Why a Relationship Marketing Strategy Works to Get Referrals

Who should listen: This episode is for small business owners and entrepreneurs looking for a follow-up solution to strengthen client relationships and garner more repeat business and referrals.

Key idea: The most powerful things in business are relationships. You develop them by getting to know people, and to know people, you need to have conversations. The best follow-up allows you to have those conversations.

Most of our audience knows Luke and Josh as the hosts of Stay Paid. Fewer know that they run ReminderMedia, a relationship marketing company that specializes in helping entrepreneurs and small business owners close more deals, retain more clients, and get more referrals. How they do this is the subject of this week’s Silver Dollar episode.

Solving the biggest pain point in sales

The way to build relationships in business is to have conversations with people so that they can get to know, like, and trust you enough to be willing to do business with you. And even though professional salespeople know that they need to have these conversations, their biggest pain point is that they don’t successfully nurture their leads.

Some salespeople don’t follow up simply because they fear rejection. Their fear typically stems from not understanding that rejection truly is a part of every salesperson’s experience and not having a strategy for coping with it.

Others don’t follow up with leads, prospects, and current clients because—frankly—they either don’t have the time (because they are chasing new leads) or they don’t know how without feeling pushy.

Whatever the reason, not following up means you are likely wasting at least 50% of your leads.

We can help you with that . . .

Our specialty is helping salespeople nurture their leads and build relationships in ways that can save them time, but more importantly, generate more business from their databases without pitching a sale.

When you listen to the episode, you’ll hear details about our products and the processes we use to make mining the gold in your database and generating perpetual referrals super easy. Our clients find success because our print magazines, social media marketing, postcards, and more, are of the very highest quality, feature topics their audiences are interested in (rather than industry-specific information), and are largely automated for delivery (so there’s no chance you miss a touchpoint). Plus, we coach our clients how to use these products as a reason for following up with their recipients and as a way to sustain a relationship marketing strategy that works.

Why relationship marketing works

Before going too far, let’s define relationship marketing. Hubspot offers a definition as good as we’ve found elsewhere:

Relationship marketing is a marketing strategy that cultivates deeper, more meaningful relationships with customers to ensure long-term satisfaction and brand loyalty. Relationship marketing is not focused on short-term wins or sales transactions — rather, it is focused on delighting customers for the long haul.

You should recognize immediately that relationship marketing is a long-term strategy. The goal is to never stop providing value to the people in your database. Then, when the time comes that they need your services for the first, second, fifth, or fifteenth time, you’ve already developed a relationship with them, are top of mind, and are the one they reach out to and refer their families and friends to.

It combats the loyalty gap

Clients are loyal provided that you’ve given them good service and have treated them well. However, over time, that loyalty wanes.

How do we know?

According to NAR’s 2022 Home Buyers and Sellers Generational Trend Report, when buyers were asked, “Would you use your real estate agent again or recommend them to others?” 90 percent said they would. However, according to the same report, only 64% actually did.

Here’s what happens . . .

In the beginning, your relationships with clients are immediate—you’re in frequent contact with one another, you’ve come to know each other, and you’re providing them with a needed service and value.

But as time goes on, clients no longer feel their relationship with you is as valuable to them. Yours was a relationship based on a need that has since been satisfied. You may have known each other once, but now . . . well, not so much.

With its emphasis on providing consistent value and nurturing relationships, a relationship marketing strategy can help you close this loyalty gap. When you routinely send an item of value before and following a transaction, when you aren’t always talking business, when you continue to be of help and service, when you follow up just to say hi and ask how things are going, you’re taking the necessary steps to nurture relationships with your clients.

It provides value that is F.I.T.

When done well, relationship marketing is F.I.T., which means it is frequent, makes an impact, and builds trust with the people in your sphere.

Based on our 20+ years of experience, we recommend reaching out 26 times a year. At a minimum, you should be reaching out once a quarter. Collectively, our programs can provide you with 58 automated touchpoints annually. And while frequency keeps you top of mind, consistency will build trust.

Additionally, what you share with or send to your sphere must be relevant to them. Marketers will often make the mistake of sending information they want to share rather than what their audience wants to receive. If what you provide isn’t relevant, it becomes junk mail.

Relevancy is one facet of making an impact. Another is personalization. A third is quality. We provide our clients with marketing that checks all these boxes.

Finally, your marketing should brand you as a trustworthy business. Providing knowledgeable information, educating your sphere, connecting what they find interesting, and relating what you share back to what you do is how we help you to build trust.

At the end of the day, relationship marketing requires that you genuinely care about the people in your sphere and view them as more than a mere transaction. So many of our guests talk about clients as friends, how they enjoy being of service, and how strong relationships have made prospecting, cold calling, and chasing leads a thing of the past.

If you want to be remembered, develop strong client relationships, and have a marketing system that perpetually generates new leads, then download a FREE copy of one of our magazines. If you like what you see, take advantage of the special discount and free offer provided with your download.

Please enjoy this episode, and we’d appreciate it if you would give us a 5-star rating and leave a review on Apple Podcasts. (Not sure how to leave a review? Click here.)

Connect | Resources

Conversica: Study Finds Sales and Marketing Wasting 50% of Time and Money on Leads

Download: FREE call scripts

Special offer: StayPaid.com/magazine for a FREE sample magazine and (insane) discount 😲