We all know that recommendation by an existing customer is the most powerful and the most sincere form of marketing.
But how do you make it happen?
By being recommendable. By making it easy for someone who has been in the same situation and benefitted from your solution to say
“Hey, I was exactly where you are, and I got these people to help – you should too. Would you like me to introduce you?”.
That means being very specific about the problem you solve and the situation a person with the problem is in at the moment they need your solution – or even just a part of your solution.
As an example, accountants often attract new clients by offering to help them with their tax return as the deadline looms closer. The recommendation here would look something like this:
Owner 1: “I’ve got to file a tax return next month, and I’m nowhere near ready. I’ll be paying a penalty. Again.”
Owner 2: “You should use X for that. There’s no-one faster – even if your data’s in a mess. I was in your shoes 3 years ago, used them for my tax return, and have used them for all my accounting ever since. Now I never have to worry about penalties. Would you like me to introduce you?”
I can imagine similar scenarios for other situations in a business owner’s life where they suddenly realise the need for an accountant – when they are about to go VAT-registered, when they start paying tax, when they take on their first employee, when they’re applying for a grant.
Whenever they worry about getting it wrong.
I bet not many wake up one morning thinking “Everything’s going well, I think I’ll take on an accountant.”
So, it pays to think about recommendability in very specific terms, before you even put together an offer.
Imagine the person you wish to serve. Imagine the situation(s) they could be in. Imagine what they are feeling, what they think their problem is in that situation. Then design your solution.
And if you already have a solution, that solves for multiple situations, do the same exercise to package up your solution for each situation individually, starting with the most valuable.
Either way, the more you build in recommendability, the easier your marketing will be.
Discipline makes Daring possible.
