An eight-part presentation on how entrepreneurs can build their own referral marketing machine. Referral marketing is the process of building your "Know, Like, and Trust" factors through sharing kindness, appreciation, and gratitude with your customers.

1. Your Referral Marketing Machine
How To Harness The Power Of Word-Of-Mouth
To BuildYour Business John Gilgerjohn@jgilger.com

2. Introduction
• Referrals - Essential for growing your business
• ‘Word of Mouth’ - The most powerful way to grow a
business
• Our Focus - Creating an effective system for securing
referrals

3. Learning Objectives
• The importance of referral marketing to business
• 7 steps of an ideal referral marketing system
• Define your ideal prospect
• Identify potential referral sources
• Leverage contacts for more referrals
• Ways to reward contacts for referring others

4. Learning Objectives
• 3 types of requests for referrals
• Write a recommendation message
• Design a follow-up strategy for referral conversion
• Design a follow-up strategy for referral relationships
• Draft an action plan for building your referral
marketing system.

5. 7 Steps to Referral Marketing Success
Design sources follow up strategy
Design conversion follow up strategy
Outline recommendation message
Craft referral request
Develop motivating offer
Identify potential referral sources
Define ideal prospect

6. Module 1
DefineYour Ideal Prospect
John Gilger

7. Your Current Prospects
• Look at your current clients
• Identify the ideal ones
• Fine-tune your ideal client profile
• No clients? Consider factors of your
client ideal from scratch

8. Specific Demographic Information
• Basic demographics, e.g.
• Age
• Location
• Gender
• Stage of their business
• Psychological factors

9. Niche or Industry
• Identify the prospect’s niche or
industry
• Brainstorm a list of ideals
• Other possible niches?

10. Problems and Concerns
• Focus on the problems you can help your prospects
solve
• Offer help to build relationships
• If you solve problems, you’ll always be needed.

11. Stay Flexible
• Create different profiles to maintain flexibility
• Convey the correct profile to each referral source

12. Questions?

13. Activity
• Fill in your Target Client worksheet, including details
for each category and a summary paragraph.

14. Debrief

15. Module 2
Identify Potential Referral
Sources
John Gilger

16. Referral Source Examples
• Customers and Clients
• Social Media
• Online Forums
• Community Events
• Organizations

17. Only The Best
• Narrow it down to key sources that
yield the most results
• Measure results
• Keep a record of client sources
• Use your time efficiently – drop
ineffective sources

18. Where Are Your Prospects?
• Look for your ideal prospect
• Where are they?
• How can you come in to contact with
them?

19. Fine Tuning Your Referral Sources
• Drop sources that don’t work
• Encourage those that do
• Keep trying new sources

20. Questions?

21. Activity
• Fill in Referral Sources worksheet. Conduct research
as needed to make a list of places both online and off
where you can go for referrals.

22. Debrief

23. Module 3
DevelopingYour
Motivating Offer
John Gilger

24. What To Offer
• Discount or special deal when
leads turn into customers
• Free exposure/visibility
• Consistent
• Don’t stretch your resources
• Value to the referrer – not
necessarily monetary

25. Formal vs. Informal
• Create a clear policy
• If they refer someone, they get the
reward.
• Have an informal agreement
• Not clearly stated and is a surprise.This
provides the WOW factor and exceeds
expectations.

26. Reward the New Prospect?
• Should you also reward the new prospect?
• Starts off the relationship with the new prospect on a
good footing
• Can also let new prospects know about rewards
program

27. Deliver on Your Promises
• If you offer an award, make sure you deliver exactly
what you said you would provide
• Very important to maintain trust

28. Questions?

29. Activity
• Use the Motivating Offer brainstorming worksheet to
list possible rewards for referrals
• Select one offer and plan how it would be delivered
and monitored

30. Debrief

31. Module 4
CraftYour Referral
Request
John Gilger

32. The Referral Letter
• A traditional method of asking for referrals is to send
a letter
• Also serves to remind the potential
referrer of you
• Letters are powerful as they
are tangible and distinctive

33. DraftingYour Letter
• Remind the person who you are
• Explain what your business does
• Benefits for the referrer
• Identify your ideal prospect
• ‘Thank You’ in advance

34. • Include a reminder of what sets your business apart
• Mention how valuable they are to
you
• Keep a cordial and professional
tone

35. The Next Step
• Let the potential referrer know how you’ll be
contacting the person they referred
• Explain your process
• You don’t need to ask only those you’ve helped

36. Questions?

37. Activity
Craft 3 different types of referral request messages
using the Referral Request worksheet:
1. Face to face with a customer (practice it with
someone and get feedback)
2. Email to someone you met at an event
Social media, such as a private message on
3. LinkedIn or Facebook

38. Debrief

39. Module 5
Outline Recommendation
Message
John Gilger

40. WhatYou’re All About
• What are the key points that
make you someone the referrer
wants to recommend?
• Pare down the essentials of what
you do and what you’re about
• Avoid unnecessary details

41. What’s Appropriate
• Sometimes personal details are okay
to include
• When relevant and increase value

42. Prioritize Topics
• Identify all of the different elements in your message
and evaluate the importance
• Make important elements the focus of the message

43. FormatYour Message
• You can write out the message word for word
• For the purpose of sounding natural, it’s better to let
them put it in their own words
• Provide a simple outline
• Give them the opportunity to customize it

44. Questions?

45. Activity
• Create your recommendation message to give to
referral sources to use.
• Cover each of the topics mentioned in the module
using the Recommendation Message worksheet.

46. Debrief

47. Module 6
Design A Follow Up Strategy
For Converting Referrals
John Gilger

48. First Contact
• Who you are and who referred them
to you
• Your contact info + request to
connect on social media or
wherever they are online
• Either discuss how you can help
them or arrange a time to meet and
talk

49. The Elements Of A Good Follow Up
• Follow up in a timely manner
• Use a helpful and friendly tone – with no strings
attached
• Emphasize how you can help and focus on their needs
• Deliver on any promises and establish regular points
of contact

50. No Strings Attached
• Realize that your follow up may not
lead to anything
• Even if you’re unable to help, keep it
friendly and stay in touch
• They may refer you to someone else

51. CreateYour Follow Up Strategy
• Create a strategy and process for follow up with
contacts
• Create a timeframe for communications
• Draft a standard letter to use as a template
• Keep track of prospects

52. Questions?

53. Activity
• Design your follow-up strategy for converting new
referral leads to customers using the Referral
Conversion Strategy worksheet.
• Draft your follow-up letter to send after your first
contact

54. Debrief

55. Module 7
Design A Follow Up Strategy
For Referral Sources
John Gilger

56. Your Follow Up Template
For those who referred prospects to you;
• Remind them
• Thank them
• Keep them informed

57. Offer Help
• Strengthen your relationship with
referral sources by offering help
• Remember the favor

58. Staying Up To Date
• Contact referral sources occasionally to say thanks
and inform them of your latest business news
• Remind them you’re always looking for referrals and
of any offers you have

59. Key Referrers
• Identify key referrers
• Treat them especially well
• Make special effort to keep in
touch and help them

60. Keep Track Of Communications
• Create a system to track
communications
• Create a timeline for updating referrers

61. Questions

62. Activity
• Design your strategy for following up with referral
sources
• Draft your follow-up letter

63. Debrief

64. Module 8
When To Ask For Referrals
John Gilger

65. Results Are Everything
• Ask when results are proven
• People want to recommend you if
they see results others can benefit
from
• Wait to ask later if results take time

66. Compliments, Compliments
• Just received a compliment? Ask if there are others
who can benefit
• Keep the focus on benefits
• But be honest about how it helps build your business
too

67. Asking For Referrals Early
• You can ask before results are proven
• If your customer is excited, it is best to strike while the
iron is hot

68. When NOT To Ask
• It’s universally considered inappropriate to ask for a
referral during the payment process
• It can look like you’re more interested in money then
helping

69. Never Fear
• Don’t be afraid of imposing or
looking desperate
• The worst a potential source can do is
say they don’t know anyone

70. Questions?

71. Activity
• For your list of referral sources, identify where you
are in your relationships in terms of when you could
ask for a referral.
• What do you need to do to get to the point where you
can ask?

72. Debrief

73. Next Steps
CompleteYour Referral
Plan