A customer asks, “I am looking for suggestions about letters of introduction–‘Why you should tell your clients about me’ letters.”

“We have a real estate inspection business and are in search of more business, especially targeting Realtors®. Any suggestions?”

Any marketing communication should explain the benefits of doing business with you. What do customers get when they hire you? Not just the nuts-and-bolts of what you do and how you do it, but the results customers get. What makes your product or service better than others’? Do you find things others miss? Make appointments around the client’s schedule and offer extended hours? Give faster turnaround? The first thing you have to address is what is in it for the clients your prospects may refer.

There is an additional level of benefits to consider when you are asking someone to refer their friends, colleagues or clients. What is the benefit to the person making the referral? In some cases, what’s in it for them might be a tangible reward, even cash. However, in many circumstances such a reward is neither expected nor appropriate. So what do they get for making referrals? Will referring clients to you make life easier for them and for their clients? Why?

When you are asking professionals to refer their clients to you, you are also asking them to risk their reputations on you. If you don’t do a good job, it reflects on them. Demonstrate that you will do a great job. Include your credentials, information about your experience, and testimonials. Testimonials from clients you’ve served are great, but testimonials from people who have made successful referrals to you are even better. So, in this case, include one or more testimonials from Realtors® who regularly refer clients, as well as some from individuals who have used the inspection service.

What if you don’t have a testimonial from a referral source, because you’re not getting those referrals yet? Focus on having some great customer testimonials, and add a referrer testimonial to your marketing as soon as you can.

Follow up. A professional is unlikely to start referring clients to you just because they got a letter. Make yourself known to them by becoming active in local organizations, contacting them more than once, etc.

And, lastly, don’t expect overnight results. You have to build your reputation, build awareness of your business, and prove yourself before you see maximum results. But once you’ve established some great connections, your referral network will be a pipeline bringing customers to your business.

Does bragging about how many burgers, cars or books you’ve sold help to sell more? Sure! 

Customers love having their buying decision affirmed by others. It even has a name: social proof.

One way you can show them they are making the right decision is by telling them how many people have already made the decision to buy from you. That’s why you see sales figures on book covers, car dealers all seem to be the largest dealers in the nation, and McDonald’s now simply says “Billions served.”

You can affirm your customers’ buy decision several ways. One is by telling them how many (presumably happy) customers have preceded them. They can be part of the group that bought from you–you’re not an untested commodity.

What can you do if you haven’t sold millions, thousands, hundreds or even tens yet? Another positive affirmation is given when you offer testimonials from customers who were happy with their purchases. Get those testimonials and use them.

Encourage customers to refer their friends and colleagues by making it easy for them to do so. Give a supply of business cards to them to hand out. Ask for the names and phone numbers of people they think would benefit from your product or service, and reward them for successful referrals.

Yes, there are rebels out there who make decisions entirely on their own; however, most of us feel more secure in making a decision that others have made before us. And if the decision was made by a lot of people, that implies that many of them were happy about their purchases and told others to buy. Let customers know they’re not alone! 

Do you get frustrated when you believe you are close to making a sale, and the customer says, “Maybe later”? It may be that customer’s way of saying no, or it may be that they didn’t feel urgency to buy right now. 

When a customer has a problem they need to solve right now, they feel the urgency to find a solution. But some products and services may fill needs that seldom become urgent. That’s when you need to find a way to motivate buyers to act now.

One way is with a discount or bonus that is only good for a limited time. Let the customer know it is only available if they act before the deadline.

You’ve heard the television ads that say, “Call in the next 10 minutes, and you will also get . . .,” or the websites that say the offer is only good until midnight on . Somehow, whenever you’re there, the offer seems to be good until midnight tonight. Those are false claims and most buyers are wise to them by now.

You should have an actual deadline. Let customers know that they really have to act by the 15th to take advantage of the offer, and it won’t be extended. Then, hold to the deadline.

Educate customers on why it is in their best interests to act now. Perhaps industry conditions are changing, and buying now allows them to get something that won’t be available later.

If you are planning a price increase, letting customers know ahead of time can give them an opportunity to act before the price goes up.

Think about what motivates your customers, and encourage them to act now by providing incentives.

People respond to many different motivators, and one of them is fear. Will frightening potential customers be good for your business, or will it turn them off? 

While fear is not an uplifting or positive motivation, it can be effective. Consider how many people fail to put together the supplies they will need during a hurricane or other disaster, until a disaster appears to be imminent. The realization of what can happen if they are not prepared creates the urgency needed to act.

If you have a product or service that helps people deal with something they fear, you can speak to the fear or you can speak to the positive results of handling the situation proactively. For example, if you teach self defense, you can try to scare people with the idea that there are “boogeymen” hiding around every corner, and they need to know how to protect themselves. Or, you can focus on how confident and strong they will be when they know that they can handle any threat to their safety.

Those may seem like the same thing, but they’re not. One says, “if you don’t do this, bad things will happen to you” and the other says, “if you do this, good things will happen.” After all, mastering self defense isn’t wasted even if you never have to directly use the techniques. Just knowing that you can defend yourself brings confidence and peace of mind.

Think about other products that sell safety, health, or financial protection. Volvo runs advertisements talking about the feeling of safety you get because their cars include several important safety features. The message? Buy this car and you and your family will be safe. Another car manufacturer ran television ads a few years ago in which customers talked about having accidents where their air bags deployed and saved their lives (at least, in their opinions). The implication was clearly that if they had not been in this car, the outcome would have been different. Their message? Buy this car or die.

Most companies offering retirement investments have chosen the positive angle. They show retirees traveling the world and having the freedom to live as they wish. A recent survey showed that a large percentage of women fear becoming bag ladies, but would a commercial depicting a woman living on the streets because she failed to buy a particular mutual fund have the desired effect? Probably not. Even one company that uses fear to sell investments includes humor and a positive spin. Their ads show couples who have failed to plan for retirement facing the “800-pound gorilla in the room,” and letting them know it is not too late to plan for successful futures.

What do your customers fear? Physical danger? Financial loss? Lawsuits? Embarrassment? Health problems? How can you help them avoid the thing they fear, and gain confidence and peace of mind?

And to what motivator will they respond–the good things that happen when they buy, or a “buy this or die” message?