Ep #62: Word of mouth is still on top of marketing. It’s always great when another person talks about your business and refers clients to you.

But have you thought, that you can actually affect and improve your word of mouth strategy and get more referrals? 

In this episode, I talk with Matt Ward about word of mouth strategy that brings more referrals. 

Matt is passionate about helping employees, managers, and business owners move their business and personal life to the next level through word-of-mouth referrals. 

Since 2002 Matt has spoken at hundreds of business events, seminars, trainings, conferences, and associations, including Score, The Better Business Bureau, and the Vacation Rental Success Summit in Toronto Canada.

He’s the author of Making Your Website Effective…as well as his pending book, set for release in the Fall of 2018, CarePackage: How to Create More Word of Mouth Referrals.

Time Stamped Show Notes:

• [00:22] About the episode and Matt Ward
• [01:49] Matt shares his accidental entrepreneurial story - thinking about creating a website company while coaching American football, then selling the company for seven figures 16 years later
• [02:34] Why Matt sold his company
• [04:04] Many businesses have referral clients, yet no one knows how to increase them
• [06:26] People like to do business not only with those who they know, like, trust but also what’s important nowadays with those who care about them
• [07:46] To build a network of referrals build a deep meaningful relationship with people who you care about
• [10:03] Surprise people with no reasons. Show up when people least expect you to
• [12:00] Do something for someone else, where there is no benefit or gain to you
• [14:21] Constantly show up in front of your connections helping with no expectations
• [15:48] Never have a partner to explain or even worst sell your service. Let them refer the person to you
• [18:16] Tell your partners what are the referrals to you and recognize yourself when it isn’t a word of mouth referral client for you (Matt shares a few examples)
• [20:34] Track your referrals to find the ideal referral source. Use mind mapping apps such as coggle.it to easily see the whole picture of your referral partners
• [22:47] Go to Networking Events to find the referral partners - not clients
• [25:43] Nurture your relationships and think about how to connect
• [27:02] What to do if the referred person isn’t the right fit for your business
• [27:32] Keep your partners updated along to way to fill in any gaps
• [30:59] Why turning clients into referral partners can be unethical - best practices
• [32:44] How to improve the results of your word of mouth strategy
• [35:12] Where to find Matt Ward online and his interactive Facebook group on Word of Mouth Referrals
• [36:03] For the show notes go to marinabarayeva.com/62 and subscribe to the Marketing for Creatives show

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