Dec 09 2013

Build Your Referral Base NOW!

Published by under "Here & Now" Focus,Advertising,Attitude,Best Practices,BRANDING,Business Growth,Calendar,Change,Communication,Customer Service (CRM),Direct Mail,Entrepreneurship,Family Business,Happiness,INTERNET Marketing,Leadership,Lifestyle,Listening,Management,Marketing,Media,Motivation,People Management,Personal Growth,Problems=Opportunities,Productivity,Professional Practices,Public Relations,Reality,Relationships,Reputation,Small Business,Social Media,Strategies,Tactics,Trust

“Huh? Now? But it’s the holidays!”

                                                                              

“Well, Merry Christmas to you! But

                                                                         

after quality family time, remember

                                                                            

1st quarter 2014 is just hours away.”

 

Why “NOW!”? Just click here: take a quick look at this to see what’s happening this very split second —as you read this— and you’ll realize that delaying this task is simply not in your best interest.

Getting others to refer you/your business is more than a survival tactic, it’s the key to 2014 success. No sales are more important right now than those to the friends, families, associates and online connections of your existing customers, clients, and patients. Because 2014 is bringing increased competitive activity to the surface. And it cannot be sidestepped.

The harder the times, the fiercer the battle! And the easiest, most economical path to increased sales and customer/ client/ patient repeat-sales-and-visits loyalty is a strengthened referral base. Economical? You decide. It costs nothing to delight those who purchase from you.

Cease and desist all marketing? No. But don’t expand it. Instead, consider shifting gears from reliance on expensive media, to fine-tuning attitudes and cultivating a much more pronounced reputation for integrity than you probably imagined being necessary. 

THIS post will get you started with

a business or practice volume boost

agenda that you will never get from

a business or medicine world insider

~~~~~~~

“Referral Marketing” is NOT (Note: car dealerships!) flooding rented mailing lists with dumb direct mail solicitations (like “Bring this key to our car store to see if you win” while our salespeople swarm all over you . . .). Oh, and DOCTORS: Bringing popcorn, candy and subs to referring physician offices is equally dumb. It may get some Ooohs and Ahhhs from other doctors’ staffs, but effective FREE marketing, done professionally, is what will bring increased patient referrals to your door!   

Here’s what it’s really all about: marketing is both external (websites, signage, traditional and social media, direct mail and email, promotions, advertising, merchandising items, PR events and news releases), and internal.

Internal (which is free) combined with news releases and most PR events (which are free) is the most effective marketing. I refer to it as “Quiet” marketing. It includes such things as the appearance of your and your staff’s personal selves –neat, clean clothes, scrubbed look– as well as your office, vehicles, and waiting areas . . . plus the manner in which communications are conducted . . . on paper, online, in person, and on the phone.

This means active listening 80% of the time — backed by clear simple speech, using examples and diagrams, soliciting questions and feedback, and applying this attentiveness to not just patients and customers, patient and customer families, your own staff, and associates — but to others as well.

Internal Marketing includes your entire inner ring of contacts. For doctors, it includes other doctors, nurses, your professional advisors (lawyers, accountants, consultants), as well as pharmacists, insurance providers, suppliers, detail reps, and –guess what?– your office cleaning and delivery people too!

BUSINESS OWNERS need to apply this thinking to every person and organization your business does business with, from paper and cleaning supply providers to snowplow and landscaping services, and every single delivery person!

WHY? Because they are ALL prospective customers and referrers

Quiet marketing also includes paying careful attention to the frequency and quality of communications with those in your networking resource and referral systems, and to your SELF. Why? Because Quiet marketing success at any level has most of all to do with how you conduct and represent yourself to others!

This translates to how you walk, talk, sit, stand, listen, touch, gesture, and treat everyone around you every day. These actions add up to the statement you make about who you really are, and why you are trustworthy of the confidences and care of others.

Remember: It’s all about every blink you blink!

Someone is watching your every move and noting

your every word, and . . . Perceptions are facts!

# # #

FREE blog subscription Posts RSS Feed

Hal@Businessworks.US

Open Minds Open Doors

   Make today a GREAT day for someone!

  God Bless You and MERRY CHRISTMAS!

No responses yet

Apr 17 2011

Set Your Assets On Fire!

Published by under "Here & Now" Focus,Attitude,Best Practices,BRANDING,Business Growth,Business Life,Change,Choosing Behavior,Communication,Community Support,Contacts/Networking,Corporate Management,Creative Thinking,Customer Service (CRM),Decision Making,Entrepreneurship,Experience,Family Business,Goals,Innovation,Leadership,Management,Marketing,Motivation,Objectives,Observations,People Management,Personal Growth,Productivity,Professional Practices,Reality,Relationships,Sales Process,Small Business

Before you throw all your

                                     

  tech stuff on the BBQ . . .

                                                                                                    

 

Recognize, first and foremost, that your greatest assets are your people. If you’re a one-man-band, maybe “your people” are a loving spouse, partner, children or parents who assist you, or a reliable friend or two who consistently refer(s) others to you . . . or a hotbed of talented interns.

If you’re the owner of a small to medium-size business, perhaps “your people” are account or department or office or branch managers.

The point is that I am NOT suggesting you run around torching these folks, or even giving any of them a baseball-dugout-style “hotfoot.”  I AM suggesting that you ask yourself (and answer) the following questions:

                                                                              

Can you readily identify and easily separate your internal and external customers?

What percentage of each day are you actively marketing to each group?

In other words:

  • How much and how often are you (externally) marketing your people?

  • How much and how often are you (internally) marketing TO your people?

  • How much and how often are you (internally AND externally) marketing THROUGH your people?

                                                                               

Do you think the meaning of Customer Service is to have a Customer Service person or department?

  • If each and every one of your internal customers know how to relate to and respond to external customers, why would you have to pay someone or a group to perform this function?

  • Ideally, anyone in your organization whom I might reach by phone or meet in-person should be able to handle my customer service needs.

                                                                  

Your marketing people or your own marketing sense tell(s) you how to motivate external customers. You surely have a strong idea of what sells and what doesn’t sell them on your product(s) and/or service(s). Do you have a sense of confidence about the best ways to motivate internal customers?

Do you apply Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs?

                                                     

If you try (or have tried to) apply Maslow’s Hierarchy, are you (or have you) doing (done) it from a position of strength — by first being a detective to understand individual “hot spots”? Has this approach helped you to realize that the best internal customer rewards are not (in spite of all popular beliefs) not always cash, raises, and bonuses?

As a leader who is heavily invested in growing the loyalty, respect, and receptivity of both internal and external customers, are you making a conscious effort to breed entrepreneurial thinking accompanied by reasonable risk-taking behaviors? Or are you breeding investment in the status quo?

Are you fostering and nurturing innovation. Do your people come to you with just ideas, or do they fully exploit the ideas they propose with well thought out paths for implementation that include all possible operational, financial and marketing applications? Do you get a thorough and complete picture instead of just a quick sketch? 

Having great people behind you is great for your ego. Having great people behind you who are inspired and highly motivated, who deliver comprehensive plans of attack, is great for your business.

Which is more important? 

 

Posts RSS Feed FREE Blog Subscription

# # #

                                               

302.933.0116 or Hal@BusinessWorks.US

Thanks for visiting. Go for your goals! God Bless You.

“The price of freedom is eternal vigilance!” [Thomas Jefferson]

Make today a GREAT day for someone!

One response so far




Search

Tag Cloud