It happens to the best of us: Your business is humming smoothly along, with strong lead generation propelled by plenty of customer referrals, when suddenly referrals slow down — and then shrink to a trickle. What can you do when your referral business dries up? Here are five quick ways to generate new business.
- Reach out to past referrals. Perhaps you got a referral last year, contacted the person and engaged with them more than once, but ultimately learned that they weren't ready to buy. If you’ve lost touch with that referral, now is the time to renew your relationship. See if dormant referrals are interested in talking again, if you can provide any new information to help them make a decision, or if their needs have changed.
- Provide value. Focus on how you can help prospects, not on what they can do for you. Share useful information that helps them do their jobs better, run their lives better or look and feel better — whatever relates to your business and your market. Create and share content via email marketing, social media and your website, using search engine optimization to attract prospects to the information.
- Update your website. If your website has become stale, maybe it’s time for a change. Tweaking the wording on your website, updating your keywords, and fine-tuning your landing pages and calls to action can help improve your lead generation.
- Advertise. Businesses that rely too heavily on referrals for lead generation often neglect advertising and marketing, especially when they get busy with customers. One quick way to get more leads is by investing in paid search advertising. If you’re not an expert at paid search, try using Lead Stream. It tracks your account and ad spending details and results for you so you don't have to worry about going over budget.
- Put your business on the map. Lots of potential leads can be lost if a map of your business location doesn't pop up in online search results.
- Network. Networking, both online and off-line, is a reliable source of new business leads. If you've been neglecting your networking lately, your lead pipeline will show it. Recommit to regular networking efforts and set a goal for new contacts and leads. Devoting just 15 to 30 minutes a day to networking can exponentially increase the number of leads you generate.
