Word of Mouth Ideas (Part Four) - Page 2
Generating Referrals In his book 'What Will They Franchise Next?', Jim Penman of Jim's Mowing fame at one stage was investigating the average conversion rate of mowing leads into regular customers. These are hot leads where the prospective customer phones up Jim's 13 number and asks to have their local Jim come out and do their lawns or at least give them a price on the job. In the poorest performing areas the conversion rate of leads to regular customers was 40%. In better areas it was around 60% but some of the Melbourne franchisees were converting more than 100%. He was intrigued. How could this be?
He talked with the top performers. One in particular was a franchisee in the Box Hill area of Melbourne. It turned out that not only was he converting almost all his regular leads, he was also generating a regular supply of referrals.
He would look for an extra job that might take five minutes or so. He'd notice an overgrown garden bed that needed tending or some rubbish that needed removal, and he'd just do it and tell the customer afterwards. No charge. It was simply a gesture of goodwill. Put together with a top class, reliable service and an ability to build rapport with customers, his clients were very, very happy. Happy enough to tell their friends and neighbours and the referrals flowed in.
Talk About Your Business If you want people to talk about your business, you have to talk about it too. And that means taking every opportunity to promote your business by talking about what you do at service clubs, local chamber's of commerce, schools or whatever target groups are appropriate.
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