Power Word of Mouth Marketing Leveraging Your Referral Generating Ability
Power Word of Mouth Marketing Leveraging Your Referral Generating Ability
Now, if you are a program chair for a service club or other organization that meets regularly and schedules speakers for each meeting, I apologize for disparaging the meals served at these functions. But, that is how the speakers who frequent your programs have come to know the ballgame.
Many business people realize the immense networking value joining and participating in service clubs lends to their credibility in the community. What they don’t think of, often, is how many referrals actually being the speaker at these various meetings can generate.
When you schedule an appointment with someone you think might be interested in what you are selling, that hour is important! Imagine setting that same ONE HOUR appointment with between 20-50 business people in your community! That is, in effect, what you are doing when you go out on the rubber chicken circuit! This is why we refer to this technique as Power Word-of-Mouth Marketing.
How do you as an entrepreneur get on their calendars? It isn’t as hard as you might think. With a little creativity, you can put together a presentation that will be informational, educational and even entertaining for these groups. Usually program chairs are scrambling to find someone different, engaging and interesting to have come on in and present to the group. Your job is to help them find YOU!
Here is a sample letter I used to send to program chairs when I was in business consulting. You will see that I was offering much more than a one-hour sales pitch for my service:
Dear Program Chair:
AIM Consulting is a management consulting firm that works with small and medium size businesses. During the last two years, we have given a presentation entitled “Entrepreneuring in the 80’s” to over 60 service organizations such as yours. The presentation deals with managing and motivating employees. It involves participation and interaction with the audience and leaves time for questions at the end. Here are some of the comments we’ve received:
“Fantastic, every service club must hear!”
East LA Rotary
“One of our best…Ivan kept everyone excited.”
Alhambra Optimist
“An excellent talk by an excellent speaker.”
Irwindale Rotary
“Excellent, highly recommended, got a lot of questions.”
Hermosa Kiwanis
If you are interested in this topic, we would be glad to visit your club to give this presentation.
Please feel free to contact us is you have any questions.
Sincerely,
Ivan R. Misner
President
Just one acceptance to this letter can position you in front of multiple business people who might be in the market for just your product or service! Once you have the opportunity to make these types of connections, you never know where they will lead. Often business generated this way leads to a lot of spin-off word-of-mouth business.
Let me give you an example of how a business owner might position him/herself to be a speaker at an organization’s weekly meeting. Take the case of a handyman. He owns his own business; in many cases, he IS his own business! You might wonder how a handyman could appeal to a program chair who is looking for someone to speak to his or her group. The topic of home safety is a very timely message. Who better than a handyman to fashion a presentation on home safety and give viable tips on things to do around the house to be sure that the home environment is free from hidden (and not so hidden) dangers.
Of course, the members present at that meeting might have a need to correct some of the things the handyman is bringing up. Who do you think they are going to contact for that? Bingo! That week’s speaker is just the person for the job.
Another great networking result is spin-off business from being a speaker at a local organization’s meeting. Spin-off business is like so much icing on the cake. Once you begin networking with the members of the organization, you will be met with an open door for referrals from them. Make sure you ASK for those referrals.
The key is to go in with information and education…not a huge sales pitch. People don’t like being sold to, but they do like to buy! A great presentation can motivate your audience to want to buy what it is you have for sale. But, not only that, a great presentation can also position you favorably for extended networking with the members and their contacts.
Next time you think of rubber chicken, think - leverage, think – word-of-mouth marketing, think - business!!
Called the father of modern networking, Dr. Ivan Misner is a New York Times bestselling author and Founder of BNI (www.bni.com), the world’s largest business networking organization. His latest book, Truth or Delusion can be viewed at www.TruthorDelusion.com. Dr. Misner is also the Sr. Partner for the Referral Institute, an international referral training company (www.referralinstitute.com). He can be reached at misner@bni.com .
Power Word of Mouth Marketing Leveraging Your Referral Generating Ability - To learn more about this author, visit Ivan R. Misner's Website.
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There’s a lot of talk going around these days about leveraging…leveraging your time, your money, your ability. How does leveraging apply to word-of-mouth marketing? I can think of one very specific way to exponentially increase the ability to generate referrals for your business with “one hit.” This method is sometimes known as the “rubber chicken circuit.”
Now, if you are a program chair for a service club or other organization that meets regularly and schedules speakers for each meeting, I apologize for disparaging the meals served at these functions. But, that is how the speakers who frequent your programs have come to know the ballgame.
Many business people realize the immense networking value joining and participating in service clubs lends to their credibility in the community. What they don’t think of, often, is how many referrals actually being the speaker at these various meetings can generate.
When you schedule an appointment with someone you think might be interested in what you are selling, that hour is important! Imagine setting that same ONE HOUR appointment with between 20-50 business people in your community! That is, in effect, what you are doing when you go out on the rubber chicken circuit! This is why we refer to this technique as Power Word-of-Mouth Marketing.
How do you as an entrepreneur get on their calendars? It isn’t as hard as you might think. With a little creativity, you can put together a presentation that will be informational, educational and even entertaining for these groups. Usually program chairs are scrambling to find someone different, engaging and interesting to have come on in and present to the group. Your job is to help them find YOU!
Here is a sample letter I used to send to program chairs when I was in business consulting. You will see that I was offering much more than a one-hour sales pitch for my service:
Dear Program Chair:
AIM Consulting is a management consulting firm that works with small and medium size businesses. During the last two years, we have given a presentation entitled “Entrepreneuring in the 80’s” to over 60 service organizations such as yours. The presentation deals with managing and motivating employees. It involves participation and interaction with the audience and leaves time for questions at the end. Here are some of the comments we’ve received:
“Fantastic, every service club must hear!”
East LA Rotary
“One of our best…Ivan kept everyone excited.”
Alhambra Optimist
“An excellent talk by an excellent speaker.”
Irwindale Rotary
“Excellent, highly recommended, got a lot of questions.”
Hermosa Kiwanis
If you are interested in this topic, we would be glad to visit your club to give this presentation.
Please feel free to contact us is you have any questions.
Sincerely,
Ivan R. Misner
President
Just one acceptance to this letter can position you in front of multiple business people who might be in the market for just your product or service! Once you have the opportunity to make these types of connections, you never know where they will lead. Often business generated this way leads to a lot of spin-off word-of-mouth business.
Let me give you an example of how a business owner might position him/herself to be a speaker at an organization’s weekly meeting. Take the case of a handyman. He owns his own business; in many cases, he IS his own business! You might wonder how a handyman could appeal to a program chair who is looking for someone to speak to his or her group. The topic of home safety is a very timely message. Who better than a handyman to fashion a presentation on home safety and give viable tips on things to do around the house to be sure that the home environment is free from hidden (and not so hidden) dangers.
Of course, the members present at that meeting might have a need to correct some of the things the handyman is bringing up. Who do you think they are going to contact for that? Bingo! That week’s speaker is just the person for the job.
Another great networking result is spin-off business from being a speaker at a local organization’s meeting. Spin-off business is like so much icing on the cake. Once you begin networking with the members of the organization, you will be met with an open door for referrals from them. Make sure you ASK for those referrals.
The key is to go in with information and education…not a huge sales pitch. People don’t like being sold to, but they do like to buy! A great presentation can motivate your audience to want to buy what it is you have for sale. But, not only that, a great presentation can also position you favorably for extended networking with the members and their contacts.
Next time you think of rubber chicken, think - leverage, think – word-of-mouth marketing, think - business!!
Called the father of modern networking, Dr. Ivan Misner is a New York Times bestselling author and Founder of BNI (www.bni.com), the world’s largest business networking organization. His latest book, Truth or Delusion can be viewed at www.TruthorDelusion.com. Dr. Misner is also the Sr. Partner for the Referral Institute, an international referral training company (www.referralinstitute.com). He can be reached at misner@bni.com .
Power Word of Mouth Marketing Leveraging Your Referral Generating Ability - To learn more about this author, visit Ivan R. Misner's Website.
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Joe DagerJoe Dager is President of Business901, a progressive coaching company providing no-nonsense direction in areas such as Lean Six Sigma Marketing and organized referral marketing. What others say: In the past 20 years, Joe and I have collaborated on many difficult issues. Joe’s ability to combine his expertise with “out of the box” thinking is unsurpassed. He has always delivered quickly, cost effectively and with ingenuity. A brilliant mind that is always a pleasure to work with.” - James R. If you want to learn more about Business901, start a conversation with us. We can be found @ Web/Blog: Business901.com Web/Blog: FundingYourNonprofit.com LinkedIn Profile Follow me on Twitter - Visit Joe Dager's Website |
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John PowerJohn Power, founder of Biltmore Franchise Consulting, has extensive experience developing and marketing franchises and business opportunities. He has been in and around franchising for over twenty years. From 1980 through 1990 he conceptualized, organized, and developed the American Video Association. He grew AVA to 2,000 national members, before selling the company it 1990. It was later merged into another home video marketing company. From 2000 to 2005 he worked as a contract marketing and human resources consultant to several local and national companies. In 2005 Mr. Power began working as a franchise development consultant on a full-time basis. Since that time he has helped more than three dozen companies initiate and develop their franchising program. He notes that there are many companies interested in developing a franchise program, and who need his specialized assistance. Mr. Power is a “hands-on” franchise consultant. He said, “I am the ‘nuts and bolts’ person who tends to the details for my clients.” Mr. Power holds a B.S. degree with a major in Marketing. See: www.biltmorefranchise.com You may contact Mr. Power at: jpower@biltmorefranchise.co - Visit John Power's Website |
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George LudwigGeorge Ludwig is a recognized authority on sales strategy and peak performance psychology. An international speaker, trainer, and corporate consultant, he helps clients like Johnson & Johnson, Abbott Laboratories, Northwestern Mutual, CIGNA, and numerous others improve sales force effectiveness and performance. Though it's George's strategies and processes that help corporations increase productivity and performance, it's his tremendous energy and dynamism that spark the transformation. Again and again, clients remark on his amazing ability to unleash human capacity and inspire men and women to break out of their comfort zones. The result is a whole new type of salesperson. His customized presentations teach achievers to make stunning advances in their lives. From helping salespeople realize cherished dreams to helping corporations exponentially accelerate revenue streams, George Ludwig leaves audiences and individuals empowered, emboldened, and clamoring for more. George is the best-selling author of Power Selling: Seven Strategies for Cracking the Sales Code and Wise Moves: 60 Quick Tips to Improve Your Position in Life & Business. - Visit George Ludwig's Website |
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Kim CastleWith nearly two decades in the advertising and design business, with clients like Domino's Pizza, General Motors, Direct TV, Pedigree, Wolfgang Puck, Higher Octave Music, Hollywood Celebrity Products, Disney, and Paramount, as well as thousands of entrepreneurs around the world define, structure, communicate, and position their business for greater profits, BrandU(R) co-creators Kim Castle and W. Vito Montone discovered that entrepreneurs could experience the same power that big brands command for a fraction of the cost with the world's only process-based results-drive Integral approach to business creation. BrandU(R) is helping entrepreneurs grow with the power of extreme clarity from idea...to brand...to market(TM) and helping one million entrepreneurs become successful and whole so that they can make a difference in the world. Are you one of them? If you want to experience clarity all the way to the bank(TM), get started now at http://www.brandu.com. - Visit Kim Castle's Website |
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Dave KurlanDave Kurlan is the founder and CEO of Objective Management Group, Inc., the industry leader in sales assessments and sales force evaluations, and the CEO of David Kurlan & Associates, Inc., a consulting firm specializing in sales force development. Dave has been a top rated speaker at Inc. Magazine's Conference on Growing the Company, the Sales & Marketing Management Conference and the Gazelles Sales & Marketing Summit. He has been featured on radio and TV, including World Business Review with General Norman Schwarzkopf, in Inc. Magazine, Selling Power Magazine, Sales & Marketing Management Magazine and Incentive Magazine. He is the author of Mindless Selling and Baseline Selling – How to Become a Sales Superstar by Using What You Already Know about the Game of Baseball. He created and wrote STAR, a proprietary recruiting process for hiring great salespeople, and he writes Understanding the Sales Force, a popular business Blog and is a contributing author to The Death of 20th Century Selling and 101 Great Ways to Improve Your Life, Volume 2. - Visit Dave Kurlan's Website |
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Linda RichardsonLinda Richardson is the Founder and Executive Chairwoman of Richardson, a global sales training and performance improvement company. As a recognized leader in the industry, she has won the coveted Stevie Award for Lifetime Achievement in Sales Excellence and she was identified by Training Industry, Inc. as one of the “Top 20 Most Influential Training Professionals.” Ms. Richardson is credited with the movement to Consultative Selling and is the author of ten books on selling and sales management, including Sales Coaching — Making the Great Leap from Sales Manager to Sales Coach, and Stop Telling, Start Selling. She teaches sales and management at the Wharton Graduate School of the University of Pennsylvania and the Wharton Executive Development Center. Linda is a frequent speaker at industry and client conferences, has been published extensively in industry and training journals, and has been featured in numerous publications, including The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Nation’s Business, Selling Power, Success, and The Conference Board Magazine. Learn more about Richardson's sales training and performance improvement solutions at http://www.richardson.com web - Visit Linda Richardson's Website |
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Jeff FosterWebBizIdeas.com is a Minneapolis website design company founded to help people start an internet business by providing them with website, business, and internet resources that help foster the growth of successful online businesses and develop innovative Internet business ideas. We specialize in internet consulting & internet marketing. - Visit Jeff Foster's Website |
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Stephanie RobeyStephanie Robey is President and CoFounder of Pivot Positive, LLC - an Internet marketing business focused on helping people start work at home ventures. Previously, she was employed at The Search Agency with over 20 years experience in graphic design and 10 years experience in online marketing. She was responsible for launching the Conversion Path Optimization (CPO) unit where she and her team have conducted hundreds of optimization tests for online companies across multiple verticals. She is a successful entrepreneur having started and sold 2 companies and remains on the board of directors of the third, PhotoSpin.com Stephanie began her career in the direct marketing realm creating and producing direct mail for many of the major cable television companies and directly attributes her understanding of Internet marketing to those early offline experiences. Stephanie is a graduate of San Diego State University with a BFA in Graphic Arts and also holds an Executive MBA from the Graziadio School of Business and Management at Pepperdine University. Read Steph's Blog Meet Steph and Dave Sign up for our Free 7-Day BootCamp: Self Employed & Rich - Visit Stephanie Robey's Website |
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