Recent events and emerging trends are changing the marketing landscape and driving up the cost of client acquisition. Sales professionals confront a multi-headed monster of technology advances, regulatory changes, over-saturation of previously successful tools, and buyer skepticism.
The broadening use of call blocking technologies such as Caller-ID®, Privacy Manager, and voice mail together with the “Do Not Call” regulations have delivered a strong 1-2 punch to cold-calling as a viable strategy in the consumer market and driven up the cost of acquiring new customers.
Corporate scandals involving huge and previously trusted companies have caused a breakdown in trust and an increase in consumer skepticism. Some companies have tried to address the trust issue by hosting “value added” education forums ranging from dinner seminars to on-line webinars. While initially successful, this tool has now reached the point of over-saturation in many markets. Response rates from mass mailings of seminar invitations have dropped significantly and the subsequent closing ratios are even worse. The common refrain we hear from professionals across the country is that “seminars” just don’t work like they used to.”
Education forums held off-site or in the evening require a significant investment of prospect time. This is a difficult burden to overcome in appealing to the time-starved prospect. Because so many of these “seminars” were merely disguised sales pitches, consumers have become skeptical and quality prospects now rarely attend.
As a result, referrals have become the single most profitable and single most important prospecting strategy. However, for just the reasons mentioned above, consumers are much more reluctant to refer. They don’t want to see their family or friends get burned.
We are at a convergence point where both the NEED FOR referrals and the RELUCTANCE TO refer has never been higher. To prosper in the future, professionals must excel at utilizing both a broader range of referral strategies and a more refined approach. They will need new ways for current and former customers to introduce them to quality prospects in a risk-free, easy, and personal way. A name and a number are no longer enough to secure an appointment. In-person introductions are now key.
As a result, we see the emergence of a new strategy – Referral Events. Referral events provide a vehicle for customers to personally introduce prospects to their agent. A referral event is where a sales professional or company hosts a special event and clients bring qualified prospects with them to the event. Referral events can be based on a technical theme or they can be based on a personal interest theme.
For more information visit www.referralmastery.com or contact us at 800-865-2867.