Small Business Coaching on Why
Referrals Are Not Enough
By Allison Babb
A majority of entrepreneurs I've
worked with admit that word-of-mouth and referrals are their
primary ways to attract new clients and customers.
Referrals should be a part of
your business life for sure, but too often I see it become the
only way to bring in new business.
Here are 3 reasons why referrals
are not enough...
Who's at the Steering Wheel
Many of my clients secretly
confess that relying on referrals leaves them feeling like they
do not have control over the number of clients they receive.
When we leave our businesses to referrals only, we are often
hoping and praying that word magically spreads about our
businesses. But we're never certain that word-of-mouth is
happening at the rate we want it to happen.
I'd recommend adding some other
client-magnetic ingredients to your customer-generating plan.
Add some strategies you can turn up the volume on whenever you
want more clients.
Who's got the time
Often solo business owners attend
countless networking meetings around town with the goal of
keeping those referrals coming. It can get quite
labor-intensive. Now don't get me wrong, networking
meetings are great and if you network effectively, you indeed
get referrals. But I've watched business owners spend
30-50+ hours a month going from one meeting to another
desperately hoping to generate enough referrals to create the
number of clients and the income they desire.
How about if you had a nice menu
of marketing options and you choose a few things to do
consistently to create the results you want. What if
networking was just a small portion of what you did, because you
had other lucrative options to employ. That's precisely
where you want to be as a business owner and you can absolutely
design your business this way.
Who's leaving money on the
table
One of the things I say, to new
solopreneurs in particular, is that marketing is the #1
skill you must have as a business owner. Become a student
of marketing. Check out the many marketing options that
exist so you can move beyond a referrals-only type of business.
Marketing is the gas in your
business engine and it may be time for super-premium gas vs
plain old "regular." When you take it up a notch and add
some powerful new marketing ingredients, you'll quickly realize
that you've been leaving money on the table all along. There's a
swarm of new business and new customers out there just waiting
for you to show up through some new marketing and new actions.
Chances are, you've only scratched the surface of
profit-generating and client-generating ideas for your business.
If you enjoyed this article,
you'll love Allison's
29 low cost and no-cost
marketing strategies which uncovers a plethora of marketing options for creating steady stream
of new clients and ca$h for your business.
