The Critical Thing You Need to Earn Referrals – Today, and in the Future

Patrick McFadden

There is nothing new under the sun. What was old, is new again. It’s all been said and done before …

Those adages are true in your studies, and just as true when it comes to your referral strategy.

If you’re working too hard trying to keep up with every new tactic and technology and social network that bubbles up offline and online … and wondering what the essential asset is in getting referred,  then this article is for you.

If you are going to be successful in getting the attention of the market and earning referrals, you will need to start with something remarkable because….

No one talks about three types of businesses (or at least in a way that generates referrals)

  1. Boring Businesses
  2. Average Businesses
  3. Good Businesses

Growing any business in anyway today takes getting people talking. When people start talking:

  • referrals happen,
  • PR happens,
  • SEO happens and
  • links happen.

Let me ask you this – when’s the last time you told a colleague about a good airplane ride? Or the last time you wrote a review about a perfectly satisfying experience?

You don’t!

You have to do something that wows us, surprises us, excites us or so clearly exceeds our expectation in ways that make us turn to social media, our email, our conversations and other forms of communication to share our story.

I know people get this, but why are so few stepping up and turning heads. You don’t have to innovate an entire industry, just do something that’s not so normal.

Here’s how to never do something normal ever again.

First, you must be able to identify which product or service experiences you want to make remarkable, and then have a process—or a “technology”—for creating that outcome.

Do this by answering these five questions:

  1. What is the product or service experience I want to create or transform into remarkable?
  2. How will the customer feel as a result of this experience? (In other words, what is the specific outcome we want to create?)
  3. What specific expectations does the typical customer bring to this product or service experience?
  4. What does failing to meet customers’ expectations for this product or service experience look like?
  5. What does exceeding customers’ expectations for this product or service experience look like?

By the way, you don’t have to make every product or service experience in your business remarkable. If everything is remarkable, then pretty soon, nothing is.

About the Author:  Patrick McFadden is the  marketing consultant  to call when you want SALES … not just words.. He is also an advisor and featured marketing contributor to  American Express Open Forum  and has been named a marketing thought leader for small businesses.

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