Small Business Marketing Strategy: The 7 Steps to Explode Your Business

Qualified referrals are something that most small business owners can easily agree the more there are the merrier. The key is simple — you and your small business need to become more referable! In my over two decades of working with successful business owners, I’ve come upon "The Seven Small Business Marketing Strategies" that will virtually guarantee your small business will soon have a steady stream of qualified referrals.

Small Business Marketing Strategy 1: Be predictable

An affluent woman shared that she was scheduled to meet with a designer. She had seen this woman’s work and was excited to use her and had even referred her to some other friends. After being stood up on two occasions, she fired the designer. The amount of referrals and income lost to the designer was significant, not to mention the effect this event had on the designer’s small business reputation.

Someone I know who serves on the board of a homeowners’ association is a very qualified service provider and owner of a small business. I mentioned his name one day to a friend of mine, and a different woman with us flat out said "I would never use him." She then proceeded to tell us how unprofessional, disrespectful and mean he had been to people in his subdivision. My friend looked at me and said she wanted someone who was predictable. In less than five minutes, this small business owner lost $10,000 worth of potential business because he wasn’t professional.

Both these stories present a moral to people to always do the right thing, even when you don’t believe anyone is looking… because chances are, they really are looking and they will be telling others.

Small Business Marketing Strategy 2: Show you care

The motto, "clients don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care" is the cornerstone of an effective small business marketing and referral-building strategy. When clients comprehend that you truly care about them, they feel obliged to tell others about you. It’s all about building strong relationships and taking the time to make that one extra phone call, set up a lunch or coffee date, or even send a birthday card. By going the extra mile and figuring out what your clients are passionate about you will have an army of referral sources. Say one of your affluent clients loves roses, you could then take her to the annual rose exhibit. If another loves golf, take him to the annual tournament that comes to town. Clients and prospects are virtually starved for affection and consideration, and even a few small gestures can have a dramatic effect on the number of referrals you receive.

Small Business Marketing Strategy 3: Get your clients and prospects into the "referability zone"

Part of any small business marketing plan should include a plan to promote referrals. Anyone who’s ever been or even still is a serious runner can empathize what it feels like to be "in the zone." Similar to athletes, you’ve got to get your clients and colleagues into their personal referability zone. In order to accomplish this, you need to make sure they immediately associate you with the key words of your message. If your small business provides marketing and consulting to entrepreneurs, for example, you will want people to think of you — and refer you — whenever they hear someone say "small business marketing," "business opportunity," "small business marketing consulting" or any other word or phrase that illustrates a small business or entrepreneur who can use your services. To make this happen, you need to send memorable messages — with both pictures and words — to your clients, prospects and colleagues on a regular basis. You’ll know this strategy is working when a client calls and tells you something like, "You need to call Jerry because he needs help marketing his business."

Small Business Marketing Strategy 4: Ask for referrals upfront

Prior to an acceptance from a colleague of mine to his clients, he asks them if they’ll refer others to him if after working with him for a year he’s done a good job. He then takes the time to learn exactly what his clients want and need to ensure he’s meeting their expectations. At the end of the year, when his small business consulting clients meet for their annual review and say he’s done a good job, he reminds them of their concord. Guess what? His referrals have quadrupled!

Small Business Marketing Strategy 5: What can I do for you?

When your business marketing strategy is focused on serving others and doing everything you can do for them, you’ll be amazed at the referrals you get in return. View all your relationships from the perspective, "What can I do for you?"

Small Business Marketing Strategy 6: Under-promise and over-deliver

Your small business marketing strategy must focus on exceeding expectations and doing whatever they can to ensure they do not under-deliver. A very well-connected colleague recently shared that he was using some new software that I was interested in. When I began asking him questions, he said that he felt they’d oversold him on the front end and were not delivering on the back end. I can only imagine how many referrals this software company lost because of their flip-flopped strategy.

Small Business Marketing Strategy 7: Create reciprocal referral relationships

This has been one of my best small business marketing and referral strategy. Simply identify five or 10 other small businesses who target the same clientele, but do not compete ideally. Ask the other small business owners if they want to set up a mutually beneficial partnership by agreeing to cross refer any clients. The reason for choosing five or ten other small businesses is because some will be better reciprocal partners than others. You will want to find the one or two who are as committed to creating a small business marketing strategy that has a consistent flow of qualified referrals as you are.

Becoming referable doesn’t usually happen overnight, but you can make it happen if you create a process in your small business marketing plan. Start with two of the small business marketing strategies listed above and monitor the results. Keep the ones that work best for you and continue to add strategies until you gain more referrals than you can even handle!

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Annette Bau, CFP(r), is the founder of Advisor Marketing Practices and the author of numerous books and products.

She can be reached at Questions@MillionaireSeries.com.