Ask for Referrals Without Seeming Pushy

When was the last time you asked one of your satisfied clients for a referral? Buyers trust what their friends say – and that’s why referrals are the absolute best wayto grow your business. But many people don’t ever ask clients to recommend them to their friends or colleagues. They worry that it’s too pushy–or seems desperate. Asking for a referral doesn’t have to be a shakedown, however.

Here are five good ways to ask:

1.    Ask upfront. One of the best ways to avoid any surprise or discomfort is to let your client know early on – even in your initial proposal – that if he feels good about the work you’ve done together, you’d like to ask if there are other friends or colleagues he thinks you should meet. Almost no one will say no, because it’s a hypothetical at that point (and one that presumably incentivizes you to do good work). Once you’ve delivered, he’ll be more likely to respond favorably when you come back to follow up – after all, he made a commitment.

2.    Frame it as a favor. Social psychology researchers like Robert Cialdini have shown that one of the best ways to get people on your side – unexpectedly – is to ask them to do you a favor. Your request makes them feel powerful – and once they’ve agreed, they’re invested in you and your success. So next time, you could say, “Frank, let me ask you a favor. The way I grow my business is through referrals, and I’d really appreciate it if you’d be willing to suggest other companies you think could benefit from my services. What do you think?” You’re likely to get a yes.

3.    Use a soft touch. You don’t have to go high-pressure. You can simply plant the seed with low-key phrasing. (”If there’s anyone you know with a similar situation, I’d really appreciate it if you’d mention our company.”) Sometimes a gentle reminder is all people need – and you don’t have to wait for your next in-person meeting. The important thing is making the ask, so feel free to get started by sending an email or bringing it up during a phone chat.

For the complete article, visit BNET

Marketing Secrets from the Beauty Mavens

I watched a fascinating PBS-produced documentary last night about the rise of the beauty industry and women’s entrepreneurship at the turn of the (last) century: the hysterically titled The Powder and the Glory. What can we learn from the likes of Elizabeth Arden and Helena Rubinstein? Here are my favorite marketing take-aways:

 

Elizabeth Arden and Helena Rubinstein were the mavens of the beauty industry in the first half of the 20th century. Photo from the Denishawn Collection, New York Public Library.

 

 

• Never move down-market; never cut prices. During the height of the Great Depression, Arden kept her prices high and thrived as an “affordable luxury.” Rubinstein, who had sold her business, watched her hapless successors cut prices and destroy the company (giving her an opportunity to buy it back cheap!).
• Own your niche. Elizabeth Arden (originally the rather prosaic “Florence Graham”) reinvented herself with a WASPy persona embodying upscale country living (the Martha Stewart of her day). Rubinstein – whose options were more limited given the anti-Semitism of the day – chose (very boldly for the time) to keep her name and played to her strengths, positioning her products for modern, edgy, urban women. Find your niche in the marketplace – whatever your competitors aren’t exploiting, or can’t – and make it your own.
• Adapt or die. Arden and Rubinstein (whose companies were both subsequently sold) suffered from the same malady: the impression they were immortal. Neither developed a succession plan, crippling their companies’ long-term prospects, and neither embraced television or modern, mid-century marketing methods. Coming into the ’60s, their brands were firmly regarded as “your mother’s makeup” by the restive Baby Boomers. You can never afford to stagnate or assume that tactics (marketing or otherwise) that worked in the past will continue to do so.

Of Branding and Vacuums

In this week’s New Yorker, John Seabrook introduces us to James Dyson (now Sir James), who is most famous as the designer of high-end vacuum cleaners. Vacuums were a low-priced, commodity business, but Dyson – who exploded the industry and became a billionaire – had a few key insights we can learn from.

A Dyson vacuum cleaner. Photo by Williac.

1. People will pay more for quality, if the category matters to them. In this Purell-laden, germ-phobic world (and I plead guilty), people are obsessed with cleanliness, and a dramatically better vacuum fits the bill. Especially if it can be justified by a primal desire for health or protecting your family from harm, the public will pony up.
2. Play to your strengths. Dyson – quite proudly – is an engineer, not a designer. His machine wasn’t pretty, but it showcased its dirt-sucking competitive advantage.  Seabrook writes that an early model “looked as if it had been turned inside out: it wore its guts on its skin…Dyson let you see the dirt as you collected it, in a clear plastic bin on prominent display in the machine’s midsection.” That’s called proof, and chary customers were assuaged by their own eyes.
3. Perceptions matter. Who wouldn’t want a nice, quiet vacuum cleaner? Sounds like a no-brainer…except it could actually undermine your brand. “According to a Dyson representative,” notes the article, “American machines are louder than the European and Asian models, because Americans associate noise with power and don’t trust a quiet machine.” Leaving aside the bizarre and troubling implications regarding our national psyche, there are some useful business take-aways, notably: you absolutely must understand your customers’ implicit attitudes and prejudices (focus groups help here, because no one will consciously admit to desiring a noisy machine or its equivalent in your product line).