John Jantsch
John Jantsch is a marketing and digital technology coach, award winning social media publisher, and the author of Duct Tape Marketing, and The Referral Engine: Teaching Your Business to Market Itself.
We asked Jantsch for some practical tips on creating a productive referral engine for your business.
Interview Summary: The Four C’s of Marketing
- Content: The currency of marketing is authentic content that educates or clients otherwise see as valuable.
- Context: Situating information within the context of a prospect’s life has become a core marketing tactic.
- Connection: The more connected we become through technology, the more we long for real live human interactions.
- Community: Widely referred businesses of all types create opportunities for clients and prospects to join a community.
Adapted from The Referral Engine, by John Jantsch
McLaughlin: How important are referrals in today’s market? Over the last few years, have you seen a change in the relative importance of referrals to a company’s success?
Jantsch: I think referrals have always been a powerful part of the lead mix. It’s become harder and harder, though, to get your message through to your potential buyers using traditional methods. As a result, I think it’s more important than ever to find ways to build referral systems.
McLaughlin: Referrals and word-of-mouth are among the most effective tools for selling professional services. Given that, why are some people hesitant to ask for referrals?
Jantsch: I’ve heard lots of reason, including that it feels too much like begging. But I think it really comes down to being unsure of the value you bring to your clients.
If you are 100 percent sure that you delivered incredible value, wouldn’t it be a disservice to your clients not to make it easy for them to help others get that same result?
McLaughlin: You mentioned in your book that building a referral engine requires businesspeople to “completely rethink” their current marketing strategies. In what ways must we rethink those strategies?
Jantsch: First and foremost, you need to narrow your marketing focus to your ideal clients and communicate something that gets those ideal clients talking. You have to think of lead generation as the art of helping real buyers find you. And you also need to view educational content for clients–loads of it–as the way that prospects sell themselves on your services.
McLaughlin: Some professional service providers claim that their services are too complex or customized to properly educate clients on when a referral is appropriate. Any tips for making the client education process easier?
Jantsch: If what you offer is that complex, how the heck do you get a prospective client to understand it? Find a way to simplify your message, and the entire marketing process just might get easier for you.
At the very least, come up with a list of phrases that someone who needs your services might use. I call them trigger phrases, as they signal when a referral is called for. Making use of trigger phrases goes like this: You tell your contacts, If you hear someone say X, please give them our card.
McLaughlin: When you ask for a referral, how do you start the conversation?
Jantsch: I suppose it depends on who’s on the other end. If it’s a client, start by reviewing the results you and the client achieved. Then, help the client understand who else might need that same result.
If it’s a strategic partner, begin by asking about the best ways to introduce the partner’s business to your clients. For the flip side of that to work well, make sure your strategic partners know your business well enough to make appropriate referrals to their networks.
McLaughlin: When you look at how businesses manage the referral process, what’s the most common oversight you see?
Jantsch: I think that the biggest mistake is to focus all of your thinking and planning on clients. The greatest opportunity to build a referral-based business lies in creating a strategic partner platform.
The word platform implies a formal process in which you recruit every possible provider your clients might need. That way, when your clients need products or services you don’t offer, you are ready to refer them to someone who you know can help. You create opportunities for all the parties on your select team to gain exposure, and market to each other’s prospects and clients jointly.
McLaughlin: If you could give a consultant just one piece of advice for getting better at asking for, and receiving, good referrals what would it be?
Jantsch: Make the expectation of referrals a part of doing business with you. You do that by talking about referrals in the lead conversion process. Set the expectation up front that you intend to provide a remarkable experience and, if you do, the client agrees to introduce you to others who might also benefit from what you have to offer.
The key is to have a process on the back end of your client work so that you can measure and effectively communicate about the results you and the client achieved.
McLaughlin: Thanks for your time.
You can find out more about John Jantsch at http://johnjantsch.com.
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