You’re Not Just Anyone

We’ve spent a fair amount of space on this section devoted to prospecting and new business development. We’ve shared concepts like the pre-contact checklist for doing homework before calls, valid business reasons, seeding and many other fundamental and effective strategies for building new business.

The ultimate compliment or the ultimate goal when selling anything is to be “the person” people depend on for such services. Even better is when those who depend on you tell others about you. Referrals are a great source of new business because of three things:

1. They are authentic – They are true words from the experience of a current client.

2. They are organic – They happen naturally without compensation.

3. They have the most credibility – Clients believe other clients more than salespeople.

I love reading Seth Godin’s blog. Sometimes it’s short and powerful like this one:

“You can buy this from anyone, and we’re anyone. That’s not going to get you very far when you sell stuff, raise money, look for a job. What if instead, you created a reputation as the person or organization that can honestly say, ‘You can’t get this from anyone but me.’”

At RAB, we teach the Four Keys of Advertising Success. The keys also apply to building your personal brand. This is how you can ensure referrals:

Reach – Are you working with enough customers and prospects to achieve the results you want?

Frequency – Are you in contact with them frequently to make certain you are top of mind when they need marketing and business advice?

Consistency – Are you providing consistent service, consistent results and consistent contact? Have you identified the “one thing” you want to be known for and are you consistently demonstrating that “one thing?”

Compelling Creative – Are you sharing your brand message in unique, compelling and memorable ways?

How would you like to get people talking about you or people reading about you? When this happens in the nonselling mode, you are demonstrating your expertise and ability to solve problems. Are you deploying the Four Keys for your own brand?

Jeff Schmidt is the SVP of Professional Development. You can reach him at Jeff.Schmidt@RAB.com. You can also connect with him on Twitter and LinkedIn.