About Me
- Chris Ripley
- Title Marketing That Works, a division of the Strategic Marketing Group. 11668 Cygnet Drive Waldorf, MD 20601 301-638-4755 cripley@smg2.com www.smg2.com
Go Sox!
Chris Ripley in Ft. Meyers...
Monday, November 09, 2009
5 Reasons You're Not Getting The Referrals You Want
Virtually every professional has learned that generating referrals from clients and prospects is a key to success, yet surveys indicate that less than 15% of all salespeople and professionals generate enough referrals to impact their business. Traditional trainers have taught us to "do a good job and ask for referrals."
But by using the traditional approach, the typical professional services business will only get an occasional "referral" or two, and these tend to be just names and phone numbers, rather than qualified prospects. Even worse, this "do a good job and ask for referrals" approach creates five problems:
1. The Client Is Not Prepared To Give Referrals
By waiting until the service is complete and then asking for referrals, your client has not had an opportunity to prepare for your request. To the client, the request comes from out of the blue. When you approach your client with your request without giving him an opportunity to think about it, you put him on the spot. You are giving him only a few seconds to go through his mental file cabinet.
2. The Client Does Not Know What You Need
It may seem obvious to you, but your client has little idea of what makes a good referral for you, even if she takes a few seconds to think about it. You assume that because your practice involves a number of services for small to mid-size businesses, from management consulting, to tax preparation, to financial analysis, your client is immediately going to think, "What other companies do I know or do I do business with that might need Toms' advice and expertise?" Wrong assumption. What she actually thinks is "what does this person want from me?"
3. Your Client Does Not Have A Reason To Give Referrals
We assume that if we have done a good job, the client will like and respect us and be willing to give us referrals. Again, this is far from the case. Most clients will not give quality referrals just because they like you or because you have done a good job for them. They need a reason to give you referrals. They need to understand why it is in their best interest to give you referrals.
Clients assume that whomever they refer you to will be more demanding and critical they have been. When a client gives a referral, he is putting his reputation and image on the line with the person to whom he is referring to you. He is concerned about what his friend or acquaintance is going to think of his and his judgment, particularly if you mess up.
4. The Client Doesn't Have An Objective Standard To Measure Your Performance
The traditional referral generation method does not give the client an objective standard by which to measure the quality of your performance. You and your client may "feel" you have done a good job, but when you ask for referrals, they begin to think back over the process more critically and question whether you have really performed up to standards they believe others would find acceptable.
If the two of you agree up-front on exactly what you need to do in order to "do a good job," the client will have an objective basis to decide if she trusts you enough and if you have performed well enough to earn the right to be sent to people she really knows well and respects.
5. Most People Don't Ask For Referrals
Finally, from tracking the responses of the attendees of my seminars, it appears a majority of professionals do not ask for referrals--rather they suggest them.
Instead of asking a direct question seeking referrals such as, "John, what other business owners do you know that I may be able help solve some crucial issues?" the typical professional will make a weak suggestion such as, "John, if you happen to know someone I can help would you mind letting me know?" Or, "John, if you run across someone, who could use my services, would mind giving them my card?" Rather than a request for referrals, these are throwaway sentences, quickly forgotten by most clients.
Traditional referral training is inherently unfair to you and your client. It does not give you the tools needed to successfully work with your client to generate quality referrals, and it gives your client neither a reason to give referrals, nor a chance to become comfortable referring you to people they know and respect.
Generate The Referrals You Want
Yet, it is possible to generate a very large number of high quality referrals from your clients. You need to have a referral generation process that:
• Informs your client ahead of time that you will ask for referrals
• Lets the client know what your definition of a referral
• Educates your client on why providing referrals is in their best interests
• Provides an agreed upon objective criteria to determine your performance
By forming a process where you eliminate the problems associated with the traditional referral generating method, you will increase not only the number of referrals you receive from your clients, but also the quality of each referral.
Virtually every professional has learned that generating referrals from clients and prospects is a key to success, yet surveys indicate that less than 15% of all salespeople and professionals generate enough referrals to impact their business. Traditional trainers have taught us to "do a good job and ask for referrals."
But by using the traditional approach, the typical professional services business will only get an occasional "referral" or two, and these tend to be just names and phone numbers, rather than qualified prospects. Even worse, this "do a good job and ask for referrals" approach creates five problems:
1. The Client Is Not Prepared To Give Referrals
By waiting until the service is complete and then asking for referrals, your client has not had an opportunity to prepare for your request. To the client, the request comes from out of the blue. When you approach your client with your request without giving him an opportunity to think about it, you put him on the spot. You are giving him only a few seconds to go through his mental file cabinet.
2. The Client Does Not Know What You Need
It may seem obvious to you, but your client has little idea of what makes a good referral for you, even if she takes a few seconds to think about it. You assume that because your practice involves a number of services for small to mid-size businesses, from management consulting, to tax preparation, to financial analysis, your client is immediately going to think, "What other companies do I know or do I do business with that might need Toms' advice and expertise?" Wrong assumption. What she actually thinks is "what does this person want from me?"
3. Your Client Does Not Have A Reason To Give Referrals
We assume that if we have done a good job, the client will like and respect us and be willing to give us referrals. Again, this is far from the case. Most clients will not give quality referrals just because they like you or because you have done a good job for them. They need a reason to give you referrals. They need to understand why it is in their best interest to give you referrals.
Clients assume that whomever they refer you to will be more demanding and critical they have been. When a client gives a referral, he is putting his reputation and image on the line with the person to whom he is referring to you. He is concerned about what his friend or acquaintance is going to think of his and his judgment, particularly if you mess up.
4. The Client Doesn't Have An Objective Standard To Measure Your Performance
The traditional referral generation method does not give the client an objective standard by which to measure the quality of your performance. You and your client may "feel" you have done a good job, but when you ask for referrals, they begin to think back over the process more critically and question whether you have really performed up to standards they believe others would find acceptable.
If the two of you agree up-front on exactly what you need to do in order to "do a good job," the client will have an objective basis to decide if she trusts you enough and if you have performed well enough to earn the right to be sent to people she really knows well and respects.
5. Most People Don't Ask For Referrals
Finally, from tracking the responses of the attendees of my seminars, it appears a majority of professionals do not ask for referrals--rather they suggest them.
Instead of asking a direct question seeking referrals such as, "John, what other business owners do you know that I may be able help solve some crucial issues?" the typical professional will make a weak suggestion such as, "John, if you happen to know someone I can help would you mind letting me know?" Or, "John, if you run across someone, who could use my services, would mind giving them my card?" Rather than a request for referrals, these are throwaway sentences, quickly forgotten by most clients.
Traditional referral training is inherently unfair to you and your client. It does not give you the tools needed to successfully work with your client to generate quality referrals, and it gives your client neither a reason to give referrals, nor a chance to become comfortable referring you to people they know and respect.
Generate The Referrals You Want
Yet, it is possible to generate a very large number of high quality referrals from your clients. You need to have a referral generation process that:
• Informs your client ahead of time that you will ask for referrals
• Lets the client know what your definition of a referral
• Educates your client on why providing referrals is in their best interests
• Provides an agreed upon objective criteria to determine your performance
By forming a process where you eliminate the problems associated with the traditional referral generating method, you will increase not only the number of referrals you receive from your clients, but also the quality of each referral.
Friday, November 06, 2009
The 2 Step Method for Generating Referrals
What is the number one reason you don’t get enough referrals from your clients and prospects?
You don’t ask!
It’s that simple. You need to have a plan in place to regularly ask your clients and prospects for referrals to people who may enjoy receiving the same great service you provide to your clients or could provide to your prospects.
When should you ask for a referral? Don’t ask right after they sent you their first deal. Spend a few months thanking them for their business and developing a strong relationship with them through courtesy, kindness, honesty, and keeping your commitments. As Stephen Covey says, make deposits in their “Emotional Bank Account” and when the time comes to ask for a referral, you can make a withdrawal from this same account. I would recommend you wait 4-6 months after the first deal, when they client knows they can depend on you and will feel comfortable recommending you to someone that trusts them.
Should I ask prospects for referrals? Sure, why not? If you have been doing a great job of communicating on a regular basis with this prospect there is nothing wrong with asking “While I know you’re happy with your current title company, would you know of anyone else who may be interested in our title services?”. Chances of receiving a referral from this prospect may be small but this very act does something else for you that often goes neglected. It positions you as a savvy marketer who does everything you can to generate business.
Positioning or posturing sets you up in a positive light with your prospect. I often receive referrals from title companies to real estate agents or mortgage lenders who are impressed with the way the title company is able to keep in touch with them on a regular basis using our sales automation system. These people know the value of keeping in touch with your prospects and clients on a regular basis and they want to emulate this title company. Your top prospects will be impressed with your efforts and may give you a referral as well as maybe send you’re their next deal due to your efforts.
In the attached exhibits you will find a good example of a letter you can use to ask your clients and prospects for a referral. When you feel it appropriate to send (in our sales automation system we usually send it after 3-4 months of thank you letters). Rarely will someone fax or mail you back a referral. But the secret to this is the follow-up phone call (as is the secret with most tactics in our industry, the phone call is where you have the connection - just like getting people to come to your seminar that we discussed in the May issue). About a week after you send the letter, follow-up with a phone call.
The script for this call is relatively simple. Start off with some small talk. Then pop the question. For current clients ask them “if the know of anyone else who would benefit from receive the great service you receive form our company”. For prospects it’s “while I know you haven’t had a chance to experience our great service, would you know of anyone else who might benefit from giving us a try”.
Whether or not they give you a referral be sure to thank them for their business or the opportunity to talk to them. If they do provide you with a referral be sure to follow-up with a thank you letter (see included exhibits). I’ve also included an introductory letter you can use to send to the prospects you have been referred to by your client or prospect.
So what is your next step? Create a list of clients you think may be able to provide you with a referral. If you feel you have a positive balance in Covey’s “Emotional Bank Account” send them the request for referral letter right away. If not, start thanking them regularly for their business. This could be with letters, phone calls, or personal meetings. Make some deposits in their “Emotional Bank Account”. After you feel you’ve made enough deposits to warrant a withdrawal go for it. Send them the letter and start the process.
I look forward to hearing from some of you on your results of this simple and easy process. The business rewards will be great!
What is the number one reason you don’t get enough referrals from your clients and prospects?
You don’t ask!
It’s that simple. You need to have a plan in place to regularly ask your clients and prospects for referrals to people who may enjoy receiving the same great service you provide to your clients or could provide to your prospects.
When should you ask for a referral? Don’t ask right after they sent you their first deal. Spend a few months thanking them for their business and developing a strong relationship with them through courtesy, kindness, honesty, and keeping your commitments. As Stephen Covey says, make deposits in their “Emotional Bank Account” and when the time comes to ask for a referral, you can make a withdrawal from this same account. I would recommend you wait 4-6 months after the first deal, when they client knows they can depend on you and will feel comfortable recommending you to someone that trusts them.
Should I ask prospects for referrals? Sure, why not? If you have been doing a great job of communicating on a regular basis with this prospect there is nothing wrong with asking “While I know you’re happy with your current title company, would you know of anyone else who may be interested in our title services?”. Chances of receiving a referral from this prospect may be small but this very act does something else for you that often goes neglected. It positions you as a savvy marketer who does everything you can to generate business.
Positioning or posturing sets you up in a positive light with your prospect. I often receive referrals from title companies to real estate agents or mortgage lenders who are impressed with the way the title company is able to keep in touch with them on a regular basis using our sales automation system. These people know the value of keeping in touch with your prospects and clients on a regular basis and they want to emulate this title company. Your top prospects will be impressed with your efforts and may give you a referral as well as maybe send you’re their next deal due to your efforts.
In the attached exhibits you will find a good example of a letter you can use to ask your clients and prospects for a referral. When you feel it appropriate to send (in our sales automation system we usually send it after 3-4 months of thank you letters). Rarely will someone fax or mail you back a referral. But the secret to this is the follow-up phone call (as is the secret with most tactics in our industry, the phone call is where you have the connection - just like getting people to come to your seminar that we discussed in the May issue). About a week after you send the letter, follow-up with a phone call.
The script for this call is relatively simple. Start off with some small talk. Then pop the question. For current clients ask them “if the know of anyone else who would benefit from receive the great service you receive form our company”. For prospects it’s “while I know you haven’t had a chance to experience our great service, would you know of anyone else who might benefit from giving us a try”.
Whether or not they give you a referral be sure to thank them for their business or the opportunity to talk to them. If they do provide you with a referral be sure to follow-up with a thank you letter (see included exhibits). I’ve also included an introductory letter you can use to send to the prospects you have been referred to by your client or prospect.
So what is your next step? Create a list of clients you think may be able to provide you with a referral. If you feel you have a positive balance in Covey’s “Emotional Bank Account” send them the request for referral letter right away. If not, start thanking them regularly for their business. This could be with letters, phone calls, or personal meetings. Make some deposits in their “Emotional Bank Account”. After you feel you’ve made enough deposits to warrant a withdrawal go for it. Send them the letter and start the process.
I look forward to hearing from some of you on your results of this simple and easy process. The business rewards will be great!
Tuesday, November 03, 2009
Referrals and Testimonials - What Do Your Clients Really Think?
Do you have a healthy mix of referral business and self-generated business?
A little over four years ago I was completing my master’s degree. My master’s thesis was titled “Successful Real Estate Marketing Strategies and Tactics”. Since I was working with clients in the title industry, I thought it was important I thoroughly understood one of their main target markets. (if you would like a copy of my master’s thesis, just drop me an email and I’d be glad to send it to you. I also do a seminar for agents based on the thesis. I’ve presented to real estate agents and used the presentation as a lead generation tactic for title companies. Please feel free to contact me about doing the seminar for your prospects) I had had many one-on-one conversations with agents regarding their interactions with title companies; but I never had asked them about their marketing strategies and tactics. One of the most important things I learned during the research for the thesis (and confirmed by other research) was real estate agents receive 3/4 of their business from referrals. I’m sure this is no real news to you.
I’m sure if you have a successful title business you get a large majority of your business from referrals. In our recent survey of title company marketing strategies and tactics, title companies say they get over 80% of their business from referrals. This issue of our newsletter is devoted to maximizing the number of referrals you earn and how to use testimonial to help you with your marketing efforts.
Over the next few weeks in this blog I will highlight some referral strategies. Stay tuned.
Do you have a healthy mix of referral business and self-generated business?
A little over four years ago I was completing my master’s degree. My master’s thesis was titled “Successful Real Estate Marketing Strategies and Tactics”. Since I was working with clients in the title industry, I thought it was important I thoroughly understood one of their main target markets. (if you would like a copy of my master’s thesis, just drop me an email and I’d be glad to send it to you. I also do a seminar for agents based on the thesis. I’ve presented to real estate agents and used the presentation as a lead generation tactic for title companies. Please feel free to contact me about doing the seminar for your prospects) I had had many one-on-one conversations with agents regarding their interactions with title companies; but I never had asked them about their marketing strategies and tactics. One of the most important things I learned during the research for the thesis (and confirmed by other research) was real estate agents receive 3/4 of their business from referrals. I’m sure this is no real news to you.
I’m sure if you have a successful title business you get a large majority of your business from referrals. In our recent survey of title company marketing strategies and tactics, title companies say they get over 80% of their business from referrals. This issue of our newsletter is devoted to maximizing the number of referrals you earn and how to use testimonial to help you with your marketing efforts.
Over the next few weeks in this blog I will highlight some referral strategies. Stay tuned.
Monday, October 26, 2009
Are You Road Kill on the Information Super Highway?
Have you completely lost touch with what in going on in marketing your title company in the 21st Century?
Do you want to learn how to use social media to help market your title company?
Join Us for the Title Marketing That Works Social Media Marketing University, a three seminar series on the hottest trend in marketing today, social media marketing. In these three classes you will learn everything you need to know to earn your Master’s in Social Media Marketing (MSMM).
Do you hear about Facebook, Linkedin, and Twitter in the news every day? Ever wonder where the money is in these social media sensations? Could you use these tools in your business? Come to our three seminars and learn the answers to these questions and any other questions you may have on social media marketing.
Just click here to sign up for all three seminars.
How Much Should Your Title Company Spend on Marketing?
Estimating the marketing portion of your budget is no easy task. It often comes under the shadow of “darned if you do and darned if you don’t.”
You will hear people say (often as a complaint) that they spend nearly 10% of their budget on marketing. Then you may hear a comment from another businessperson that he or she “got the lion’s share of the year’s business off of a $500 brochure.”
This tells you that instinct and common sense are both involved in the process of setting a marketing budget. But here are some more definitive guidelines:
• If you are a start-up, plan on spending a sizeable chunk of your budget over the first two to three years will go to marketing, especially with electronic modes added to (not replacing) the print vehicles you need to use.
• If you add trade show presence to the budget, you can expect to spend hefty bucks to have a presence that meets, perhaps exceeds, the impact of your competitors.
• Direct advertising will boost the dollars you spend but will give you the best return over the long term.
• As a start-up, plan to spend 20 to 30 percent of your budget the first year or two on activities related to marketing. It should pay off.
• If you are simply carrying on with already established (and paid for) marketing activities, 3 to 5 percent would be more realistic.
• You also need to plan to seize opportunities when they arise. That means shifting – sometimes increasing – planned expenditures for marketing activities.
• If your “marketing” category includes personnel (in sales or, for larger endeavors, for a marketing specialist), those figures are in addition to the activity-based budget. After a few years, they can actually, with some economies of time and scale, figure into that marketing percentage of budget.
Your marketing efforts – for the most part – should pay for themselves. Sure, there are some things you simply must do to establish your company’s image, your brand, etc., especially at start-up. The point of marketing is to increase business. In other words, it must be effective. It might be to your advantage to look at marketing expenditures beyond the bare necessities of establishing an image in the following way.
If I spend “X” dollars to do this activity, how much new business do I need to generate to cover the costs of doing the activity? Can I reasonably expect to turn that amount of business? Can I reasonably expect to turn more than that? How much more? New business in addition to what is needed to pay the costs of the activity is an increase in your bottom line.
Estimating the marketing portion of your budget is no easy task. It often comes under the shadow of “darned if you do and darned if you don’t.”
You will hear people say (often as a complaint) that they spend nearly 10% of their budget on marketing. Then you may hear a comment from another businessperson that he or she “got the lion’s share of the year’s business off of a $500 brochure.”
This tells you that instinct and common sense are both involved in the process of setting a marketing budget. But here are some more definitive guidelines:
• If you are a start-up, plan on spending a sizeable chunk of your budget over the first two to three years will go to marketing, especially with electronic modes added to (not replacing) the print vehicles you need to use.
• If you add trade show presence to the budget, you can expect to spend hefty bucks to have a presence that meets, perhaps exceeds, the impact of your competitors.
• Direct advertising will boost the dollars you spend but will give you the best return over the long term.
• As a start-up, plan to spend 20 to 30 percent of your budget the first year or two on activities related to marketing. It should pay off.
• If you are simply carrying on with already established (and paid for) marketing activities, 3 to 5 percent would be more realistic.
• You also need to plan to seize opportunities when they arise. That means shifting – sometimes increasing – planned expenditures for marketing activities.
• If your “marketing” category includes personnel (in sales or, for larger endeavors, for a marketing specialist), those figures are in addition to the activity-based budget. After a few years, they can actually, with some economies of time and scale, figure into that marketing percentage of budget.
Your marketing efforts – for the most part – should pay for themselves. Sure, there are some things you simply must do to establish your company’s image, your brand, etc., especially at start-up. The point of marketing is to increase business. In other words, it must be effective. It might be to your advantage to look at marketing expenditures beyond the bare necessities of establishing an image in the following way.
If I spend “X” dollars to do this activity, how much new business do I need to generate to cover the costs of doing the activity? Can I reasonably expect to turn that amount of business? Can I reasonably expect to turn more than that? How much more? New business in addition to what is needed to pay the costs of the activity is an increase in your bottom line.
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Unlocking the Hidden Value in Your Database
Accountants consider many elements of your business to be “assets”, including your building, equipment, cash-on-hand, and even “intellectual” capital. Success at any level of business requires maximization of the value of your assets. At a printing company, that means keeping the presses running. In a title company it may mean keeping employees busy with billable work.
While your accountant may not classify your customer database to be an “asset”, the database with your customer’s information could be one of the most valuable assets you own.
There are two ways to get more business. You can acquire new customers or get more business from your current customers. We have all read the marketing research stating that it’s much cheaper to sell to existing clients than to try to lure in new ones. Your customers know you! They don’t need to be goaded into crossing your proverbial threshold.
For many title companies, their customer database may be the most underutilized asset they own. While most title companies know they should market to their existing customers, few are successful at developing a strategy and implementing the tactics. Lack of time, lack of the proper tools (contact manager, data repository), and lack of investment are all reasons businesses may not be unlocking the value of their customer database.
All (yes, the definitive) title companies should market to their customers. The intensity that you do use your database to communicate and build relationships with your customers increases as the lifetime value (how long they keep doing business with you times how much the average customer spends with you every year) of your customer increases. If the average lifetime value of your customers is more than $10,000, which is very common in the title industry, you should start communicating with your customers right away. You are missing big business opportunities.
What can a title company do to communicate and market to current customers? There are many marketing tactics available – email, direct mail, in person or on the phone – to name a few. There are many different strategies – tell them about a new product or service you may offer, give them a discount on a particular product, ask for a referral, or just thank them for being customer. Understand that the mere act of touching them keeps you on the top of their mind. When it’s time to schedule a settlement they will come back to you.
Is your database a mess? Where should you start? Start by getting the information into a contact management application such as Act! or Goldmine (there are many others – Google “contact manager”). Even Outlook will do. Then decide your strategy – what you are going to say, how you are going to say it, who you say it to; and your tactics – direct mail, email, in person or on the phone. Businesses that faithfully commit to a database marketing strategy will see sales increases from 13% to 25% and even more.
Don’t be frustrated early in this process. In 3 months you will see some additional activity, at 6 months you will know you did the right thing, and in a year you will be hiring more people to handle the extra business.
Accountants consider many elements of your business to be “assets”, including your building, equipment, cash-on-hand, and even “intellectual” capital. Success at any level of business requires maximization of the value of your assets. At a printing company, that means keeping the presses running. In a title company it may mean keeping employees busy with billable work.
While your accountant may not classify your customer database to be an “asset”, the database with your customer’s information could be one of the most valuable assets you own.
There are two ways to get more business. You can acquire new customers or get more business from your current customers. We have all read the marketing research stating that it’s much cheaper to sell to existing clients than to try to lure in new ones. Your customers know you! They don’t need to be goaded into crossing your proverbial threshold.
For many title companies, their customer database may be the most underutilized asset they own. While most title companies know they should market to their existing customers, few are successful at developing a strategy and implementing the tactics. Lack of time, lack of the proper tools (contact manager, data repository), and lack of investment are all reasons businesses may not be unlocking the value of their customer database.
All (yes, the definitive) title companies should market to their customers. The intensity that you do use your database to communicate and build relationships with your customers increases as the lifetime value (how long they keep doing business with you times how much the average customer spends with you every year) of your customer increases. If the average lifetime value of your customers is more than $10,000, which is very common in the title industry, you should start communicating with your customers right away. You are missing big business opportunities.
What can a title company do to communicate and market to current customers? There are many marketing tactics available – email, direct mail, in person or on the phone – to name a few. There are many different strategies – tell them about a new product or service you may offer, give them a discount on a particular product, ask for a referral, or just thank them for being customer. Understand that the mere act of touching them keeps you on the top of their mind. When it’s time to schedule a settlement they will come back to you.
Is your database a mess? Where should you start? Start by getting the information into a contact management application such as Act! or Goldmine (there are many others – Google “contact manager”). Even Outlook will do. Then decide your strategy – what you are going to say, how you are going to say it, who you say it to; and your tactics – direct mail, email, in person or on the phone. Businesses that faithfully commit to a database marketing strategy will see sales increases from 13% to 25% and even more.
Don’t be frustrated early in this process. In 3 months you will see some additional activity, at 6 months you will know you did the right thing, and in a year you will be hiring more people to handle the extra business.
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Lead Management Program
This is a article from the TMTW Elite Gold Newsletter
Lead management is the process of watching and directing the conversion of sales leads into customers. An effective lead management process establishes a clear process for handling and distributing inquiries and leads. Breakdowns in the lead management process often occur when lead generation is viewed not as an ongoing conversation but as a series of campaigns without substantive integration. The desire to seek more leads, regardless of quality, without properly managing those on hand can also impair the process. Other detriments to sound lead management include the lack of:
• An effective lead nurturing program
• An effectively utilized or well-maintained database
• Conformance with the lead generation program in general
Effectively tracking and nurturing leads are often the most challenging aspects of lead management, particularly in companies where there is little or no sales accountability. In such cases, fully 80% of sales leads that go into the black box are ever seen again.
In lead generation, tracking leads is critical to you getting the full value from your sales and marketing efforts. A company is a collection of processes. Just as you would never try to complete a settlement without having a settlement work process, marketing and sales must have a process to track and nurture leads.
Visit http://www.titlemarketingthatworks.com/demo.htm to learn more.
This is a article from the TMTW Elite Gold Newsletter
Lead management is the process of watching and directing the conversion of sales leads into customers. An effective lead management process establishes a clear process for handling and distributing inquiries and leads. Breakdowns in the lead management process often occur when lead generation is viewed not as an ongoing conversation but as a series of campaigns without substantive integration. The desire to seek more leads, regardless of quality, without properly managing those on hand can also impair the process. Other detriments to sound lead management include the lack of:
• An effective lead nurturing program
• An effectively utilized or well-maintained database
• Conformance with the lead generation program in general
Effectively tracking and nurturing leads are often the most challenging aspects of lead management, particularly in companies where there is little or no sales accountability. In such cases, fully 80% of sales leads that go into the black box are ever seen again.
In lead generation, tracking leads is critical to you getting the full value from your sales and marketing efforts. A company is a collection of processes. Just as you would never try to complete a settlement without having a settlement work process, marketing and sales must have a process to track and nurture leads.
Visit http://www.titlemarketingthatworks.com/demo.htm to learn more.
Thursday, October 08, 2009
Leveraging Cheap Database Technology to Solve Your Lead Generation Problems
What are your marketing problems? Has the recent tight market cut-off your lead flow? Are you getting less business from your current customers? Is it difficult to follow-up with your current customers and frustrating then prospects fall through the cracks due to lack of follow-up?
Whatever it is, the first thing you need to do is have a list and work that list. It’s no coincidence Real Estate agents call their list of customers and prospects their “farm”. With a good list and cheap database to manage your list you can grow your current customers and nurture your prospects and have a bumper crop. Your list will be a valuable part of your business.
You can get started here with less than $300. Just follow these next few steps and you will be on your way to solving your lead generation problems.
1. Go Online and Purchase a list. There are several sources for prospect lists. If you Google “real estate agent list” you will see several companies selling lists. You can define your list criteria demographically, by city, state, county, almost any way you would like. I recently bought a list for a client with 2700 agents (including email) for about $130. One of the same companies selling real estate agent lists also selling attorney lists. I have found the best source for mortgage lists to be infousa.com. These are the same folks who advertise on TV as “Sales Genie” prospect providers. They are more expensive than the real estate agent lists. You can also go to trade associations and purchase lists from them.
2. Put the list into a database. Having a database of your current customers and prospects can be a valuable part of the value of your business. This is well worth the time you will have to put in to do it right. If you purchase a list you will usually receive it in some format that will open in Microsoft Excel. From there you can import it into your database. You should also add all of your current and past customers. Don’t forget the box of business cards from last years real estate trade show.
For your database there are several inexpensive options. I recommend using Act! a customer relationship management database with many great features and many you may never use. Act! 2008 is available for only $99 at Costco and has a retail of $229. You can sync your Act! with Outlook. Another option is just keeping your list in Excel. Excel is a good format to do mail merge letters and mass mailings but is really tough to look things up and read the information. I know many people who use Outlook. It has many features to help you manage customer relationships.
3. Use the database to contact your current customers, past customers, and prospects. Start with your current customers. Send them a thank you letter or give them a call. Just tell them you were going through you list and just want to call and say thank you. 70% of all customer defections are due to neglect. This will stem the tide. See if you can reactivate old customers. Again, give them a call, send a letter. Remember to ask for referrals if it feels appropriate.
For contacting your prospects (the list you just bought) I recommend sending three introductory letters over a two week period and then follow up with a phone call. The letters will “warm-up” the prospect with some information about your company. You can include a small but distinctive gift in the envelope to get their attention and make your letter more memorable. I will send all OLTA readers three introductory letter examples. Just email me at cripley@smg2.com for your free letters.
Act! can do mail merges (merging your list or parts of your list into a single letter to do a mass mailing) to print tens or hundreds of the same letter. You can do this with Excel and Word but segmenting your list is more difficult.
If you follow these three steps, I guarantee you will get new business from your efforts. Make a commitment to spend time executing these steps. Don’t miss a week. Schedule some time on your calendar to focus on marketing activity and don’t miss it.
What are your marketing problems? Has the recent tight market cut-off your lead flow? Are you getting less business from your current customers? Is it difficult to follow-up with your current customers and frustrating then prospects fall through the cracks due to lack of follow-up?
Whatever it is, the first thing you need to do is have a list and work that list. It’s no coincidence Real Estate agents call their list of customers and prospects their “farm”. With a good list and cheap database to manage your list you can grow your current customers and nurture your prospects and have a bumper crop. Your list will be a valuable part of your business.
You can get started here with less than $300. Just follow these next few steps and you will be on your way to solving your lead generation problems.
1. Go Online and Purchase a list. There are several sources for prospect lists. If you Google “real estate agent list” you will see several companies selling lists. You can define your list criteria demographically, by city, state, county, almost any way you would like. I recently bought a list for a client with 2700 agents (including email) for about $130. One of the same companies selling real estate agent lists also selling attorney lists. I have found the best source for mortgage lists to be infousa.com. These are the same folks who advertise on TV as “Sales Genie” prospect providers. They are more expensive than the real estate agent lists. You can also go to trade associations and purchase lists from them.
2. Put the list into a database. Having a database of your current customers and prospects can be a valuable part of the value of your business. This is well worth the time you will have to put in to do it right. If you purchase a list you will usually receive it in some format that will open in Microsoft Excel. From there you can import it into your database. You should also add all of your current and past customers. Don’t forget the box of business cards from last years real estate trade show.
For your database there are several inexpensive options. I recommend using Act! a customer relationship management database with many great features and many you may never use. Act! 2008 is available for only $99 at Costco and has a retail of $229. You can sync your Act! with Outlook. Another option is just keeping your list in Excel. Excel is a good format to do mail merge letters and mass mailings but is really tough to look things up and read the information. I know many people who use Outlook. It has many features to help you manage customer relationships.
3. Use the database to contact your current customers, past customers, and prospects. Start with your current customers. Send them a thank you letter or give them a call. Just tell them you were going through you list and just want to call and say thank you. 70% of all customer defections are due to neglect. This will stem the tide. See if you can reactivate old customers. Again, give them a call, send a letter. Remember to ask for referrals if it feels appropriate.
For contacting your prospects (the list you just bought) I recommend sending three introductory letters over a two week period and then follow up with a phone call. The letters will “warm-up” the prospect with some information about your company. You can include a small but distinctive gift in the envelope to get their attention and make your letter more memorable. I will send all OLTA readers three introductory letter examples. Just email me at cripley@smg2.com for your free letters.
Act! can do mail merges (merging your list or parts of your list into a single letter to do a mass mailing) to print tens or hundreds of the same letter. You can do this with Excel and Word but segmenting your list is more difficult.
If you follow these three steps, I guarantee you will get new business from your efforts. Make a commitment to spend time executing these steps. Don’t miss a week. Schedule some time on your calendar to focus on marketing activity and don’t miss it.
Tuesday, August 04, 2009
After a little work I've got all of my Title Marketing That Works social media marketing sites up and running and ready to share with you.
While I've always tried to be a leader in new marketing strategies and tactics for title companies and other businesses, it has taken me a little while to sort out what works and what doesn't in the Web 2.0/Social Media Marketing world.
From Wikipedia - "Web 2.0" refers to the second generation of web development and web design. It is characterized as facilitating communication, information sharing, interoperability, user-centered design[1] and collaboration on the World Wide Web.
We hear about Facebook and Twitter on a daily basis on the radio or television and from our kids, spouse, or friends. Is it really worth your time to use these tools to help your business by finding new customers and keeping to ones you have? Or are they just tools to suck up your valuable time and meet up with old high school classmates?
I also have the added incentive in learning about these marketing tools for a class that I teach at the University of Phoenix - Media and Advertising. Our last section is devoted to Web 2.0 and Social Media.
I'm going to give you a brief idea of each of these sites. If you want to learn more we will be having a FREE seminar in September where we will give you much more information.
Maybe now would be a good time to open an account on LinkedIn and get started. I recommend LinkedIn as a good place to start. I can be your first connection.
I've prepared a short video to show you how to set up your LinkedIn account. Just click here to go to the video.
Please feel free to call me with any social media questions you may have.
Facebook
Facebook is the most popular social media site for adults. There are over 250 million users. Facebook can be used for personal as well as business communications. I know several title companies that use Facebook to nurture current clients and prospects. I would like to invite you join us on Facebook just search "Title Marketing That Works" and become a fan of our page. We already have 50 fans.
LinkedIn
I feel LinkedIn offers the greatest opportunity to generate leads, nurture prospects, and nurture clients. Everything on LinkedIn is business. There are no photos of the new baby or the cruise. While joining is easy and free there are also a couple of pay levels as well. I would recommend a new user to start with the free level and grow into the $24.95 a month level. Join the “Title Company Marketers” group in LinkedIn.
Twitter
The jury is still out on my opinion of Twitter as a tool to market your title company. I recently spent 3 hours at a seminar about Twitter and the speaker got quite annoyed when pressed by a student as to how Twitter can help her business.
The point he was trying to make was Twitter is completely about relationships. And if you are interested in sharing your sometimes personal Tweets with the world or a certain subset then use it. I'm not sure you will generate any leads but it may be a good tool to develop relationships with your best customers.
Active Rain
I have the least experience with Active Rain. Active Rain is a real estate services business network. There are lots of real estate agents and mortgage lenders there. There are over 5,00 title company people already.
You should definitely be there. You get points that increase your visibility as you make posts to your blog. As a title company you may make blog posts with title company tips for real estate agents or mortgage companies. There are plenty of posts about how to use Active Rain. Start by checking one of those blogs out.
Wednesday, June 03, 2009
There is an online demo of the TMTW Sales Automation System tomorrow at 2pm EDT. Visit: http://www.acteva.com/booking.cfm?bevaid=177297 to sign up.
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Nailta - National Association of Independent Land Title Agents - should we say "nailta"?
This new groups of independent title agents is meeting on May 17th in Atlantic City. Visit www.nailta.org to learn much more. I didn't re-up for ALTA this year as I felt small associate members were not being served. I'm looking forward to getting involved in this group. I've already sent my membership fee in and I've signed up to attend the meeting. I hope to see you there.
This new groups of independent title agents is meeting on May 17th in Atlantic City. Visit www.nailta.org to learn much more. I didn't re-up for ALTA this year as I felt small associate members were not being served. I'm looking forward to getting involved in this group. I've already sent my membership fee in and I've signed up to attend the meeting. I hope to see you there.
Here we go...
At 10:17pm tonight I decided it was time to do the blog.
I'm going to take the time to get this going. I'm Chris Ripley, developer of the Title Marketing That Works (TMTW) system for marketing and bsuiness development. For almost five years I have help title companies increase their sales and market their business. I've worked with over 250 different title companies, from 3 person offices to 12 marketing people in another office.
I've done one-to-one consulting gigs with 3 person shops to one title mortgage company with 31 representatives. We've developed direct mail pieces, banner ads, events, and other marketing tactics for title companies, one hosting 42 m,ortgage lenders at a mortgage marketing seminar presented for a consulting client.
We also help title companies automate their marketing efforts. The Title Marketing That Wroks Sales Automation System (TMTWSAS) is a PC based marketing sutomation system. You can automate your lead generation, prospect nurturing, and client nurturing efforts, spending less time and getting better results.
TMTW also produces a wide variety of marketing education products for title companies. Live and recorded seminars plus the TMTW Monthly Marketing Newsletter (419 month) are the main products we offer. From the popular 30 Day Title Company Marketing Makeover and the comprehensive "Title Marketing for Settlement Officers" bring customers our tested solutions to you for the fraction of the price of the other products we offer.
You can learn much more about Title Marketing That Works at www.titlemarketingthatworks.com
I'm going to post here 2-3 times a week and also answer your questions. You can join us and post you own question or email me at cripley@smg2.com and I will post your question and hopefully provide you and the other readers.
So here we go. I said I would have this blog going by 12 midnight and I'm somewhat done and it's only 10:39.
Our next topic to discuss will be "Using Social Networks in Your Marketing: Web 2.0". If you have any specific questions on this topic follow the instructions above to get it to me.
Hooray!
At 10:17pm tonight I decided it was time to do the blog.
I'm going to take the time to get this going. I'm Chris Ripley, developer of the Title Marketing That Works (TMTW) system for marketing and bsuiness development. For almost five years I have help title companies increase their sales and market their business. I've worked with over 250 different title companies, from 3 person offices to 12 marketing people in another office.
I've done one-to-one consulting gigs with 3 person shops to one title mortgage company with 31 representatives. We've developed direct mail pieces, banner ads, events, and other marketing tactics for title companies, one hosting 42 m,ortgage lenders at a mortgage marketing seminar presented for a consulting client.
We also help title companies automate their marketing efforts. The Title Marketing That Wroks Sales Automation System (TMTWSAS) is a PC based marketing sutomation system. You can automate your lead generation, prospect nurturing, and client nurturing efforts, spending less time and getting better results.
TMTW also produces a wide variety of marketing education products for title companies. Live and recorded seminars plus the TMTW Monthly Marketing Newsletter (419 month) are the main products we offer. From the popular 30 Day Title Company Marketing Makeover and the comprehensive "Title Marketing for Settlement Officers" bring customers our tested solutions to you for the fraction of the price of the other products we offer.
You can learn much more about Title Marketing That Works at www.titlemarketingthatworks.com
I'm going to post here 2-3 times a week and also answer your questions. You can join us and post you own question or email me at cripley@smg2.com and I will post your question and hopefully provide you and the other readers.
So here we go. I said I would have this blog going by 12 midnight and I'm somewhat done and it's only 10:39.
Our next topic to discuss will be "Using Social Networks in Your Marketing: Web 2.0". If you have any specific questions on this topic follow the instructions above to get it to me.
Hooray!
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