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This article has been distributed by: http://Article-Distribution.com Helpful Link: The Digital Millennium Copyright Act - Overview http://www.gseis.ucla.edu/iclp/dmca1.htm --------------------------------------------------------------------- Article Title: ============== How referral marketing success is like a chocolate souffle Article Description: ==================== Chocolate soufflés and referral marketing may seem like an odd combination (unless, perhaps, you're a restaurant owner) but like a chocolate souffle, there is a recipe you can use to develop a successful referral marketing program. If you're intrigued, read on... Additional Article Information: =============================== 586 Words; formatted to 65 Characters per Line Distribution Date and Time: 2006-10-26 15:48:00 Written By: Judy Murdoch Copyright: 2006 Contact Email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] For more free-reprint articles by Judy Murdoch, please visit: http://thePhantomWriters.com/free_content/d/index.shtml#Judy_Murdoch ============================================= Special Notice For Publishers and Webmasters: ============================================= If you use this article on your website or in your ezine, We Want To Know About It. Use the following URL to let us know where you have used this article, and we will include a link to your website on thePhantomWriters.com: http://thephantomwriters.com/notify.php?id=3766&p=load HTML Copy-and-Paste and TEXT Copy-and-Paste Versions Of Article Are Available at: http://thePhantomWriters.com/free_content/db/m/marketing-success.shtml#get_code --------------------------------------------------------------------- How referral marketing success is like a chocolate souffle Copyright (c) 2006 Judy Murdoch Highly Contagious Marketing http://www.judymurdoch.com/workbook.htm Chocolate soufflés and referral marketing may seem like an odd combination (unless, perhaps, you're a restaurant owner) but like a chocolate souffle, there is a recipe you can use to develop a successful referral marketing program. If you're intrigued, read on. Chocolate souffles are one of the world's great desserts. Usually served with whipped cream, soufflés are humble brownie's fluffier, fudgier French cousin. When you make brownies you mix chocolate, eggs, vanilla, sugar, a little flour, and maybe chopped nuts all together and spoon the batter into a square pan. 25 minutes later at 350 F, you have a pan of brownies. The ingredients you use for brownies are quite similar to a chocolate souffle. Unlike brownies, you need to egg whites beaten just so and you need to carefully combine the egg whites with the chocolate mixture so that the egg whites maintain their fluffiness. Done correctly you get a light, fudgy souffle. Done incorrectly you get a flat, gooey brownie. A successful referral marketing program also depends on having the right ingredients, the right timing, and the right skills. Your customers will refer you when they believe doing so will make them look good. There are four essential "ingredients" or elements that help people feel confident that they'll look good when they refer you. These ingredients are: 1. Novelty. We all love to let people in on a secret; to "be in the know" about a new product that does a much better job than anything else on the market. 2. Utility. Put simply people have to feel that they need what you sell. "Need" is a relative term. Almost everyone needs shoes. But only a very small number of people need pink satin slippers with 1" kitten heels. Still, several shoes designers have made a fortune catering to this market segment. 3. Dependability. If your referral sources believe that you will meet or exceed the expectations of the customers they refer. 4. Economy. Your referral sources believe that the benefit they get from your product or service is easily worth what you charge. When your customers are your referral sources, they will use their experience doing business with you to determine whether these elements are present. If your customer feels that, yes, your product or service is sufficiently novel, useful, dependable, and economical, they will want to send you referrals. But the right ingredients alone do not insure a success referral marketing program. Some support is also required on your end to help your customers send referrals. However much they may love you, most folks aren't "marketeers" (which is why referral marketing is so effective to begin with) and may struggle to come up with the words to describe what makes you so special. Providing your customers with a catchy, memorable message and perhaps a small token such as a pen or some other novelty, will help them remember you when referral opportunities arise and will give them the words they need to inspire others to seek you out. If your souffle is a gooey mess there are two potential causes: 1.) you didn't use the right ingredients and 2.) you didn't prepare the souffle correctly because you lacked the tools or skills. Similarly, if you're not getting all the referrals you can handle, there are two potential causes: 1.) Your customers don't perceive enough novelty, utility, dependability, or economy to feel they'll look good if they refer you or 2.) You haven't provided with a message and other tools that make you memorable. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Judy Murdoch helps small business owners create low-cost, effective marketing campaigns using word-of-mouth referrals, guerrilla marketing activities, and five-star strategic alliances. Judy can not make a chocolate souffle but she can help you develop a successful referral marketing program. To download a free copy of the workbook, "Where Does it Hurt? Marketing Solutions to the problems that Drive Your Customers Crazy!" go to http://www.judymurdoch.com/workbook.htm You can contact Judy at 303-475-2015 or [EMAIL PROTECTED] --- END ARTICLE --- Get HTML or TEXT Copy-and-Paste Versions Of This Article at: http://thePhantomWriters.com/free_content/db/m/marketing-success.shtml#get_code ..................................... TERMS OF REPRINT - Publication Rules (Last Updated: May 11, 2006) Our TERMS OF REPRINT are fully enforcable under the terms of: The Digital Millennium Copyright Act http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c105:H.R.2281.ENR: ..................................... *** Digital Reprint Rights *** * If you publish this article in a website/forum/blog, You Must Set All URL's or Mailto Addresses in the body of the article AND in the Author's Resource Box as Hyperlinks (clickable links). * Links must remain in the form that we published them. 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