In this age of online marketing and social media, people have gotten away from good old fashion grass roots marketing. I was recently reminded of this while talking with my friend Wendy Neely of Fit America PA Well Spa. She has a weight loss and wellness spa that helps people to lose weight through non-traditional methods like Lipo-laser and Infrared Sauna. (I’m doing the Lipo-laser and getting great results!!! Check out her website https://fitamericapa.com/ )
Anyway, Wendy was telling me that she gets a lot of new business through the relationships she’s created with other business owners who have a similar clientele. For example, she gets referrals from massage therapists, chiropractors and physical therapists.
How does it work?
It’s simple, because they share similar types of clients Wendy refers clients to them and they refer clients to her. It’s a great marketing strategy! Best of all it’s simple and it’s cheap!!!
How Can you Do the same thing?
- If you don’t already have a profile for your ideal client then take a few minutes and create one. Be very specific and figure out their sex, age, income, education, where they live, what they do for a living, their lifestyle, etc.
- Once you know your ideal customer, figure out the types of places they visit and services they use. For example, if you’re an insurance agent whose ideal customer is a business owner, then you know that person also needs an accountant, a financial planner, and an attorney. Those would be people you should create referral partnerships with.
- When you know what kinds of other services they utilize, then set up a time to talk with the owner of those kinds of businesses. In Wendy’s case, she might be able to stop into their locations and visit with the business owner, but in some situations, you might need to call or email in order to set up a more formal meeting.
This might be a bit intimidating, but remember, you’re offering to provide them with referrals too, so it goes both ways. If you contact them and say that you share similar clients and you’d like to refer some of your clients to them, they will ALWAYS take your meeting!!
Referral partners are a great way to build your business, especially if you have a small marketing budget. This could also be a helpful strategy if you need to rebuild your business after the coronavirus because it’s a great way to market without spending lots of money.
About the author: Meg Huwar is a small business marketing expert and Principal of Brand Accelerator. She and her team work with companies who want to market their business but don’t have the time, experience or staff to do it themselves. Meg can be reached at mhuwar@thebrandaccelerator.com or 412-848-8822.