How To Make Money With Referrals
This letter shows you how to get new customers without spending a fortune. I consistently get between 35 and 50 new customers every month. Boy, I don't know about you, but I love it when I spend very little money
getting a new customer into my store. Here are the four ways you will attract new customers: • Drive-by - A common way. If your shop is appealing enough from the
outside, this type of customer will be curious enough to come in. They have no concept of what you can do for them, except what they see
from the street. Presentation counts. First appearances mean everything. • Ads - Yellow pages and other advertising. With this type, they don't see
your store, only your ad. And if they call your number, they are only impressed by the voice at the other end of the phone...or Not. First words and sounds mean everything. Are you genuinely interested in listening to the needs of that new customer? Believe it or not, a phone customer can "read" your attitude by the sound of your voice and how you treat them on the phone.
 TIP: Focus in on the new phone customer with All your attention. They're only in your life for a couple minutes while on the phone...but could be in your life for a lifetime. 
|
|
|
If you're busy with other thoughts and things going on in your shop while talking to a prospective customer, it will show in your voice.
This is an opportunity staring you in the ear. They are motivated up or down by what you say. • Referral - The strongest method. This type has been referred by a
friend whose opinion they trust. This is a shoe in. This type of customer
does not cost a fortune, if any money at all. Referrals are your biggest source of sales and money. • Internet - This works better than the yellow pages for me. Eleven percent or more of my business comes from the internet. You can bring in verifiable traffic from your web site. You do have one, don't you? It can cost upwards of one hundred dollars for each new customer if done the
traditional way by putting an advertisement in the newspaper, an art magazine or local rag. Don't throw your hard earned money into Image or Identification Type Advertising. The Best Way To Get A New Customer Is By Referral. And the best way to get a referral is to "ask" for it. There are two ways to get a referral. By word of mouth and by actively asking for one. We're going to concentrate on the active approach. Achieve getting that new customer by doing these three
steps: 1. Have a referral certificate printed up at your local printer.
Click here to see a sample of what it should look
like. Call it a "Referral Certificate" at the top. It lends more importance to itself. The word "coupon" sounds cheap. 2. Give a certificate to every single customer who comes in to pick up their framed picture. Make this step a daily, customer by customer, habit. This habit will soon affect the money coming into your business through increased sales. I presume you have an accounting invoice for the customer's frame job you use when the customer picks up their new frame. Staple the referral certificate to the customer's invoice to remind yourself to pass it to your customer upon pick up of their frame job. This also helps you get in the habit of physically passing it out. 3. Actively promote your referral program on a daily basis. That's it. It's that easy. You can design your own Referral Certificate yourself. Have your printer add a certificate type border around your wording. It looks better and adds authenticity. Use the wording in the sample certificate above or change it around to your taste. You can even buy blank certificates for your computer printer at Staples and other office chain stores. They come three up on a sheet. Fill in the words from the sample and you can be passing out Referral Certificates to your customers by tomorrow morning. I used to leave the certificates on the front counter and give it to the customer upon pickup, but more than half the time I forgot to pass one out before the customer left. Now, I staple the referral certificate to the invoice to remind myself. It works. After the customer has seen their new frame and you have wrapped it up for them, rip off the "referral certificate" from the invoice and hand it to the customer. At this point you can explain briefly how it all works, so that the customer doesn't have to take the time to read it. After all, they're excited about seeing their new frame job and want to go home and hang it. I even go so far as to hand write the existing customer's name information ahead of time to save the customer time in filling it out before they refer someone. For a moment, just visualize. If only a fraction of your customers refer a new friend to you, the new business and all the repeat sales you will get from just one referred customer can add thousands of dollars to your bottom line. Now, multiply that one customer who also becomes a potential referrer of more new customers. Pretty soon, the whole town has heard about you and everyone's coming in to see what you're all about. And they came referred :-) It literally becomes a snowball rolling downhill gaining momentum and getting bigger. Think of it as another side business to your regular business. It's another way to bring in extra dollars with new customers every month with very little effort. So you're asking..."Does it really work?" Absolutely. But Only if you do your part and integrate it into your business routine every day. I make thousands of dollars every month from only new customers including drive-by, yellow pages ad and referrals. I have proof of all invoices on file. You too should make it a habit to KNOW where your customers are coming from. Unless we know them already, my staff and I always ask every customer, "How did you hear about us"? Then we make a notation on the invoice; drive by - yellow page - referral or internet. At the top of my invoice, I've included the above four choices with a check box next to each. Your business thrives on sales or dies from the lack thereof. If you want sales and lots of them, your referral program will be another feather in your cap while your competition, (if you want to call them that), will be sitting on their duff waiting for that sale that never comes. This can be a real Cash Flow Machine from day one. And all you're doing is handing out a piece of paper to your existing customers. Imagine if you mailed these certificates out in other letters you send to your regular customers. In my sample, I give the new customer $15 off their initial purchase when they bring in the referral certificate. And I give the existing customer who referred the new customer $20 in the form of a Gift Certificate good anytime. Now that equals $35 total to get a new customer who will also refer new customers to you. Pretty cheap investment for someone who may turn into a Lifetime Value Customer. If you think those amounts on the referral certificate are too much, then lower it $5.00. Nothing is cast in stone. Design your referral certificate anyway you want. The sample is just that. A starting off point. The one I use works very well. Note: The actual return in converted sales will not be 100%. Most referrals are family members. Others are friends of the customer. Customers may throw away the certificate after they leave your store. That's OK. You would have to hire extra help to handle all the work if it was a 100% conversion rate. You Are Aiming For Consistency In Any Program You Use To Attract Customers. Word of mouth referral is your most powerful form of advertising. And it's free. In fact, I have customers who I've given a referral certificate to and they do not use it, but they still refer a new customer anyway. This happens quite often. If you think about it, all the "money" given out is in the form of a discount or gift certificate. There's no real cash involved, only in the mind of the referred customer. You can afford to lower the price of the frame job by those amounts, because that new referral is going to give you plenty of business over the years. Think long term. To Your Picture Framing Success.
| 
The Ultimate Guide
