“How many Realtors send you referrals?” I was on the phone with a dealer from Texas, and I was trying to determine from where his sales were coming. He mentioned that he worked with  Realtors who send him referrals.

“There are five that send me referrals pretty regularly,” he replied.

“How much revenue did these five Realtors generate for you last year?”

“About $100,000.”

“That’s an average of $20,000 per Realtor,” I said. “Imagine if you had 20 more sending you the same amount of business. That’s $400,000 in additional revenue with no extra marketing costs!”

“Wow, I’d never thought of it that way before!”  Many dealers don’t, which is too bad because acquiring new flooring customers through advertising is getting more and more expensive and more difficult.

There are a variety of factors affecting this, including the sheer number of advertising channels (both online and offline), and the fact that consumers are more standoffish and skeptical than 15 years ago. That is why I preach that the place to begin marketing is to your past customers. They already know, like and trust you. They have a shorter buying cycle, and it’s far easier and cheaper to get them to buy from you and send you referrals than anyone else on the planet. A monthly newsletter, supplemented with a short email newsletter, is the most effective way I’ve found to market to past customers.

Let’s assume you’re already doing that. What’s another customer source with some of the same valuable characteristics as past customers (characteristics like built-in trust, lower price resistance, a shorter buying cycle, higher margins and low acquisition costs)?

The answer is referrals from other businesses. Realtors, interior designers, remodeling contractors, and carpet cleaning companies are just a few of the businesses that can send you referrals. Realtors can be especially valuable because when a house gets bought or sold the flooring often gets replaced. Let’s look at some ways you can quickly establish relationships with multiple businesses.

Networking Groups

BNI and LeTip are two well-known networking groups that exist to exchange referrals and help grow each other’s businesses. Only one business category is allowed for each group, so there will only be one flooring company. Check out local chapters of these groups and join if there is an opening.

Civic Groups

Rotary, Lions, the Chamber of Commerce and other civic groups exist to help the community, not to exchange referrals. Directly trying to get sales or referrals at these meetings is not very practical, so a different approach is required. Here are some steps to take to maximize the value of these organizations for your business.

  • First, introduce yourself to people who own businesses who are most likely to send you referrals.
  • Second, devote most of the conversation to talking about their business. People love to talk about themselves, so let them.
  • Third, ask them how you can help them spread the word about their business. Chances are no one has asked them this before. That will impress them if you are sincere; so only say it if you mean it.
  • Fourth, after the event send them a hand-written notecard that has your photo and business name and contact info. Tell them you enjoyed meeting them, and mention something positive about their business. Be sure to add them to your newsletter mailing list.
  • Finally, phone them a couple of weeks later and invite them out to lunch or coffee. That is the time to open a discussion about establishing a referral relationship.

In Part 2, I’ll cover another strategy for establishing these relationships, as well as how to make these relationships as profitable as possible.

 

To Tons Of Customers!
Jim Augustus Armstrong is The “Coach”

Jim Augustus Armstrong is the President of Flooring Success Systems, a program that equips dealers to double their profits, cut their work hours in half and beat the boxes! Many dealers have totally transformed their businesses and their lives for the better after joining Flooring Success Systems.
See what real, live dealers are saying!

 

Free book! For a complimentary copy of Jim’s book, “How Floor Dealers Can Beat the Boxes and Escape the Cheap-Price Rat-Race of Doom Forever,” visit BeatTheBoxesToday.com.