The Referral Engine

THEREFERRAL ENGINE

Teaching Your BusinessTo Market Itself by John Jantsch

THE REALITIES OF REFERRAL

#1 People make referrals because they need to

• we rate and refer as a form of survival• we refer to connect with other people• we refer to build our own form of social currency

THE REALITIES OF REFERRAL

#2 All business involves risk

When we make a referral, we are putting the trust we have established with the recipient on loan to the person or company being referred

THE REALITIES OF REFERRAL

#3 nobody talks about boring businesses

“If the marketplace isn’t talking about you, there’s a reason. The reason is that you’re boring. And you’re probably boring on purpose. You have boring pricing because that’s safer. You have boring products because that’s what the market wants..”

- Seth Godin

THE REALITIES OF REFERRAL

#4 consistency builds trust

Repetition, consistency, and authenticity build trust and are the foundational tools of the referral trade.

THE REALITIES OF REFERRAL

#5 marketing is a system

Referral generation is a set of processes within the overall marketing system.

DEFINITIONOFMARKETING

“Marketing is used to identify the customer, satisfy the customer, and keep the customer”

know like trust

Digital interactivity is now at the center of marketing.

4PSVS.4CS

The age of the 4 Ps of marketing – calling for businesses to create products, test out pricing models, and place and promote them – has given way to the age of the customer.

In the age of the customer, the 4 Cs are the keys to business success: Content, Context, Connection, Community

4PSVS.4CS

CONTENT

Authentic content that educates or is otherwise seen as valuable to the consumer is the new currency of marketing.

4PSVS.4CS

CONTEXT

Creating products that do less but do it elegantly. Narrowing our ideal customer focus. Condensing advice from reams of relevant data into snack-size digests.

4PSVS.4CS

CONNECTION

The more connected we become through technology, the more we long for real connections involving live human interactions.By using technology to allow prospects to connect when and where they choose, they allow people to connect more deeply when and where they choose.

4PSVS.4CS

COMMUNITY

In the wired world, community is free to form around shared ideas, common interests, and strategic relationships unbound by distance.

THE FUNNELIS BROKEN

“When it comes to lead and referral generation, customer experience is the new black”

THEMARKETINGHOURGLASS

•Who and how•Ads•ReferralsKnow•Web site/blog•Reception•NewsletterLike•Search•Expert content•Sales presentationTrust•Webinar•Evaluation•NurturingTry•Service team•New customer kit•Finance/deliveryBuy•Post project survey•Cross selling•Quarterly eventsRepeat•Results reviews•Partner intros•Peer2peer eventsRefer

THEMARKETINGHOURGLASS

Filling the gaps – product and process questions

•Who and how•Ads•ReferralsKnow•Web site/blog•Reception•NewsletterLike•Search•Expert content•Sales presentationTrust•Webinar•Evaluation•NurturingTry•Service team•New customer kit•Finance/deliveryBuy•Post project survey•Cross selling•Quarterly eventsRepeat•Results reviews•Partner intros•Peer2peer eventsRefer

THE REFERRALENGINESYSTEM • Authentic strategy

• Content that builds trust• Content that educates• Customer community• Partner community• Execution• Follow up

AUTHENTICSTRATEGY

• Ideal customer• Core talkable difference• Supporting elements• Culture to match• Expectation

CUSTOMERINTERVIEWS

• Why did you choose us?• Why did you stay with us?• Why do you refer us?• What do we do that is unique?• What would you Google?

CONTENTTHAT BUILDSTRUST

• Educational• Social Media• SEO• Reviews• Testimonials

CONTENTTHATEDUCATES

• White papers• Webinars• FAQs• Success stories• Perfect intro

CUSTOMERCOMMUNITY

• Champions• Education• Offers• Tools• Community

PARTNERCOMMUNITY

• Frame of mind• Identify• Recruit• Activate• Platform

EXECUTION

• Collection• Results review• Moments of truth

FOLLOW UP

• A lead, now what?• Customers• Partners• Measure

IF YOU DECIDE TO FORGET EVERYTHING

please remember these 6 things

RECAP

Your strategy action plan

Create a business strategy with the vibrancy to energize your staff, attract more of your ideal customers, deepen customer engagement, and solidify your own commitment to a business that feeds your sense of purpose.

1

RECAP

Your content action plan

Think in terms of being found instead of finding. Create a total web presence for your business and then create spokes, online and off-line, that lead people to your hub.

2

RECAP

Your convergence action plan

Effective convergence relies on the creation of a primary hub of content, generally your company web site, combined with spokes of content that open up pathways of awareness into every corner or your prospect’s world – both online and off-line.

3

RECAP

Your direct customer network plan

Your marketing, sales, content, and service must all converge in a systematic fashion to move your customers through the lifecycle (know, like, trust, try, buy, repeat, and refer)

4

RECAP

Your indirect partner network plan

A group of business owners who share your description of an ideal customer. A happy customer might know three or four ideal referrals, but a large, indirect network partner may have the trust of several hundred.

5

RECAP

Your ready-to-receive action plan

How could referring your business make your client’s life better? That’s the proper way to think about referrals. Do that, and you will never be afraid to ask a client again.

6

Thank you!

Question and feedback?send me an e-mail at

hans@zerocontent.nlor find me on twitter at @jcvangent

Read more from me athttp://jcvangent.me/