By Guest Blogger Mitche Graf
The most potentially powerful and fruitful form of marketing that can turn your business upside down and take you to new levels all by itself…It’s called the almighty referral network. Referrals spend more money, are generally happier, stay longer, and come to you already sold. Let’s talk about the 2 types of referral networks that you can build in your business.
The first is with other professional photographers, DJ companies, tuxedo shops, children clothing stores, adult clothing stores, caterers, civic groups like the local chamber of commerce, florists, dental offices, doctors offices, health clubs, golf clubs, entertainment centers, and on and on. Besides being an excellent source of referrals, they can also be partnered with for cross-promotions. We can spend an entire day dedicated to just talking about how to partner with other businesses to attract customers to spend money with both of you. You may already have partnered with a strong group like this, or maybe you haven’t invested much time or effort into developing this circle of peers.
In either case I challenge you to sit down with a pen and pad, and brainstorm up a list of other businesses you would like to develop a more substantial relationship with. You can do several things to make contact with them. First, you can mail them all an invitation to a special Open House at your studio to talk about how you can all become part of a new referral network team. Offer to exchange information on each other’s business so you become educated about them, as well as them becoming knowledgeable about you.
It would be mutually beneficial and it doesn’t cost anything but some time to develop a constructive relationship with other companies with the same goals as you. You can also pick up the phone and give them a call, or go visit them at their place of business. I guarantee they are just as interested in cracking the marketing code as you are.
We have relationships with several other vendors in our market area that consistently send leads in our direction. And when they come to us, I know they are already pre-qualified, meaning the other business has already done a sort of screening for us, and since they know the type of client we are looking for, and what our price ranges are, they only send people our way who meet those standards.
That sure makes my job much easier when I answer the phone and the person on the other end says “I was talking to Mary over at ABC Florist and she showed me some of your work and your package information, and I want to check to see if you are available for my wedding.” What a breath of fresh air! I don’t have to deal with the standard questions most people ask who get your name from a phone book or from a directory. What are your prices… how much is an 8×10… What’s in your packages… and so on. They come to me pre-qualified and ready to do business with me.
The other type of referral network, and by far the most neglected by photographers, is that of your past and present clients. You probably have 100’s if not 1000’s of past clients in your database that already know you, trust you, have seen your work, already have written a check to you, and have already had a pleasant experience with you. And what are you doing with those happy, satisfied customers?
If you are like many photographers, not a hole lot! All those positive testimonies are wasting away without so much as a game plan on how to recruit new clients into the fold. If you don’t already encourage testimonies and referrals from your clients, here are a couple of simple tasks you can start today, that will get you off and running….
Create a short questionnaire to give to your client once they have picked up their finished portraits. Ask them to rate their total experience with your business. From the first time they decided to do business with you, the experience with your staff, in their session, in their viewing or ordering session, and finally their impression of the final portraits. Try to stay away from questionnaires that let people check a box, or write in a number from 1-10. You want as much information as possible from them, so ask them to write their response in words. At the bottom you can ask them for 1 or 2 or 3 names, addresses and phone numbers of friends or other family members who would possibly interested in having their portraits created.
If they are satisfied with their total experience, they will have no problem whatsoever with giving you these leads. And guess what you can do with those new names? You got it! Send them a letter with an irresistible offer they can’t refuse, or better yet, ask your client to write a letter to send to them. You can have them fill out the questionnaire while they are at your studio, or can send it home with them to complete and mail back to you.
Whatever you do, strike while the iron’s hot! If you wait too long, the emotion from their experience will be diminished. The entire sales and marketing game is built on creating a positive emotion, and you will loose your momentum if you wait too long. The best marketers and salespeople understand this dynamic, and develop the emotional trappings to guarantee a fantastic experience, and large sales averages.
If you want to reward them with some complimentary Gift Wallets, or a free sandwich and soft drink at the local sandwich shop, or a complimentary session, that’s up to you. But do something to say thanks for taking the time. If a customer says to you “ boy, we sure had a great time with you and we completely love or portraits”, say great, can you put that in writing? Testimonies are King? That should be your #1 priority! To get testimonies that blow your horn and sing your praises to the entire world!
If you could develop an exciting, mutually beneficial, and rewarding referral program with other business partners, and with your own past and present clients, you would never need to spend money on expensive advertising ever again!
It’s easy to fall into the trap of writing checks every month for yellow pages, or newspaper ads, or spendy mall display space without really knowing what kind of return you are getting for your investment. If you don’t have a solid way of tracking the results of your advertising and having a measurable and accountable way of comparing money spent to money earned, its probably costing you money! Hey, we all do it!
I spent $5000 a few years ago on a great looking TV commercial that was flashy and trendy, and upbeat. At the cost of about $35 per 30-second spot, I was expecting great things to happen as a result of having exposure of that magnitude. Big bomb! I received a grand total of 1 phone call. I could have done a lot of other things with that $5000 to generate revenues for my studio. But instead I spent it on a very expensive lesson!
Invest some of your time and mental energy to develop your referral business and you will experience success beyond your wildest dreams!
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Amity, Oregon- Ken Sklute and Mitche Graf are happy to announce they are joining forces this spring for the “Left Brain-Right Brain” tour and will be visiting 15 cities in April and May. This revolutionary and ground-breaking new seminar, taught by 2 of the world’s most sought-after and beloved instructors, will show you how to “fuse” your art and business minds together to make a one dynamite package. Today’s changing economy requires a new perspective of the world, and this program will give photographers of all levels the skills necessary to hone their photographic art, and build their business expertise at the same time. It will rapidly enhance their evolution as a professional photographer and will teach them the finer points to creating a new business model for the 21st century.
For information or to register log onto www.LeftBrainRightBrainTour.comor call 888.544.4149 ext 706.
2 Comments at "Photographers: Developing a Referral Network"
My experience with vendor referrals was that most of the work came through me to them. Photographers are just in a much earlier position on the wedding planning chain. Brides usually choose a location first and then start reserving important vendors. This makes caterers locations and planners the most important referral sources by far. Your fellow photographers can also be a big source of referrals. Be sure to form alliances with people who only book one shooter and put you in position two. A qualified photography referral has a lot of value and needs to be shared with someone who will return the favor.
Completely agree about referral business! I am wedding photographer based in Bristol, UK and I am doing it for 6 years already. Have tried lots of different ways how to advertise my wedding photography business, but good references always prove themselves as the best way!
Greetings from Bristol!
Martins
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