Never Struggle for Clients Again
There’s a type of client that, on average, spends 200% MORE in your business than any other type of client.
That same type of client also has an average retention rate that is 37% higher than all other clients.
However, too many business owners are under-using the strategies required to attract this type of client on a consistent basis.
This creates avoidable issues around: inconsistent lead generation, poor retention rates and pricing resistance.
But if these strategies are understood and implemented, you will find yourself having figured out an amazing concept that I like to call the 'Magic Money Tree'.
Magic Money Tree: How To Consistently Get The Best Clients
Setting the Foundation…
At the core of what we are discussing today is a simple idea - Client Referrals.
But like many simple ideas, this one is painfully misunderstood.
I first came across the idea of referral-based growth in my business when a mentor shared with me his '£100k Client' concept.
In short, he showed me how ONE great client had led to over £100k in revenue through referred business over the years.
The first client referred a family member, that person referred someone else…and the 'Referral Tree' grew from there.
Over time, that network of referrals had spent over £100k in my mentor's PT Business.
This really opened my eyes to the power of referrals, especially when I then discover the following…
The Worlds Greatest Ever Salesman
Joe Girard is a legend in the 'Car Sales' industry.
What is typically seen as a sleazy, sneaky form of sales - Joe completely transformed.
He achieved that through referral-based sales.
Early in his career, Joe Girard happened to realise that, on average, most people knew about 200-250 other people.
For him, that meant every car he sold to one person could potentially lead to another 200+ sales if he did a great job and got good at asking for referrals.
I won't bore you with a full biography, but I will share the impressive stats that backup just how powerful referral-based sales is…
He averaged 6 car sales per day - most salespeople average 1-2 per day
On his 'best day' he sold 18 cars
In his 'best year' he sold 1,425 cars single-handedly, at a time when dealerships were averaging 1,000 sales per year in TOTAL
…This guy was literally selling more cars on his own that whole dealerships were selling collectively.
And he did it all through referral-based sales.
One of Matt's Money Trees
To quickly prove the point that I know this type of approach works, I will quickly share one of the referral networks from my own Fitness Business that formed over the years.
Not all clients lead to the creation of these referral networks.
However, as I understood what it took to create and nurture them, I was able to create a number of them within my business over the years.
Here's one example…
As I said, this is one of many referral networks, or 'Magic Money Trees', I have grown in my Fitness Businesses over the years.
I shared this particular example because it not only highlights the 'referral' aspect of creating a network like this. It also demonstrates the other opportunities it might create.
Karen referred John (her boss) but also gave me my first ever paid Corporate Wellness gig. She was impressed with what I did and referred me to two other businesses she had connections to.
Val introduce me to the manager of the local Golf Club, which became source of a new business model for me in Lockdown - as highlighted in my article about Three Under-Used Fitness Business Models.
Now let's look at how you can grow your own referral network.
How to Grow Your Own Magic Money Tree
Business Owners know they should ask for referrals. It just makes sense.
But when does anyone ever teach you HOW to ask for referrals effectively?
…they don't!
Below I will share three simple ways to generate referrals consistently and they all have a common theme: 'Be Specific'
Most people suck at asking for referrals because they are too vague.
Vague with who they're asking
Vague about what they are asking for
Vague about what type of client they want
Which all ends the way all vague conversations end…with no outcome.
A quickly example of this is something you will have learned on your First Aid course.
If you're the person giving first aid, your job is to clearly tell other people what you need them to do.
You are taught to be very clear about WHO you are asking and WHAT you are asking them to do.
e.g. "Tom, you call for an ambulance whilst Claire lets reception know what's happened"
The same goes for asking for referrals.
Clarity is key!
If you send out a blanket text/email to all your clients saying:
"Hey, if you know someone that wants training then please let me know." - you'll get nothing.
Same goes for if you say that in a conversation with someone.
Instead, you have to SPECIFIC
Specific about what you are asking for
Specific about who you want to work with
Specific about the opportunity you are providing
This is how you plant the seeds of a 'Magic Money Tree'
Below are three simple ideas you can use to create these kinds of referrals on a consistent basis.
FYI - everything I share below is shared on the assumption that you have already understood that ALL referrals are built on you providing an excellent service and great results.
Let's get planting the seeds to grow your money tree...
Idea 1: Themed Bring-A-Friend Sessions
Bring-A-Friend sessions can work well, but they are often hard work and disappointing.
You give your clients the chance to bring someone along to a session and 90% of them don't bother taking you up on the offer.
The 10% that do, bring someone who doesn't end up signing up.
This isn't a great strategy.
A much better one is to apply the principles of 'Be Specific' in order to create a much better chance of getting people attending these sessions and wanting more.
"Hey Susan, next week is bring-a-friend week, is there anyone you want to bring?"
"Hey Susan, do you have any friends or family that love running as much as you do?"
Susan answers "Yes" - assuming she's a keen runner (you swap running for anything they can relate to)
Then you say: "Would you mind helping me with something? I'm looking to host some running-specific strength training sessions here in the gym to trial out a different training approach. Do you think you could bring some people along to try it out for free and let me know what they think?"
How much better does that sound?
You're asking a specific person, for a specific type of referral, to attend a specific type of session, with a specific opportunity for them to engage with.
To the person receiving that message, it's now much clearer who might be a good fit for that session and what benefit they will get from attending.
You could repurpose that same conversation with ANY of your clients, making sure you are specific regarding their interests and who you know they can connect you with.
Idea 2: Specific Offers
This isn't too dissimilar to Idea 1 but can be applied in endless ways. It's all about using your imagination.
Again, the same underlying principles of 'Be Specific' apply here.
Your job is to create an offer that allows you to ask specific clients for specific types of referrals.
The offer itself could be anything…
A voucher
A specific program
A trial
But the offer is built to be used by a specific type of person.
Let me share an example to make the idea more concrete…
Let's say you want to work with more Mums.
Specifically, Mums who have young children who want to regain their health and fitness.
The best people to ask for these referral are….you guessed it - Mums of young children.
So you're already specific about WHO you need to ask (Mums you already know or train)
Now we need a specific offer designed for that target market.
As mentioned above, it could be a voucher to use against a specific service, the chance to take part in a specific kind of program, or even a trial of a specific service - it's entirely up to you.
Here's an example conversation below to make this real…
"Hey Steph, I know you're a busy Mum with two young kids. I'm assuming you know other Mums with young kids too?"
Hopefully, she'll say "Yes"
Then you say: "Working with you has made me realise how difficult it is for Mums to prioritise their own health and fitness whilst raising a young family. I've been working on 'XYZ Program' to make it easier for Mums like you to get fitter and healthier again and avoid all the typical pitfalls people face. Do you think this is the type of thing that would have helped you when you started?"
Again, we're hoping to hear a "Yes" here.
Then you finish with… "That's great to hear. I know you know other Mums with young families, so do you think you could help me connect with a couple of them and see if they want to trial the program for me?"
I guarantee a conversation like this WILL lead to you being connected with new people and gift you the chance to create referrals for your business.
Idea 3: Specific Ask
Again, we're on a similar path to the previous ideas with this one.
After all…they are all based on the same underlying principles of 'Be Specific'.
(Hopefully, my repetition of that phrase has now embedded itself in your head)
This type of referral is centred around created pathways into new arenas or opportunities you'd like to explore.
The best example I can share here is how I used this to land my first 'Corporate Wellness' talks.
After deciding I wanted to go down this route and knowing what I wanted to speak about, I needed a foot-in-the-door to get started.
I knew I trained several people that ran businesses or were in managerial positions within businesses, so there were no shortages of people to ask.
However, staying true to the idea of 'Be Specific' - I wanted to ensure I didn't just anyone for a referral.
I had a client called Karen (she's mentioned on the image I shared earlier) who had come to me a couple of year previously and had achieved great results.
She'd also been open about the fact that her improved health and fitness had helped her in her career and enabled her have the confidence to go for the role of Company Director - which she got!
She had become a big advocate of using health and fitness to improve ALL aspects of your life, especially your ability to perform well at work.
Clearly, Karen was the ideal 'first pick' for me to approach regarding Corporate Wellness.
Long story short, I spoke to Karen about my ideas and what I hoped to deliver for businesses, and she was impressed.
She loved the idea and offered me the chance to use her place of work as the first step to getting this off the ground.
I ended up delivering two paid talks there, signed up some 1-1 clients off the back of them, and got offered two more paid talks at other businesses.
Things snowballed from there.
I hope this example shows the power of being specific about who you're asking and what you're asking for.
In this case, I was asking someone WHO I already knew could provide me the foot-in-the-door I needed and was confident that she would feel positive about WHAT I was asking for.
Looking back, it's no surprise this worked so well.
I could have sent one generic email to all my clients asking for an introduction. It might have worked. It probably wouldn't.
Instead, I had one 5-minute conversation and generated an entirely new revenue stream for my business that lasted years.
To Summarise
Referrals are an immensely powerful tool for growing your business and being successful across many areas.
I've already shared example of this above and here's one last fact that highlights the true value of referrals…
Referred customers are 4x more likely to refer more customers to your business
Let that sink in.
By getting referrals, you 4x your chances of getting MORE referrals.
At the beginning of this newsletter I shared the stats about referred clients spending more money and having better retention rates too.
You can see why I love referrals.
Before you go, I have two things for you to help grow your business…
1) A short video I recorded a while ago called 'How To Get More Referrals Easily'
2) If you struggle with consistently generating referrals (or leads in general) in your business, fill out this short questionnaire and I'll reach out to you to see if I can help - ANSWER HERE
That's all for this week.
Let me know what your thoughts are or if you have any questions.
