Referral Marketing
Referral marketing means creating a system to facilitate getting more referrals for your private practice. Most professional practices are built primarily on referral marketing.
Did you know there are things you can do that increase your word of mouth referrals dramatically?
Until you you are well established, getting referrals means much more than just having some of your happy clients telling others about your wonderful skills. There are many things you can do to stimulate many more referrals:
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1. Ask for referrals. (Ask and you shall recieve. However you need to learn when and how to ask. A sign in your office of your appreciation of referrals is helpful but not enough. Most established proessionals have experienced clients asking "if it okay" to refer to them--- you need to make it clear that it is not only okay but desirable for them to refer to you.)
2. Give your clients and other professionals an incentive to refer to you. (There are ethical and unethical ways of doing this.)
3. Make it easy for referral sources to get referrals to you. (The use of referral cards are an example of this. Good phone service, message taking and office staff training is another example.)
4. Make information about your practice available 24/7 on your website so professionals looking for someone they can refer to can seek you out themselves. (See Education Based Marketing.)
5. Keep in contact with your former clients and referral sources. Without contact you will not stay "top of mind". (Newsletters, Christmas and Birthday Cards, etc are examples of this)
6. Educate your clients and potential referral sources about your ideal client and your unique service proposition-- what makes you different and who should they be referring to you. Specialists have an easier time getting referrals than generalists-- people like to refer others to people who specialize in their problem.
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