The Relocation Referral Engine

There’s a great new book out there called The Referral Engine: Teaching Your Business to Market Itself by John Jantsch (award winning social media publisher and author Duct Tape Marketing). The basic idea of the book is that you want your company to become a source of referrals for your customers and, in turn, your company will be sent referrals in droves.

Jantsch suggests that you should be able to refer your customers to the BEST companies that might fit their needs, outside of (but related to) the product or service you provide. For example, at Relocation Insurance Group, we refer customers to the very best movers, storage facilities, and mobile storage providers. We also use our industry experience and contacts to refer our affiliates to the very best vendors we know.

In return, Janstch tells us that the companies you refer customers to regularly will gladly return the favor when their customers are in need of a company offering your services. That is, if you are among the best! That’s the other (perhaps understated) half of Janstch’s magic formula: be remarkable. If your company is striving not only to see revenue, but to provide the very best product or service in your space, chances are you’re doing some remarkable things—and members of your network will refer customers to you.

What do you think of this idea of becoming a “referral engine”? Have any of you read the book? Leave your comments below.

New Feature: Weekly Network Roundup

Today we're starting a new weekly feature, where we'll highlight news and events from the property relocation and storage industries. Included will be content from our broad network of affiliates, vendors, and thought leaders. We hope you find our Weekly Network Roundup to be a valuable resource for business ideas, product and service commentary, and more.

Week ending Friday, May 28, 2010

Big Day for GRM Document Management - posted by GRM Document Management

Selling Below Cost While Making a Profit - posted by GoMini's

Check Out Raleigh Mover's Reviews - posted by All My Sons Moving & Storage

Calling All Social Media & Twitter Experts - posted by Drum Marketing


Honor and Remember - posted by National Association of Senior Move Managers (NASMM)

Are You Connecting With Your Audience?

If you're still waiting for this social networking thing to pass, it's time for you to take a look at the latest statistics. According to findings from the 2008 Cone Business in Social Media Study, sixty percent of Americans use social networking websites like Facebook and Twitter. What's more, Cone found that consumers today expect to find companies on such websites, and are more likely to develop loyalties to companies they interact with on social networking sites.

Have you begun to use social networks for marketing or customer service? Share your success stories, or ask questions in the comments below.

Thinking outside the Business Vertical

Recently I participated at a conference organized by a large national association operating in a market that was not immediately in our business vertical. We generated great leads which we hope will turn into a continuous flow of business.

The best outcome of this show was realizing the potential new markets outside our immediate ‘business vertical’ that need exploring. I call it ‘Thinking outside the Business Vertical’.

One could argue to concentrate on your core markets, and to some extent I agree. However, what if your core markets are over crowded by competitors? What if your core markets are saturated with similar products and you cannot generate any new sales from these markets? Can you explore new market verticals? Can you afford not to be searching for other verticals?