Marketing 16: Referrals – How to Get Referrals and How to Get MORE Referrals

Posted | 4 comments

Referral Marketing.

I am a HUGE believer that IF your clients LOVE your work and LOVE you, they WILL refer you clients IF you THANK THEM and show you APPRECIATE the efforts.

I have multifaceted “system” I use. This video will show it to you! I do NOT spend a DIME in advertising but I pour a lot of marketing dollars BACK INTO MY CLIENTS. They are my marketing army! Some of them as are as deadly as Navy Seals for Team George!

It is NOT your clients job to remember to send you referrals – YOU need to be reminding them. The best way to do that is to stay in touch with then consistently through relationship marketing (aka sending a newsletter).

Most people THINK referrals “just happen” and you would be sadly mistaken! It happens by a choreographed effort.

My Referral System Revolves around using cheap marketing tools to help!

  1. Sending Thank You Cards with generous gift for referrals
  2. Sending a SECOND Thank You Card with images from the session
  3. Posting a PUBLIC Thank You in my newsletter
  4. Asking EVERY caller HOW they heard about me and sending a Thank You Card (See #1) immediately
  5. Asking for the name of referral when the client fills out the customer information with a “We like to send Thank You Gifts”

Watch Video: Watch Video

Make Sending a Thank You Card & Gift EASY!!!!!!!!

If you aren’t doing it for EVERY CLIENT, start doing it!

Test Drive the System: Send Yourself a Free Card (I’ll pay for it too!)
Username: georgesgift
password: georgesgift

Ready to JOIN Send Out Card? Sign Up Here

CLICK ON THUMBNAILS:

Brownies & Other Gifts

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Stop It Already – Start Sending Your Clients a Newsletter!

Download Free Sample at PhotographyNewsletter.com

IDEAS ARE GREAT BUT….

Ideas are great. Information is great. Motivation powerful. But right now, you need something more to build YOUR business where they want it. You need something designed for you to use, a “power tool” you can apply right now, without delay, without a steep learning curve, to attract more repeat business from your clients and referrals! THAT’s what Photography Newsletter delivers for you! You can become a member for as low as $35 a month (if paid by the year) and then you can send a newsletter written by professional writers (whom I pay several hundred bucks a month PLUS a proofreader) to every one of your clients. There is no excuse. You can either email it or mail it. Your choice. Use this low-cost “power marketing” tool and see the results.

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4 Comments

  1. Dena
    May 3, 2010

    Ok, I have another question for you. I see the steps that you take to thank a client when they actually send a referral to you. I see the reward the client gets for this action on your behalf.
    However, the step I’m missing is what you tell the client or what you give to the client after the session to actually get them in motion to refer you, beyond just giving them business cards with their kids’ image on it. I’ve given people gift certificates to give to friends, tried the senior’s image on the business cards, etc., but I haven’t seen any referrals from this.
    I would think you’d have to plant some seeds somewhere in that clients’ mind to actually ACT (which is the hardest part of the whole referral process, to me).
    Also, do you give the NEW client an incentive to come to you from the previous client?
    Just trying to see the steps that lead to someone actually referring a friend to you.  I would certainly see someone continually refer people to you if they see the thank yous and the gifts, but it’s getting them to get that first person to call and book with you is where I’m missing the point. Thanks!

  2. George
    May 10, 2010

    @Dena:

    Business cards with their kids image. That’s what I give them. PLUS a wonderful experience and amazing portraits. I don’t discount or handout discounts. Shouldn’t the experience and portraits be enough reason to show them off to their friends? If its not happening, the discount won’t help – in fact, I think it hurts. Focus MORE on the client experience AND creating pieces of ART. MAYBE, give the client a FREE session certificate to return during this calendar year AND one FREE session to give to the first person who drools over the wall portraits. MAYBE.

    Dena, STOP THE FINANCIAL INCENTIVE mentality. The INCENTIVE is to KEEP UP WITH THE JONESES. If they come to you because of a discount, they will LEAVE you because of a discounts. Discounts to NEW clients is not a GREAT idea in MY opinion.

    You have to use ALL the pieces of the puzzle! Not one piece alone works well.

    I need to do another training on referrals.

    George

  3. Arved Grass
    July 1, 2010

    Dena - by offering your client’s friends discounts, you are telling your clients they overpaid. Is that really the message you want to give your clients? Go back and listen and read why George doesn’t discount.

  4. Dena
    July 12, 2010

    Arved,
    George does give discounts, but not what you are thinking (I am assuming you are talking about % off products).  I would NEVER give a percentage discount off my products. But like George I DO sometimes give out small gift certificates to encourage people to come in.  Check out George’s lesson on Tic Tac Toe sheets. He gives $200 gift certificates and no session fees to 8 of his senior models best friends, to get them in the door, anticipating they will spend much much more with him.  Those ARE new clients, and are being referred by current clients (the senior models).
    Dena

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