interesting to note how little these four uses of the word have in common.  I’ve used the word to mean both personal and societal change.  However, I have used the word to mean positive change consistently.

Transformation in Marketing

I think this is consistent with the way marketing literature uses the word.  It usually means (and this is another use) the change that will take place in the life of a customer should they accept your offer.  You are saying in effect that by buying your offer, they will find some aspect of their life experience will change for the better.

It seems unlikely anyone would buy anything they did not believe would change their life for the better.  But this is the point of the distinction marketers make between features and benefits.  When you buy anything, it comes with a promise of positive change.  If you can’t express that change or promise to deliver it, then you are unlikely to sell anything.

No-one in their right mind wants a website, for example.  Many people think they do because they have not considered what they want it for.  This is why successful website designers sell the benefits of having a website.  Someone who believes they want a website will pay the smallest amount they can get away with.  If they have no understanding of what it can do for them, they will not value it highly enough to pay a higher rate for a product that effectively supported their business.

Where the designer promises transformation, they increase the value of their offer.  It means more work for the designer but what they can charge can exceed the value of their extra work.

If you can’t grasp the transformation and express it in language your market understands then you will find your work will never make the financial returns commensurate with its value.

Can you think of times transformation has worked for your business?

2 In-Person Marketing: Sales Conversations

I find sales conversations the hardest part of doing business.  For most of my life, I’ve been sceptical about business.  I believed grants to be ethically superior to business.

I’m not entirely opposed to grants but sceptical about the grant-making industry; what grants can achieve and a project’s sustainability when supported by grants.

Many of the values of community I’ve supported during my working life can be found in business networks.  However, if you enter those networks you are sooner or later going to have sales conversations.

How do You Know it is a Sales Conversation?

Not all business conversations are sales conversations and it is important you know what type of conversation you are having.  Your partner in the conversation also needs to know.

The aim of a one-to-one conversation is not to make a sale.  It is to find out about the other person’s business.  If you are going to help another business it is important you understand their offer and their market.

Sometimes a one-to-one turns into a sales conversation.  I don’t necessarily recommend you try this.  It is better if the initiative comes from the other person.  A question like, “Do you know anyone who might be interested in my offer?” can occasionally result in interest from the person opposite.  This is not necessarily as helpful as a list of possible contacts!

It may at this point be a good idea to adjourn and meet again for the sales conversation.

On Not Being Slimy

Everyone fears the hard sell and most people have built-in slime detectors and will run a mile.  Even more problematic is if they detect hidden slime.  It is amazing how a conversation slips away when people detect hidden sales intentions.  I sometimes have to check back over what I said because people are incredibly sensitive and back off at a hint of sales.

The hard sell is out and the sneaky sell is also out.  So, what’s left?  First, sit down and listen to the other person.  In a sales conversation, the prospect must do the talking.  You ask a few questions and let them talk.

At some stage, assuming you can help, you can ask if they would like to hear how you can help them.

On Not Being Understood

This is a real problem.  Prospects often have a fixed idea of the solution they need.  Sometimes they don’t even know what the problem is.  I’m often approached for a website.  The sales conversation is crucial because prospects do not always need a website.

I don’t sell websites.  I sell local marketing solutions and sometimes they include a website.

If you’re ill, you don’t go to your doctor and demand an antibiotic.  You expect to take time to explain your symptoms and be examined by the doctor.  Usually, you’re relieved there is a cure and happy to do whatever it takes.  You might think you need an antibiotic and you may be right but usually you accept the doctor’s solution.

With your business, the chances are you know more about it than your marketing consultant.  Nevertheless, it is always better to take the opportunity to talk through your problem and discuss possible solutions with the consultant.  That way you can be sure your chosen solution is the right one for your business.

I had a prospect a few months ago who turned me down.  The other day I saw the offer of a website from a competitor they had accepted.  Their new designer is charging a little less than I did and is reproducing their current site with slightly better graphics.

Their solution is in flat html and is actually not an improvement on what they had before.  I failed to get across to them that (1) solutions like this are a waste of money and time, and (2) far more powerful solutions are available than many website designers are offering.

Their new designer has an advantage in that they are selling something simple and easy to understand.  Unfortunately it is the solution they want and not the solution they need.

On Not Saying No

One thing to bear in mind is many prospects do not understand they have two options; yes and no.  Both options are acceptable.  There are many advantages to someone saying no:

What can happen is the cold shoulder.  The prospect goes silent.  I suspect many people say yes to get out of the room and mean no.

I’m sure this is something I’m doing wrong and I share it here because I suspect it is a problem many business people encounter.  The solution?  I’m still working on it but I think it includes at an early stage reassuring your prospect and explaining the advantages of saying no, without making it so attractive that no-one ever says yes!

Closing the Deal

When someone says yes, depending on what is on offer, there are several steps to turning it into a deal.  Leaving aside those who say yes but mean no, there is another group who change their mind.

Clearly, there may be an advantage in having a cooling off period, particularly if you offer a consultancy service.  A programme of work with someone who is full of doubts is unlikely to work to anyone’s advantage.

However, there is something called buyers’ remorse and this often kicks in when you make an expensive purchase.  You will have experienced it.  If there are several days between yes and sealing the deal, it is possible for buyers’ remorse to set in before the payment.

Understand buyers’ remorse is independent of the advantages of sealing the deal.  It is a natural emotional response.  I’ve suggested some ways to counter buyer’s remorse and so I won’t go through that again – especially as I don’t know as yet whether any will work!

A lot depends on your belief in what you sell.  You need to be positive and on the ball.  I can remember times when I simply didn’t think of the right thing to say until afterwards, when it was too late.  The point is a lot of this is down to experience and whilst there are plenty of ideas around, nothing replaces experience.

Please share any approaches you have tried to sales conversations.  Did they work?

0 Market Position

Your market position forms your approach to marketing.  There are four basic positions: Leader, Challenger, Niche and Follower.  Most small or local businesses are likely to be Niche or Follower.  However, there may be some Leaders or Challengers.

Leaders

The market leader in any market is usually seen to be the business that provides the highest quality products in the greatest number.  They seek to maintain their market position and their reputation.

Someone approaching a leader can be confident they are dealing with an established business and if something goes wrong it has the capacity to put it right.  Leaders are the safe option and likely to be expensive.

They are likely to offer a standard product or service.  If they turn over a lot of customers, the chances are they offer a “one size fits all” approach.

Challenger

These businesses are the closest competitors to Leaders and seek a share in their markets.  The Challenger will try to produce either a higher quality product or service or else they will seek to undercut the Leader in price.

To get to where they want to be, the Challenger will compete with smaller businesses so they can get their customers and build a market share to challenge the Leader.

For many years Apple was the Challenger to Microsoft.  I’m not sure which of these is the current Leader but how did Apple challenge Microsoft?  They used design.  Their computers were well-designed both in their appearance and their operating system.  As Microsoft became bogged down with a system that under-performed, Apple thrived on learning from Microsoft and designing a robust system from the start.  A third element to their success was identifying the type of device that appealed to people, their customers appreciated their latest models as trendy.

Microsoft found itself embedded with traditional users who couldn’t afford to change systems and people like me who simply use what they know, despite its limitations.

Niche

The niche market position is open to smaller businesses.  It identifies a market too small to attract other businesses’ attention.  They offer a high quality product or service specifically tailored to that market.

Their main marketing point is they know their market and so provide excellent service.  When someone in their market encounters their marketing pitch, they know it is for them.

Because they are providing a bespoke service, tailored to their customer’s needs, these businesses can be expensive.

Followers

These are the pile it high, sell it cheap school of marketing.  The idea is to copy the Leader but at low quality so that costs can be kept low.  This can be a borderline dishonest approach and so it is important to keep an eye on reputation.

Whilst some people may stand back through fear of purchasing something substandard, most people will buy because they can afford to take a loss if it turns out to be substandard.

The problem with this approach is that it lacks a creative approach to business, seeking to emulate the success of others.  Are there any circumstances where it can work?

I suppose some people use this approach to generate capital quickly so they can build a niche business.

It may be worth checking from time to time, which of these positions your business occupies.  Given most small local businesses will be niche, this model is helpful not so much for self-diagnosis as helping us understand the market position of other businesses.

Have you experience of working in a market Leader or Challenger?  How does it differ from working in a Niche market?

0 How Referendums Threaten Democracy

Thriving local economies are a guarantee of democracy.  When there is enough money in circulation to enable people to participate in the economy, they can fully participate in politics.  Gimmicks that mimic democratic participation but limit the terms of debate are becoming more popular.  Governments may seem to be taking decisive action but gimmicks mask political accidie, spiritual and practical sloth.

The three referendums held in the UK since 2010 is evidence of our democratic deficit.  None more so than the current European referendum.

The purpose of business is not solely personal wealth but common good. A few months ago I reviewed Christian Felber’s book, Change Everything that describes a new international movement to build an economy for the common good.  Another Europe is Possible is a campaign for a united Europe around a radical alternative economic model.  These two resources show there are radical narratives, real alternatives to the European Referendum debate.  What follows is solely my view and not endorsed by these or any other campaigns.

The Alternative Vote

The first referendum of our brave new democratic era was the Alternative Vote referendum in 2011.  Unlike its predecessor, the 1975 European Referendum, this committed the government to a course of action, should the vote have gone in favour of change.  The earlier referendum was  consultative.  This change applies to all three recent referendums.

I’ve never been impressed by referendums.  If it is consultative, why hold it?  If not, why do we elect Members of Parliament, if not to debate the detail of these issues?  I prefer to vote for politicians with a programme.  I may not agree with every detail of their programme but it is important to have politicians who can be trusted to promote a programme.

The vote went against AV.  Observe what happened.  Whenever anyone raises proportional representation, they tell us we’ve already had our referendum on that topic.  This neatly glosses over the fact that AV is not a form of proportional representation.

There was no consensus about the options on offer in this referendum and just like all referendums, the government interprets the results.

The Scottish Referendum

This referendum did not offer an option favoured by most Scots.  They voted for the status quo and then at the General Election overwhelmingly voted for the pro-devolution SNP.

It seems the majority wanted to stay in the union but on some different basis.  What basis?  We don’t know because no-one has tried to find out.  This is the attitude of politicians who are not prepared to put in the spadework, to find out what people want before calling a referendum.

Felber’s model of three pillar democracy, suggests that it would have been better to hold a constitutional convention and then a referendum on the results.  Such a convention could cover the whole UK, considering not only Scotland’s governance but the other countries’ too.  Somehow England has been fobbed off with the Northern Powerhouse and is still not going to get its own national assembly.  (I’ve no idea whether this is what people want but they haven’t been asked and so how am I or anyone else supposed to know?)

Such a convention could look at all aspects of governance including proportional representation.  It would also have the big advantage of uniting the Union.  It always seemed odd they allowed Scotland a vote to introduce more democratic governance and the rest of us have never had the opportunity.

The European Referendum 2016

The same observation applies to the European Referendum.  Why not a Europe-wide convention followed by a Europe-wide referendum?  Look at what we have now:

The Brexit campaign seems to feature no two supporters who have the same model for what happens after a vote in their favour.  They have been so fixated on getting out, they have no plans for what happens when they do.  This is the Wile E Coyote approach to politics.  This character never looks where he’s going and periodically runs over the edge of a cliff, hangs in the air with his legs running, looks down and then falls.

If these so-called politicians are successful, the poverty of their vision will become apparent after the referendum.

Meanwhile we have the Remain campaign.  Is it any better?  The Prime Minister visited the leaders of European Governments and extracted a few concessions from them.  This was hardly a people’s convention!  Whether we like it or not, if we vote to remain, they will tell us we voted for the Prime Minister’s fix.  For those who vote remain because it is a marginally better option than the other, this is galling.

Loss of Sovereignty

The fact is this referendum does not have any bearing on the role of giant corporations, drawing finance out of national economies.  The idea that voting leave will make the corporations go away is ludicrous.  Neither will voting to remain.

If this debate is about national sovereignty, why most politicians ignore the last thirty years have seen an ongoing campaign to hand over sovereignty to unelected corporate elites?  This is not going to stop if we leave the EU or indeed if we stay.

I do not see how a decision between two options neither of which will make any difference to anything that matters, can be described in any way, shape or form as democratic.  Voting to remain perhaps keeps the door ajar for real change but Another Europe is going to face a long hard road, with the prevailing political consensus across Europe.  The same consensus will prevail if we leave although it is even harder to see how the UK alone will tackle loss of sovereignty to corporate power, more effectively than united European people.

Political Accidie

This unnecessary, divisive and reckless referendum was called to resolve party political issues by a party not prepared to do the spadework to find out what the people want.  They don’t want to do it, the opposition don’t want to do it and it seems other European leaders don’t want to do it.

Accidie is spiritual and mental sloth.  It means our politicians simply do not care about our future.  They do not trust the people and so three times in the last six years have offered us false choices.  The last two times, they batted back the politicians’ proposals as simply unacceptable.  Maybe this time the same will happen, which is better than joining Wile E Coyote at the foot of the cliff, I suppose.

The thing that worries me most is: what happens in the event of a victory for the leave campaign?  The chances are the politicians leading the Brexit campaign will lead the UK government.  They have shown a poverty of vision only comparable to their bombast when they claim to be radical.  These are not radicals.  They have no plan and no vision beyond an idealised image of Britain.  They can see there are problems in Europe and have leapt to a solution without understanding the problem.  If they want to be taken seriously as politicians, they should lead us – that’s what we elected them to do.

And the opposition?  It seems their internal divisions make them terrified to find out what the people want.  A broken and divided government requires an opposition with vision.  Would that we had one.  Since 2010, not one politician has come up with a programme that unites their party and appeals to a majority in the country.

Scenarios – No Thanks!

Hypothetically, what would happen if the vote went to leave and then at the next election (which could be sooner than we think) the opposition were to win?  Now we have a party in power, overwhelmingly in favour of remaining in Europe and mandated by referendum to leave.  What then?

Not possible?  It happened after the Scottish referendum.  OK if you think that’s far-fetched: what if the vote at the referendum is very close?  If that happens, it is possible for most politicians to find their constituents voted the opposite way!  A few huge majorities one way and lots of small majorities the other.  When the vote goes to parliament, do you vote with your constituents or the overall majority?

I do hope someone somewhere is thinking through these scenarios.  It is deeply troubling the government does not appear to have done so.

It is outrageous we are in a place where we have to decide between two sides of a political party who do not have one viable idea between them.  The one thing we can depend upon is the corporate élite will take advantage from either outcome.  The politicians will continue as they are, helpless in the path of the corporate juggernaut.

I can’t be the only person thinking along these lines.  What do you think?

5 In-Person Marketing: Referral Marketing

Last Wednesday, I wrote about networking and how to arrange one-to-one meetings with relevant people.  These meetings are opportunities for referral marketing and that is my topic today.

What is a one-to-one meeting?

Usually, you arrange a one-to-one to get to know someone who you have not met before.  You want to tell them about your business or cause and usually they will want to tell you about theirs.

So, here are some common reasons for a one-to-one:

Referral Marketing Reaches Further than the People in the Room

Referral marketing happens when you meet to exchange information about your businesses.  It is where you learn about someone else’s business because you might have contacts you can refer to them.  Similarly they learn about your business and may have contacts they can refer to you.

Realistically, your one-to-one is the start of a relationship and this is why a lot of referral marketing takes place in the context of a business breakfast or lunch.  This means participants can build relationships over time.  It can take a while for people to understand your business and who your market is likely to be.

It is easy to forget they need to know both what you offer and who it is for.

Don’t assume the other person understands referral marketing.  One common problem is people look only at the people in the room.  They do not consider the possibility that people in the room know many other people.  They very likely do know people who would be interested in your offer; it’s just that sometimes it takes a while for the penny to drop.

If they do refer you to someone, do not forget to ask for credentials.  Can you mention who referred you to them?  Sometimes they will arrange an introduction for you.

Making Referrals

If you are part of a group of people committed to referral marketing, you will find when you have sales conversations, sometimes it is right to refer the prospect onto another business.  It is as if in one conversation the prospect is talking to several businesses.

It is always helpful to make a good referral.  The prospect will be grateful, assuming it is a good referral, and so will the person to whom you make the referral.

Remember that whilst they are not likely to be a prospect, you can ask them if they know anyone who is.  Occasionally, you may find someone interested in your offer, at which point you can arrange another meeting or switch into your marketing conversation.

I never turn down an offer of a one-to-one because I know this is the way I can spread the word about my business as well as maybe find another business to which I can make referrals.  I am often turned down by businesses when I ask for a one-to-one.  There are lots of reasons why this happens.  It is common that they look at what I am doing and decide my business is not compatible with theirs.  Several times I have been turned down by people who initially say yes.  Usually, I have something in mind that might benefit them.  If I don’t share it, normally it will be because the conversation take us to a new place and I think of something even better.  This is what referral marketers do, they link people to useful contacts.

Use E-Mail to Follow Up

One thing I have started to do is a follow-up email.  This allows me to

Very few people are this organised, I find.  But I want to take this aspect of my work seriously because to me it is a developmental role.  It is very hard work, finding prospects and the more people who are looking out for your business, the easier it becomes.  It also takes time.  You need to work out how to market your offer.  Understanding what people need to know to find prospects for you takes time to work out.

Have you examples of times when referral marketing has worked for you?  What practices have you found effective?

1 Using Urgency to Your Client’s Advantage

Urgency is closely related to scarcity.  Urgency implies lack of time and in my last post I wrote about being honest about scarcity, of any type.  It is legitimate for things, including time, to be scarce so long as you’re honest and upfront about the reasons.

Once they are convinced of the value of your offer, get the prospect to act as soon as possible.  There is a state of mind, we’ve all experienced it, called “buyer’s remorse” that sets in soon after someone makes a substantial purchase.  You don’t want buyer’s remorse to set in before someone makes a purchase because then they won’t do it.

Hang on, you may be thinking: isn’t it better to allow people time to think it through?  After all, if it is not beneficial, surely it is better they don’t make the purchase in the first place.  There is some truth in this and there may be some value in allowing a short cooling-off period.  But 24 hours should be more than enough.

The problem really sets in where there is a third-party involved in a decision, maybe a management committee.  Your prospect is to be your advocate with them.  Asking your prospect to stay enthusiastic over maybe a couple of weeks and then to sell your offer to a management committee is a big ask!

Advantages to the Prospect

Let’s start by asking why making a quick decision benefits the prospect.  Usually there are plenty of reasons the vendor would prefer a quick sale; slow sales are more work and likely to result in disappointment.  But why does it benefit the prospect?  Let’s assume objectively the offer will benefit the prospect.

How to Accelerate Decision-Making

Stay in Touch

A final word to prospects.  You can change your mind.  If you do, the thing to do is contact the vendor and tell them!  The worst thing small businesses encounter is the warm prospect who goes silent.  Most businesses want to keep communication open, a definite no allows communication to continue.  The cold shoulder does not help that to happen.

Moving things along from a “yes” to payment can be one of the hardest tasks facing any business.  How do you approach this critical stage in your sales funnel?