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Power Word of Mouth Marketing Leveraging Your Referral Generating Ability
| Guest post by: Ivan R. Misner |
Article Overview: 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.”
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Free Download - Sorting Out Who's Who By Ivan R. Misner |
Power Word of Mouth Marketing Leveraging Your Referral Generating Ability
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 .
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About the Author: Ivan R. Misner RSS for Ivan's articles - Visit Ivan's website Dr. Ivan Misner is the Founder & Chairman of BNI, the world's largest business networking organization. BNI was founded in 1985. The organization has over 5,800 chapters throughout every populated continent of the world. Last year alone, BNI generated 6.5 million referrals resulting in $2.8 billion dollars worth of business for its members. Called the "Father of Modern Networking" by CNN and the "Networking Guru" by Entrepreneur magazine, Dr. Misner is considered one of the world's leading experts on business networking and has been a keynote speaker for major corporations and associations throughout the world. He has been featured in the L.A. Times, Wall Street Journal, and New York Times, as well as numerous TV and radio shows including CNN, CNBC, and the BBC in London. Dr. Misner is on the Board of Trustees for the University of La Verne. He is also the Founder of the BNI-Misner Foundation and was recently named "Humanitarian of the Year" by a Southern California newspaper. He is married and lives with his wife Elisabeth and their three children in Claremont, CA. In his spare time!!! he is also an amateur magician and a black belt in karate. Click here to visit Ivan's website   The Importance of Sales in Networking Power Word of Mouth Marketing Leveraging Your Referral Generating Ability Great Referrals Arent Accidents Good Customer Service Alone Doesnt Win Referrals Who Joins a Word of Mouth Marketing Group |
Related Forum Posts
Measuring Word of mouth
- [quote="jvprosperity":2l2ujat4]I couldn't find the Part 1 Doctrine on the site but I believe from reading the blog posts it had to do with the distractions entrepreneurs and their customers face daily. He may have also talked about Word of Mouth and the true way of measuring it.[/quote:2l2ujat4]
Hi Andy,
So how can one measure "Word of Mouth" marketing then?
Re: What's Up With Word Clouds?
- I would like to see Word Clouds used in conjunction with a Survey. I've been experimenting with Word Clouds within Google Docs forms using the advanced Word Cloud Widget.
Word of Mouth
- Word of Mouth marketing by its very nature takes time. You need to develop relationships before people will refer you.
Why not boost it a little by making a few partnerships? You could partner with a gym or put on seminars. Think who else targets the same people and how you can work with them and help them.
You can also write articles and become and expert in your field - put them online, write a column for a community paper on health, etc.
Even a door to door flyer drop with a simple one pager can help drive some clients.
Good luck!
Re: What are your success criteria?
- 1) Ability to provide for not only my family but their children and their children's children. I would setup education scholarships and also business venture grants to help the young kids in my family.
2) Residual income that is not dependent on my continual efforts
3) Quality time to spend growing the business as well as time to spend with family
4) Ability to create and fund an organization that empowers others to help those in need.
The whole goal is when I leave everything should be able to sustain itself and continue without my help. That to me is success.
Women Entrepreneur Tips
- Thank you LeoOliveros,
I found #4 particularly true in my case:
4. The Enterprise Must Include the Power of Power Networks.
As a conductor of your own enterprise, you can not see yourself as a one-woman-show. You must choose to utilize the power people in your life, by asking for help when you need it, and effectively delegating in order to capitalize on your strengths and that of your power network. When certain experts are not represented in your power network, you must actively seek advisors or mentors and develop a team of specialists, so the benefits are received by everyone involved in the power network - the true Power of Power Networks.
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