Marketing costs are going up..U.S. Postal Stamps are now at an all time high of 46 cents and the cost of shipping magazines and catalogs is up 20%.

Newspaper advertising costs as well are estimated to increase along with radio and television. Printers ink and paper cost are estimated to increase.

What is a seller who must market in order to survive and prosper to do? What can you do?

You cannot stop marketing to your customers and prospects. What you can do, in fact I think what you are going to have to do, is use one of your most valuable assets to market for you.

An asset that costs you nothing to use, not a single cent. An asset that has been in your marketing arsenal from the day you opened your business. Your asset of customers.

The top sales producers have been using their customers from the beginning of commerce to bring in their friends, relatives and colleagues to make purchases. People love to buy where others have been satisfied making purchases.

It’s time to use, no it is past time for you to use Referral Marketing. And I am going to give you the secret of how to get your satisfied customers to send their friends, relatives and colleagues to your business to buy your goods and services at the highest possible fair prices. That’s right, when a customer comes to your business because they were referred by someone they trust you are able to get a higher price, as long as it is a fair price, for your products and services.

THE SECRET

The secret to getting your satisfied customers to send their friends, family and colleagues to you is: “ASK.” All you have to do is ask them to send them to you.
The rules of referral marketing are:

1. People like to buy where others, they trust, have been successful.
2. People like to tell, brag if you like, to their friends, family and colleagues when they have made a good buy.
3. Customers who are satisfied with your products and services like to help you if you ask them to.

But they will not help you unless you ask them. Word of month advertising has got to be helped along. There is just to much going on in your customer’s lives for them to automatically remember to refer you.

THE PROCESS

1. Create yourself a short request statement to say after you ask the qualifying questions:
   Examples of qualifying questions:
   “Jim are you totally satisfied with your new..?”
   You should always ask the “Are you satisfied question” even if you are not going to ask for a referral. After all, it is much better to find out if there is dissatisfaction so you can fix it. “Jim are you totally satisfied with the (name product / service) you purchased from me?”
   Examples of short request statements:
   “Jim, you know a lot of people in the community that I would like to help with their needs for (insert your product/service), the way I have helped you.
   Would this be a good time for you to give me 4 or 5 names or would you rather I telephone you tomorrow?”
2. Always ask for 4 or 5 or more. You may only get 1 or 2, but if you only ask for 1 or 2 you may not get any. Sure, it does not always work, but if it works only 25% of the time, well you do the math. 25% of the customers you sell to in one month = A lot of potential customers that did not cost you a cent to find.
3. Okay, now you have to contact them. Your satisfied customer is not going to run out and call them to tell them to purchase from you. And yes, it does cost money to contact them. But now you have a real targeted market so your marketing costs will come down and your sales and profits will go up.

Don’t let the post office and media increase your marketing costs. Use your satisfied customers to gain new prospects that will turn into lifelong customers.