Business Networking and Referral Marketing

Over the past 22 years of being self employed, my mindset has changed towards how to gain new business. I used to think that just throw more money at adverting, and undoubtedly, something will happen. Now, I think there is a much better way. You see, getting a customer is one link in a long chain you have to build to claim they are a customer of yours.

For several years, I worked as a director along side a company who based their whole thought set around what goes around, comes around. To understand how people make a decision of what supplier to use, you firstly have to understand why your customers use you. If you are the best company, with the best product or service, and give the best customer service and back up, they will tell others. Getting people to refer you is worth its weight in gold.

Business by referral is the most cost affective ways to market any business, and all you have to do is make a good job of looking after your existing customers. I remember one business I owned, we had a product that we had a problem with, and I had to replace the product four times for the customer. I thought to myself that this customer must think we are useless, but to my amazement, the customer wrote to thank me for all the trouble we had gone to, to keep her informed at every opportunity. You see it’s not what you do; it’s how you do it. Do you know, that customer passed so much business our way it was unbelievable, telling every one, we could be trusted and not to use any of our competitors, ‘you can’t buy that kind of advertising’.

When people talk about networking as a thing you should do to drive your business forward into the face of others, just ask yourself this question. How many people can you speak to in a month? I guarantee that it’s not as many as all of your customers put together. So how can you accelerate the process, well, here is a quick way and it will only cost you the price of the coffee.

Business breakfasts, I believe are one of the greatest business tools ever thought of, along with the very clever idea of a relaxed networking coffee club. The ABC is a business referral networking organisation, set-up with one thing in mind; finding more business for its members. How we do this is to give people a structured but relaxed networking environment to network in. The success we’ve had in our home town is unbelievable; check out all the facts on my website. Just a note here though the success wasn’t down to us, it was down to the success those who visited had, and they told their customers and friends.

So remember to invite your customers to join in your networking, whether you are there or not.

Mark

www.abcadvantage.biz