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As a specialist Marketing Strategist I’m approached most weeks by people who want more clients coming into their business.

(And when you think about it, being a Marketing Strategist, if that was NOT happening I’d be pretty concerned and would probably be better off flipping burgers at Maccers.)

The enquiries mostly come via from my website or via a referral and they’ve arrived from most English speaking countries in the world and from solopreneurs and large international corporate businesses alike.

But regardless of the size of the business or where they are located the common denominator is that they all want to get new clients in the door.

And the smaller business owners mostly want …
1. Results to happen fast
2. The solution to be simple and easy to implement
3. A system that’s low cost (or preferably no cost)
4. And they DON’T want to have to start cold calling or engaging in some sort of selling arm-twisting exercise

When you think about some of the more traditionally touted marketing methods there are virtually none that meet all four criteria …

In the “too slow” category we have…
· Twitter
· Facebook
· Google +
· Article Marketing
· Blogging
· E-zines and newsletters

In the “too complex” category…
· Search Engine Optimization
· YouTube
· Webinars and tele-seminars
· Public Speaking
· Affiliate Marketing
· Joint Ventures
·
In the “too expensive” category…
· Buying online banner adverts
· Online “Retargeting” (Google it J )
· Buying lists and direct mailing
· TV, radio and print media advertising
· Yellow Pages (any one reading that anymore?)

There’s a bunch more but I’m sure you get the main idea: so many marketing methods work fine but they are out of the reach of most people who want something that is simple, works fast and is inexpensive.

The (almost) funny thing is that when I ask the people who enquire about my services if they have put referral systems into place they generally say something like “sure, we get referrals sometimes”.

But what they are really talking about is Word of Mouth (WOM) marketing. Example: a client of yours is having coffee with a friend and expresses a need/concern/desire and your client responds by saying that they should give you a call. That’s WOM marketing.

I’m the first who will be grateful to a client for such a wise act of kindness however it’s not a “referral system”, it’s a random act that can’t be managed or controlled. And if you can’t control it then it ain’t a system.

A referral system is different. It’s turned on at a pre-determined time in a pre-determined manner and after the “trial and measure” phase tested it produces a predictable result.

Systems are the foundation for virtually all business wealth ever created and the addition of multiple, controllable referral systems into your business is…

1. Free of monetary cost
2. Effective and works fast
3. Is simple and easy to implement
4. And when done right, requires no overt pressure from you to make it work

But when most people think about asking for referrals they break into a sweat and have an image of sitting across from a client having asked for referrals and feeling like both people are feeling silently awkward about the situation.

However some referral systems (and I’ve collected 192 of them over the last 31 years) can operate without you even being present.