| Hey – I am just as guilty as the next person for not doing the things that have worked in the past. The old saying about pointing the finger – but remember that there are 3 fingers pointing back at you is always true.
PROBLEM:
- Your incoming business referrals are down – perhaps dead.
- Your income has dropped – significantly?
- The cost of online advertising has also been increasing at a steady rate for the last 5+ years in your business vertical, and the algorithms are being manipulated.
- The number of referral groups that worked to some degree in your area has also decreased and not returned to what it was before Covid – and that is assuming you were participating in some in an ongoing basis before it was all shut down.
In order to increase referrals and sales from current business relationships, as well as your friends and acquaintances, you need to take action with some old fashioned proven marketing methods that have worked for years. I don’t know why, but we tend to stop doing the things that work, and the longer we do that, we also forget about them.
It’s time we were reacquainted with them so we can kick-start our business referrals, and start building our businesses back to what they were a few years ago.
EASY SOLUTIONS: Communication is the KEY.
There are 2 ways to increase your leads and sales with online methods, and at least 3 offline methods, that target your current business relationships.
ONLINE METHODS:
Email Marketing and Newsletters – MUST DO – The cheapest, easiest, and sometimes the most effective thing you can do.
Stay in contact with your current contacts – your clients, business acquaintances, and friends through the sending out of a twice a month newsletter. The content should be varied. Don’t always push your current offerings, but always try to provide a new or proven business strategy that will help your client’s increase their business sales, or improve their life in some way, and don’t be afraid to ask for referrals in the email. Keep the content interesting and exciting. Even providing a joke or a humorous story is good. The goal is to not flood them with newsletters – that’s why twice a month is the maximum I would suggest – but to be there when the timing is right because you stay top of mind each month, and to provide them with updates about your products and services.
Social Marketing and Review Sites – Optional
With all the social platforms online, how do you know which to focus on? It’s actually fairly easy and if done right, can pay off in large dividends.
Use Facebook, NextDoor, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, and others that you find work for you.
Take a spreadsheet and build out a list of 45 to 90 messages. Only make 1 out of 8 or 10 a call to action for your services. Make the messages interesting tidbits of information about your industry or company’s offerings that would be perceived as useful. You can easily manually drip these out every few days, or you can use a service like HootSuite or others, so that they are drip fed onto the platforms automatically every day or so. Then you can easily recycle them about every 3 months.
You can also purchase branding ads on these platforms, targeting potential audiences that might have an interest in your offerings, but the cost can be high, and your results will be manipulated by them – so be cautious.
In order to make the most out of social platforms, you need to stay connected and involved on a daily basis to keep it personal. Just automating only, will not usually produce the results you are wanting. But something is better than nothing.
OFFLINE METHODS:
Phone Calls and/or Drop Ins – MUST DO
When was the last time you called all your clients or dropped in on them, letting them know you still care about their business by spending 15 minutes with them every 2-3 months. This can go a very long way to encouraging your current relationships to stay connected, not have clients leaving you regularly, and – again – staying top of mind a lot of the time.
Mailed Cards of Appreciation – MUST DO
Who mails anything today – right? But this old time method still works wonders. Think about this for a second. When you get a card in the mail, aren’t you impressed that someone actually took the time to do it? … And aren’t you even more impressed when there is a “real” handwritten message on the card?
Christmas Gifts and Cards – MUST DO
It’s slowly creeping up on us – the Holiday season, and nothing keeps you top of mind more than sending an end of the year gift, discount card, thank you card, or Christmas card saying that you appreciate their trust in doing business with you, and the personal relationship you have with them. It’s even more impressive when you take the time to deliver these things in person during the month of December, when things tend to slow down and you always have the time to do it.
Even if all you can afford is a thank you and/or Christmas card …. Just Do It.
I really hope this quick refresher on some very basic, and proven methods produce for you these next few months, and upcoming year. |
