While writing my book, Confessions of Shameless Internet
Promoters, I contacted dozens of Internet marketing experts from
around the world. During just one hour via e-mail I had written
to and received e-mails from all over the US, Canada, Mexico, the
UK and Australia. That is five countries around the globe in
just ONE HOUR. The power and the access to the world is now
available to all of us at lightening speed.
Here’s an example of how the amazing power of the Internet can
find endless opportunities:
A year ago I had a client in Australia that was in search of
another speaker like myself who is an expert in marketing and
retail, but that lived in Australia.
Since I live in Phoenix, Arizona US, I did not know a soul in
Australia, much less a great speaker in the same niche market
and the same topic of expertise my client was looking for. But,
following my motto to “Never Throw Business Away”, I set out to
find my Australian client a dynamic expert that lived in her
country.
First I did a search on Yahoo – Australia. Since my site comes
up very high on the search engines and directories when typing in
the keywords retail speaker, I was surprised that another speaker
appeared first on the list. John Stanley – who is this John
Stanley I thought. I clicked onto his site and viewed it in great
detail. I had discovered that I had some tough competition on the
other side of the world. Not only was John an expert in retail,
he was the perfect fit for my client. So I sent him an email with
the client’s contact information. Now you may be thinking, why
would you send your client to your competition?
Here are 5 BIG reasons why:
1. My client would have found this speaker on her own doing a
search on the Internet or by contacting a Speakers Bureau anyway.
So, why not be the hero and help out the client at the same time.
2. Servicing my clients is first and foremost on my list of
priorities. I take ordinary service and turn it into
extraordinary results. This is easy to do, just stop selling
and start servicing and you reap amazing results.
3. My clients are pleasantly surprised that I would not only
refer them to a competitor, but that I would take the time to
personally introduce them. My referrals are often sent in the
form of an email (first choice because it is quick, easy and
effective), personalized letters or one on one in person.
4. Business will comes back to you many times over when using
this method effectively. I have personally experienced this for
years in the many different businesses I have owned. Most people
are afraid of their competition and therefore avoid them. This
builds up a wall around you and a competitor who happens to have
the same core customer base as you do. Don’t’ fight ‘em – join
‘em! Build alliances and send them business. It is a win-win
for everyone involved!
You service your customer, help out your competition and they in
turn will most likely turn around and help you back. Note: If
after sending numerous referrals to my competition with no
reciprocating action, I simply stop sending the referrals and
find another expert competitor that is willing to trade referrals
fairly.
5. People like to do business with people that they like, and
they like people that treat them fair, honesty and who truly care
about making personal connections and offering supportive
service. That’s just good business!
And now for the rest of the story ...
When I sent my newfound competitor, John Stanley my clients
contact information, I never knew if I would her back from him
or not. And I did not know that he would want to reach out
instantly and help me back. At the time I was just helping a
client in need. But, John returned with an email to me within 24
hours. John thanked me for the referral and mentioned that he
would be in Arizona, just 20 minutes from my home in two weeks.
He said he would give me a call when he arrived. Now what are the
chances of this happening with someone I just met via the
Internet from the other side of the world?
A couple of weeks went by and the phone call came. John was in
town and wanted me to stop by where he was presenting to meet
and chat up a bit.
We chatted up a bit all right – two hours later of not stop
chatting we had discovered more and more ways to refer one
another. During our conversation, John told me he had to confess
to something that he could not tell me via email or by phone.
“Just two days before I got your email, I did a search on Yahoo
and found Debbie Allen. I thought, who is this Debbie Allen and
why am I not coming up first on the search engines under retail
speaker? So I went onto your site and discovered your
expertise. I thought, this lady is some tough competition on the
other side of the world. They I printed out a couple pages from
your Web site. Those pages were sitting on my desk when I got
your email!”
Wow! Makes the hair on your arms stand up, doesn’t it? What
are the chances? The chances my friends, for this type of
opportunity to happen to you, are endless now with the World
Wide Web. Oh yes, and if that is not enough to convince you
to do more marketing via email and passing on referrals to your
competitors, let me share with you what happened with those
referral leads.
John and I have shared many contacts and created business
opportunities in many countries including the US, Australia,
New Zealand, Canada, Singapore, UK and Africa. We have even
presented together on the same platform in England and were
dubbed the “The Ginger Rogers & Fred Astaire Of The Speaking
Business”. In addition, John has become one of my most successful
distributors and resellers of my books in his part of the world.
DON’T EVER THROW BUSINESS AWAY AGAIN! Seek out, connect and refer
your clients to another expert if you can’t take the business for
some reason. Become the resource for referrals and connections –
the Internet Rolodex. When passing business along make sure
that you keep yourself in the referral loop. Send an email
introduction to your client with a copy to the person you are
referring so that they can see the contact was made. Pass on all
the contact information for the referral. Then wait for it to
come back around to you with TONS of personalized referrals and
increased business.
|
