Thursday, October 9, 2008

How to increase referrals by keeping in touch with people that you meet!

Smart business people know that getting referrals is the best way to attract new customers. Why? Referred individuals are more likely to do business with you because someone they know or trust suggested that you can help them. Research shows that customers who come from referrals are better customers. They pay faster, complain less, buy more, and stay longer term.

Getting Referrals Can Be Difficult.

Many business owners are uncomfortable to ask for referrals and it can be a challenge to get people to remember you as time goes by. Think about it for a minute. You meet someone at a networking event, can not currently help each other, and are not a good fit for whatever reason to set a follow up meeting. Eight months later, that same person that you met at the networking event has a need for your services. The million dollar question is??? Will they think of you first?

How to Get More Referrals
Networking is a long term process, it is about developing relationships and bonding with people over time. That means keeping in constant contact with them. Yes it is true, you can send out a quick email to people to keep in touch, but networking guru's all seem to agree that a hand written personal note or card is the preferable form of communication for building rapport.

The Secrets of the Most Successful Referral Marketers
Have you heard of Joe Girard? He was a car salesman noted in the Guinness Book of World Records for selling the most cars (on a one on one basis) 12 consecutive years in a row. All of Joe’s business came from referrals. What was his secret?

Joe developed a system to keep in touch with his customers and potential clients. Every phone call or personal contact he made, Joe would write down on a file card any relevant information. He then sent everybody on his list a unique greeting card every single month! These weren't high pressure sales letters, just friendly reminders to let people know that he was thinking about them.

Tom Hopkins is currently a well known sales trainer with his roots stemming from real estate sales. Tom made a commitment to send 10 hand written notes every day and broke real estate sales records! Within three years, 98% of his business came from referrals. Tom Hopkins uses the same system that will be outlined below.

The Problem With Sending Greeting Cards and Handwritten Notes to keep in touch with people.

1. You need to develop a system to track people's important dates/information. This can be quite overwhelming when you think about the number of people you meet.

2. You have to go to the card store and find the right card. This can be a very time consuming process in itself and costly if you have to drive to the store. (Hey, gas is $4.29 a gallon!).

3. Then a trip to the post office to mail the card. Time is money, and again, you are spending more time here.

4. The Cost of the cards could average between $2 and $3 per card.

The answer...

What if I told you that you do not have to do steps 1-4 above, and that you can send out the hand written card from your home in less than sixty (60) seconds? The cost of the card could be 62 cents plus your standard postage rate of .42 for a whopping investment of $1.04. The cards could also be personalized by adding your own images or company logo. And the best part......The card is written in your own handwriting and is mailed using a real stamp (not a bulk mail scan)

There is a service called Send Out Cards that can do exactly this.

How You Can Use Send Out Cards to Keep In Touch and Increase Your Referrals!

Have you ever wanted to send a card to someone and either forgot to do it, or could not find the time? Have you ever wanted to send a series of follow up messages to a business prospect or customer, but could not keep track of who and when to send it to? The Send Out Cards system solves those problems.

Since I started using Send Out Cards, when I meet someone at an event, I try to get the person’s contact information, birth date, anniversary date or any other special day that matters to them. They may tell you that their spouse gave birth to a new baby last Thursday named Joseph. The birth day of their child is important to them. I then put that information into the Send Out Cards reminder system and when the date comes around, the reminder tells me to send a personal card to them.

Next, I pick out an appropriate greeting card in the system (it has thousands of greeting cards categorized by different occasions), write a note to the person, add my logo or image, and then click the send button. The card is mailed out the next day in my own hand writing.

Not Only Does this System Generate Referrals, But It Closes Sales!

In most industries, it takes about 5-8 contacts with a prospect before a sale is made. However, the vast majority of people do not have a system on how to follow up...until now.If you can enter a name and address and push a button, you can launch an extensive follow up relationship building program with your prospects. Imagine how this system could set you apart from every one else vying for your prospect's attention.

What better way to establish a rapport with someone than with a sequence of sincere greeting cards.

I use Send Out Cards myself for the last two years, it ii a part of my follow-up system, I recommend it on my program
Power of Networking Secrets and strongly endorse it personally.

Send your own card for Free!

Think of someone you would like to thank for a referral, thank for taking the time to meet with you, wish happy birthday or for any other reason.

Click here to get your free package and you will be able to send out a card for FREE. It will come from you, with your return address and your special note.

What you need to do: Think of someone that you would like to keep in touch with, thank for a referral, wish a happy birthday to, or for any reason. Once you have this person in mind,
click here and we will show you how you can leave a lasting impression..

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