Just got this through from a marketing company – love it so much am going to blog it here for safe keeping. We will be using some of these tactics for the relaunch of www.yourmarketingtrainer.co.uk
20 Easy ways to get leads
There are plenty of low-cost ways to generate more leads for your business. The following 20 tactics cover some of them and include referrals, testimonials, and affiliate programmes.
1. Continue to build a relationship with clients, customers and colleagues by anticipating their needs.
If you want to create top-of-mind awareness, provide value and do it fast. Referrals love speed. The more actions you take, the more referrals and introductions will happen. Actively share information that the other person finds useful to his or her life.
2. Offer discounts for referrals.
If you can afford it, offer discounts on future purchases to those who refer your company to others. For example, offer the referring customer 10% off the next job order if they refer someone to you and that individual uses your services. Discounts are a great incentive for many to refer companies to potential clients.
3. Swap referrals.
Set up a system to swap referrals with businesses you deal with. Offer to send referrals to them and vice versa.
4. Concentrate on swapping referrals with businesses whose clients are likely to need your service or whose service your clients might need.
Establish a way of tracking the referrals you send and receive. Give leads in return. It’s one of the best ways to get referrals. Kick start the process by providing referrals to other businesses and customers. Only recommend businesses that you know will deliver a quality product or service – your reputation is at stake too!
5. Swap referrals with rivals.
Pass along jobs or contracts your company can’t handle to your competitors and ask them to do the same.
6. Remind your suppliers that you want referrals.
Ask your suppliers for referrals. Send out brochures or samples of your work to your suppliers and remind them that when your business prospers, so does theirs.
7. Host a ‘bring-a-friend’ event to get more leads.
Invite your best clients to an event at your premises (or a nearby venue), and ask each of them to bring a friend along. On the invitation, include a list of the type of clients you help which will help them to know who to choose to bring along.
8. Use your website as a referral tool.
On your website, have a ‘click here to earn cash’ button, which takes customers through to a page that explains how their referrals will earn them cash rewards.
9. Use ‘invite your friends’ or ‘send article to your friends’ buttons on your website.
Have an automated email referral system that your customers can use to email to their friends. Since the emails will be sent from your customers, they’re less likely to be regarded as spam mail.
10. Start an affiliate programme.
An online affiliate programme means you pay others a set fee for their referrals.
11. Query customers who decided not to buy from you.
Find out why potential customers passed up the opportunity to do business with you. Even if they don’t want your product or service, they may know others who will so do ask them for referrals.
12. Train all your employees about the value of referrals and how they can get them.
Offer bonuses and rewards for those who generate new ways of getting referrals. As with any behavior, you want to reinforce, reward referral-generating behavior.
13. Track referrals.
Keep track of how and from where you are getting successful customer referrals. By tracking referrals, you will know what works and what doesn’t work. Target your top performing customers, the ones who make the most referrals, and reward them lavishly. Find out why and how they make their
referrals. Use the information to increase referrals from other customers.
14. Collect testimonials from your customers and use them in your marketing materials (both offline and online).
This allows your customers to do the ‘talking’ and convincing for you and your business. When people see other people using something, it removes many of the barriers to purchase for them. They will assume the solution must be safe, must work if so many other people are using it.
15. Scepticism works well in testimonials.
One of the most powerful testimonials is the one in which the customer admits they were hesitant or sceptical before they tried your product or service, but now they are converted. This will go a long way to convincing prospects who have the same doubts or objections about trying your product or service.
16. Negative testimonials attract positive attention.
A good testimonial can begin in a negative vein (but obviously finish in a positive one) because it shows a change in attitude and highlights the sorts of doubts or fears that other potential customers might have.
17. Make sure that you give as many details as you can about the person who has given a testimonial.
It’s down to you to prove that your testimonials are real. How believable is ‘Mrs B. Of West Midlands’ compared with ‘Mary Butler of the Solihull’ right next to a head and shoulders photo of her? If possible, use your customer’s photograph, real name, company position and location with their testimonial. It adds authenticity to the testimonial.
18. The best time to ask a client for a testimonial is after you have delivered to them the first time.
Don’t wait for the relationship to settle down before asking; ask why they are still madly in love with you as a supplier.
19. Use testimonials with lots of detail.
Instead of testimonials that say ‘Wow, this is brilliant!’ use ones that explain how your product or service helped your customer.
20. Use testimonials that focus on different aspects of your service or product.
Have one that says what great service you provide; one that talks about the quality of the service; one that describes how easy it is to do business with you; one that explains how you provide value for money; and one that talks about the outcome a customer achieved using your product or service and how it exceeded their expectations. You could also add one that says how much a particular customer has recommended the product or service to other companies, colleagues or family/friends.
