Category listing: July, 2010
This week has flown by – we have been swamped with a number of projects with nonprofits – and doing a host of new customized Fan pages. Plus, our looming vacations have created deadlines that keep our nose to the grind and as a result, less blogging.
If you’ve followed us at any length of time, you’ve heard us give our definition of marketing - yes it’s even on the top right hand corner of our page. John Jantsch of Duct Tape Marketing coined this definition years ago and we love it. It’s all about relationships. In John’s newest book, The Referral Engine, he drills this definition down a little deeper. The graphic above represents the “Marketing Hourglass” as opposed to the traditional “marketing funnel” that we all heard about studying marketing (by the way, this is where we studied it). In talking about the hourglass concept, John calls it the “easiest way to explain the marketing process” and I couldn’t agree more.
Funnel – take a large population (wide top of funnel), push your product on to them and squeeze them into a transaction and spit ‘em out (small bottom tip)!
Hourglass – fixate your eyes on a large target and create a systematic approach to dating them, getting them to know-like-trust you. But you’re not aiming for squeezed transactions, but conversions – and I’m almost metaphorically equating these to the religious kind. When someone becomes a true convert (more than a transaction), they become life-long loyalists who REPEAT while also blossoming into your greatest ambassadors who REFER you!
Yes, if your customers are not referring you, it could be that they view your relationship through the eyes of the funnel rather than the hourglass. The same holds true in the social media world. We all push ourselves toward more Fans on our Fan Page, more Twitter followers on Twitter, and more subscribers to our email list. These are important, but they are not conversion (link to Seth Godin’s blog). But how do you treat these people when they signup or opt-in?
- Are you squeezing them into a tranaction (funnel) or
- Are you educating them toward your one-and-only solution that they will tell everyone about (hourglass)?
Referrals happen not just because you pay people to refer you (although we’ve done that with limited success). Referrals happen when you make a connection with someone and treat them so remarkably that they keep coming back and/or they tell all their friends about how great you are. Is that happening for you?
(in August, we’ll launch further into the principles of referral marketing with blog posts, interviews and workshops starting August!)
-Randy
In his book, The Referral Engine, John Jantsch shares this story of an “odd couple” partnering together to reach local customers.
John writes:
“I was staying in Estes Park, Colorado, once and stopped at Coffee on the Rocks, which offered free fly-casting lessons every day out on the stream that ran behind the store. The coffee shop received business each day as families came in to get the free lesson. The lesson was held by a local fishing shop that also signed up participants each day for their guided fishing tours. (The coffee shop owner told me that some people come in just to watch!)”
What does a coffee shop owner and fly-casting company have in company?
The same local customers.
A few years ago a new-home seller I knew from church contacted me about helping him with marketing ideas. We did a number of projects, but none that he was more excited about than the gift certificate you see below:
My friend was interested in ways to enhance referrals as well as partner with area businesses to reach the local area. A new Italian restaurant had just popped up in the area (unfortunately, they have changed owners so this same cafe no longer exists). So my friend went to the restaurant manager and asked, “would you like to have more customers?” The restaurant owner replied, “yes, but what’s the catch?”
My friend worked a deal to get partnership gift certificates at a signifcantly reduced rate, paying about 50-75% of the face value of the gift certificate. In other words, my friend might purchase a gift certificate worth $50 but only pay $30 for it. Then my friend would pass these out to hot prospects looking to buy a home in the area. Introducing his potential home buyers to a great local Italian restaurant showed that my friend really knew the area and wanted them to feel “at home” in his neighborhood. He was able to give a generous gift without it costing him a fortune. The restaurant owner, while discounting his prices, loved the seats being full (especially for a new restaurant!) and the possibility of repeat customers who tell their friends. Both saw it as an advertising tool and my friend got several new referrals from the restaurant owner who made sure my friend’s business cards had a promiment place in the waiting area of the restaurant.
Tap into the needs of other businesses in the area and find creative ways to partner with them to reach the same local customers.
-Randy
John Jantsch of Duct Tape Marketing and author of the latest best-selling book, The Referral Engine, will present a FREE webinar on Tuesday, July 6th, Noon CT. You can read more about John’s referral marketing discoveries here.
This will also be a primer for 2 different Referral Engine Pro Power Groups that we will be launching in August.
- ONE-DAY WORKSHOP - Northeast Fort Worth Area – August 17th - email for information
- VIRTUAL POWER GROUP – via conference call/webinar, join us starting August 25th (5 consecutive weeks) – click here for more information
In a one-hour session on Tuesday 7/6, John will go over what he has learned about referrals through years of working with small business owners – John’s webinars are always practical and full of practical information. To date, there are over 1000 people already registered!
Here’s what will be covered:
- The Realities of Referral
- The 4 Cs of New Marketing
- The Marketing Hourglass
- Creating a Referral System
Join today!
-Randy Vaughn, DFW Duct Tape Marketing Coach
