You need to create fertile ground with your house list of clients, prospects and partners. That is, you need to begin communicating with them consistently to build and strengthen your relationship.

Consistent communication is the key ingredient to the ReferralSurge™ System formula.

In order to communicate consistently…without constantly badgering and begging for referrals…which gets uncomfortable and uninteresting really fast for both you and whomever you’re communicating with… …you need to have two things:

1. Good, solid REASONS for communicating
2. Multiple communication CHANNELS

Good, solid REASONS for communicating:

The reasons you reach out should ADD VALUE in some way, the vast majority of the time. Here are just some of the reasons you would communicate:

• Making a special offer
• Sharing some educational or entertaining information
• Informing of an event or news
• Showing appreciation/recognition
• Referring them to a helpful resource
• Status update
• Asking for referrals (in a way that clearly demonstrates what’s in it for them)

Multiple communication CHANNELS:

Multiple channels. Not just one. Because you can’t rely on just one channel. You want (and need) the people most likely to refer you (your house list and/or sphere of influence) to receive your referral marketing messages in multiple ways and at different times.

Using just one channel is not nearly as effective as multiple channels.

• Some people just won’t read emails. Their morning routine involves purging as many emails from their inbox as possible. Email can be a very powerful communication channel, but you’ll never reach everyone with email alone.

• You certainly can’t call all your prospects and clients on the phone every time you want to communicate. That would get old and tired and intrusive very fast.

• Texting should be reserved only for infrequent and short communications. If you start hammering your clients and prospects with texts, they will not like you.
• Some of your prospects and clients will engage with social media (like Facebook) and some won’t. But even those who do are not going to read/watch everything you post.
• Direct mail can be the most effective communication channel when done right (like I’ll show you). But as with all the other channels, you can’t overdo it or it loses impact.

So the key is a multi-channel approach.

A little here and a little there to get the optimum effectiveness – the optimum impact – and deliver optimum value.

Here are the channels you want to leverage for your referral marketing:

• In person
• Signage
• Phone
• Direct mail
• Email
• Social media
• Partners

And finally, you will also very often integrate and sequence your communications for maximum impact. Many of the referral marketing campaigns I’m going to show you are integrated sequences. Because referral marketing in a “one-off” fashion does not drive home the message.

People need to hear things multiple times, in multiple ways.

Again, it’s all about consistency.

At this point I hope you’re nodding your head in agreement. I hope this is all making sense to you. Frankly, it should. Most business owners understand the importance of consistent communication in order to achieve any marketing objective.

You’ve probably heard over and over again the importance of multiple “touches” or “impressions” in order to get people to take action. That’s the primary justification media salespeople use to get you to pay for extended advertising programs. And it’s absolutely true. The more frequently the right people are exposed to the right marketing message, the more likely they are to act on it. (The problem with most advertising, however, is that it’s generally not presented to the right people with the right message. So the number of times you show it to them is moot. But that’s a topic for another day.)

Okay, that's it for your introduction to creating fertile ground. If you have not done so yet, be sure to download The Referral Challenge Daily Checklist (right click that link and “save target as”). Because we’re about to get started with the 30-day program.

Problem #1

Most local professional practice and service businesses struggle to get more new clients in general, and referrals specifically, for one primary reason: they’re focusing the vast majority of their marketing resources – time, effort and money – on the wrong market.

A client is not just a “sale” or a “buyer.” A client – every client – is a potential referral source. Same goes for people who’ve taken some action to learn more about you, but have yet to buy (prospects). And the same goes for other business owners in your local area you know. All of these are potential clients AND potential referral sources. And they constitute your WARM market.

Everyone else – all those folks who’ve never heard of you except possibly to see your advertisement somewhere – constitute your COLD market.​

Don’t chase sales, build relationships.

That’s the fundamental message I want to convey to you. And it’s the fundamental philosophy of ALL the most successful businesses I know.

It’s at least 700% more difficult (and expensive) to convince a cold “suspect” to try your business than it is to attract a warm “prospect”. Don’t be in the convincing business. It’s hard, lonely and expensive. Be in the attraction business. It’s far easier, much more fun and dramatically more profitable.

Far too many business owners are willing to write a check for $1,000 to pay for a space advertisement, or some other form of “external” marketing in an effort to convince cold suspects to try their business – which is the single hardest thing to do, the single heaviest “lift” in marketing – but they’re either not willing, or just don’t consider investing that money in marketing to warm prospects and potential partners and hot clients – the people who already know, like and trust them and can buy from them again and again, and refer to them over and over.

These businesses, maybe including yours, are focusing their resources in the wrong direction – in the riskiest direction – and more often than not coming up empty, getting little or no return on that investment of marketing dollars – because they’re spending them in the wrong place trying to persuade the wrong people.​

​Problem #2

Business owners think, incorrectly, that just doing a really good job for their clients is enough to warrant referrals. That’s like thinking that just telling your wife you love her is enough to keep your marriage solid, vibrant and passionate. It’s not. You have to SHOW her you love her with your actions, not just words. Because loving your wife is what’s EXPECTED in a marriage. And just meeting the most basic condition of marriage – loving your spouse – is not enough to make a marriage work long term.

You have to do the unexpected.​

There are two operative words in that sentence. “Do” – which means some form of action. “Unexpected” – which means out of the ordinary; not regular; unforeseen; unanticipated; unpredicted; surprising.

Far too often businesses think that just doing the expected in a very professional manner that produces the promised results is enough. It’s not…because that’s what the client paid for in the first place. They gave you money for an expected result. You delivered that result. And that’s great. But it’s not necessarily referral-worthy. It’s not necessarily going to get them talking about you. It’s not even necessarily going to get them to come back and buy again.

Just doing the expected is not enough.

Remember, you are in the SERVICE business. And that’s a good thing. Because unexpected, truly exemplary service is the best way to tangibly differentiate your business, attract and retain loyal clients and partners and dramatically grow your profits. And the (unexpected) quality and quantity of service you provide is completely within your control. It can be as awesome and unforgettable as you want it to be. And the more awesome and unforgettable it is, the more memorable you become – and the more LOYAL and referral-inclined your clients become.

But unexpected, awesome service cannot be “transactionally limited.” It cannot only occur when the client is buying something or receiving a service they’ve already paid for.

Unexpected, awesome service is also delivered over time via consistent communication. Just think about any relationship you have with a friend. The quality and strength of that relationship is largely dependent on the amount of communication you have. The longer you go without seeing, speaking or writing, the weaker the relationship becomes.

My goal with The Referral Challenge is to show you how to do the unexpected with your marketing. It’s to show you how to consistently communicate with your warm market in a way that bonds them to you and keeps you top of mind with them so they buy more from you and refer more to you…consistently.

NOTE: Regarding problem #1 above, please understand that I’m NOT saying you should stop all advertising to your cold market, particularly not if you have something that’s working. What I’m saying is that you should shift a healthy percentage of your marketing dollars towards your warm market. The ROI will be significantly better and you’ll build a rock-solid marketing foundation you can’t get any other way.​

The most valuable asset you have in your business is your client and prospect “house list" -and the relationship you have with those on it. These are the people who keep you in business by purchasing your services. The money they pay you finances your mortgage, your health care costs, your car note, your children’s educational expenses, your vacations, your business overhead…everything.

In addition to their direct contribution to your ability to sustain (and improve) your standard of living (and that of your employees), every person who has experienced your business in some way is a potential indirect contributor to your lifestyle because they can refer others who pay for your services.

Other than your family and closest friends, NOBODY is more important than your clients and prospects*.

*NOTE: I define a prospect as someone who has taken some action to learn more about your business: come in, called, completed an online form, “liked” your Facebook business page, etc. It’s vital that you capture contact information for as many of these people as you possibly can, so you can follow up and convert them from a prospect to a client. We’ll discuss how to do that in this training.

The second group of people most important to your business success consists of your strategic partners. These are other business owners in your local area who you know, like and trust. They are generally (but not always) businesses that sell services or products complementary to yours. Therefore they (generally) serve clients similar to yours, and can be excellent referral sources for you.

We’ll discuss more about establishing and leveraging strategic partnerships later in this training (they can be hugely productive when done right). These two groups – your clients/prospects, and your strategic partners – comprise your business’s acres of diamonds (read Acres of Diamonds by Russell Conwell).

Every single business I’ve ever consulted with has un-harvested acres of diamonds.

Every single one.

This is where your biggest opportunity exists…discovering how to harvest your acreage. And that’s exactly what we’re going to do in this 30-day program.

It’s essential you understand that this is an ongoing process. It never stops. Ever. You will do this for the lifetime of your business. You’ll advance through stages (which get progressively easier and more productive), but you’ll never stop…at least not if you want to realize your full potential to truly help the largest number of people possible, while earning the largest income possible.

With that in mind, your first, absolutely critical step is to corral and control the contact information for your clients, prospects and partners (both existing and prospective partners). Because without contact information, you have no way of communicating with these people (unless they happen to come in, and relying on that is the #1 reason why otherwise good businesses struggle).

If you’re not already using a client relationship management (CRM) software or some other tool to manage and control data about the people most important to the success of your business, then here’s how to get started:

Download the ReferralSurge™ Excel house list spreadsheet and begin filling it out.

You’ll discover as we progress through this training just how important automating many of your marketing processes is. Automation gives you leverage, and leverage is awesome (that's why it's in the name of my business).

You get automation with technology. So I’m going to recommend some technology to you. You obviously don’t have to take my recommendation. It’s your call. But I know more than a little about what’s available and what works best for local service businesses. So I encourage you to at least investigate the resources I recommend.

I have to keep the lights on around here somehow, so in some cases I am an affiliate for the technology I recommend. That means I get a small commission if you decide to use it (my affiliate commission NEVER increases your price – you pay the same whether you buy using my affiliate link or not).

My being an affiliate can make some people uncomfortable because they will think my recommendation is based solely on my ability to make a commission. I understand that concern, but it’s not valid. My relationship with you is FAR more important and valuable to me than a small affiliate commission. So if you’re uncomfortable, just don’t use my affiliate links.

However – and this is important – if you want to invest in the technology I recommend, but don’t want to use my affiliate link, you will miss out on any added value I provide exclusively to those who purchase through my link. That added value can be additional training on the technology, or it can be additional tools I provide to be used with the technology.

The bottom line is that my objective is not to “pitch” things to you solely so I can generate additional revenue. My objective is to direct you to the BEST resources that I KNOW can help you, and then add value to those who take advantage of my recommendations. I hope that makes sense to you, but if not then post a question in the Facebook group.

With that little disclaimer out of the way, let’s talk about the two most important pieces of marketing technology every local service business MUST have:

#1. A conversion-focused, mobile responsive website with blogging capability. If you don’t have this yet, then my recommendation is Thrive Themes and Thrive Content Builder plugin. Inexpensive, easy to use, and simply outstanding. If you already have a website that’s decent, don’t worry about this now. It’s a project you can work on after you’ve completed The Referral Challenge.

#2. A client relationship manager (CRM) with automated email marketing (broadcast, autoresponder, form builder, list segmentation, etc.). You need to be able to track, manage and “score” clients and prospects based on activity in your CRM, and communicate with them via email, whether one-off, broadcast or autoresponder.

If you don’t have this yet, then my recommendation is Active Campaign. Very affordable and very powerful. Many local businesses use automated email marketing solutions like Constant Contact or MailChimp. And these are fine for now. But in the long run they are lacking because they don’t have the CRM capability you need for more personalized tracking, managing, scoring and communication.

To my knowledge, there are only three CRM + automated email solutions available to local businesses that are less than $500/month. Infusionsoft and Ontraport are the first two. They are both very good, but not cheap, and the learning curve is steep. You can expect to pay around $300/month for either of these. Plus you’ll pay an additional amount for any training on how to use these systems. By comparison, Active Campaign has all the really important features that Infusionsoft and Ontraport have, and none of the more confusing and often superfluous features that inflate their price.

The Active Campaign “Plus” account (which is the one you want because it contains the CRM functionality and free one-on-one training) is just $49/month. You can take a free 14-day trial of the basic account to see if it’s something you may want to use going forward. I strongly encourage you to look into this because this technology is the command center for all your marketing, both online and offline.​

A Few House-Keeping Items Plus The Referral Challenge Daily Checklist

Five things I want you to do right now to make sure you get the most out of this training:

#1: Whitelist my email address

You do this by simply adding support@localleveragellc.com to your list of contacts in your email program. This will ensure my emails don’t get dumped into your spam/bulk/promotions folder. If you use Gmail, and one of my emails ends up in your “promotions” or “social” folders, then physically drag it to your “primary” folder so Gmail gets the message! You’ll then see a pop-up asking if you want Gmail to do this for all my emails going forward. Just click “yes”.

#2: Connect with me on LinkedIn

I’ve got a network of around 18 million people on LinkedIn. You’ll be able to leverage that network by connecting with me. As you’ll see in this training, LinkedIn is a fantastic resource for you, and the larger your network, the more effective LinkedIn becomes. Connect with me here https://www.linkedin.com/in/ericruthmarketing

#3: Join our Facebook Group

If you haven’t already done so, click here to join The Referral Challenge Coaching and Mastermind Facebook Group. Here’s how: Make sure you’re logged into Facebook, then click the link above to go to The Referral Challenge Group page. Then click “join group” near the top of the page and we’ll receive your request. It usually takes 24-48 hours for us to approve you (weekends may delay that), so do it now. This group is where you can get the specific help you need directly from me, and also see what’s working now with your peers. If you’re not approved within 48 hours, then something went wrong and you’ll need to send an email to support@localleveragellc.com so we can get it sorted.

#4: Create a folder in your computer called “The Referral Challenge”

There are many referral marketing tools you’ll need to download and save, and you want them all in one convenient place so you can find them quickly and easily. When I post a tool for download, the link will be highlighted in a different color. Just right click with your mouse on that link and “save target as” to the folder you created in your computer. Some of the done-for-you marketing tool templates are posted in two different formats:​

• ​MS Word Doc
• PDF

I’ve done this because MS Word may not be compatible with your computer, so you’ll need to download the PDF.

Here’s your first one:

Download The Referral Challenge Daily Checklist PDF. (Right click that link and “save target as” to save to your computer.)

This checklist will help you stay accountable to implementation of the ReferralSurge™ System. After you save it to the folder in your computer, print it out and post it somewhere near your office desk, or keep it on your desk. Whatever works for you. Just be sure to mark your daily progression by checking that day’s box after you complete the task (or note in the box that you have yet to complete, so you remember to come back to it).

#5: Be Honorable

I’m sorry I even have to mention this, but I do.

Early in my career, I was ripped off and plagiarized more times than I care to remember. Unethical, dishonorable people stole from me. And that’s why now I have ZERO tolerance for it.

I have a seriously vicious pit bull intellectual property and copyright infringement attorney who will be unleashed on anyone who steals from me. And the outcome will be bloody and very expensive for that person.

So please understand that just because I’ve given you free access to my proprietary system and tools, does NOT mean they have no value. On the contrary, they have immense value (as you’ll see) and are therefore protected by copyright and trademark.

Everything in this program is Copyright © Local Leverage LLC.

I am granting Members in good standing (you) the LIMITED right to use the ReferralSurge™ System and the associated campaigns and marketing tools I’ve created to promote and grow YOUR LOCAL BUSINESS-TO-CONSUMER BUSINESS ONLY.

The high-powered investigative tools available these days would boggle your mind. You can’t hide copyright infringement/intellectual property theft.

Just do the right thing (as 99% of people do) and we’ll have no issues. Again, my apologies for even having to say this. I hate that I have to, but I do. There are some very unethical people lurking on the internet. If you’re concerned by this statement or have questions about it, send an email to support@localleveragellc.com with subject: Copyright

Please click "I have completed this lesson" below to acknowledge that you understand that you may freely use all the marketing tools and the complete system to promote your own B2C business only. Thanks.

There’s something to do every day for the next 30 days during The Referral Challenge. (Actually, there are 32 days because I’ve given you two bonuses.) And the secret to your success with this program (or anything, really) is doing something that moves you forward every single day.

You want (and need) that daily victory. Because it maintains your momentum – physically and emotionally.

You’ve heard all the clichés: baby steps, eat an elephant one bite at a time, slow and steady wins the race, etc. They’re clichés because…they’re true.

Keep moving forward every day! Movement beats meditation every time.

Also, please don’t just dabble. When attempting to achieve a goal, dabbling is disastrous. But unfortunately, it’s what most people do, and it’s the primary reason they fail. They just “try” – they never fully commit.

Listen, I understand that at this point you’re not even sure exactly what you’re getting into with The Referral Challenge, other than it’s supposed to quickly and radically improve your referral marketing. So it’s reasonable for you to be a little skeptical or uncertain right now. And that’s why I want to make a suggestion I KNOW will serve you well. It involves two simple steps:

Step #1: Take some time to click around and review everything included in this program. Get a feel for it. Look at all the tools I’ve provided for you and the specific, step-by-step daily actions I show you how to take.

Step #2: Then, if you’re happy with (and hopefully excited by) what you see, promise yourself that you’ll fully commit to this program for the entire 30 days. That you won’t just dabble. If you fully commit for just 30 days, then at the very least you’ll learn a lot about effective referral marketing, and implement campaigns, tactics and a powerful strategy that will help you grow your business. And at best (which is our objective), this 30-day program will be a springboard that launches your business to the next level and positions you for ever-increasing growth and profitability… because you’ll have fully installed the ReferralSurge™ System into your business.

Fair enough?

Here's one more simple success secret...

Time Blocking

I urge you to block time in your daily calendar for working on The Referral Challenge. 60-90 minutes on most days will be sufficient, but some days (particularly in the beginning) will require more.

Just keep in mind that there is no more valuable use of your time than this. Every hour you invest installing the ReferralSurge™ System in your business now will free up more time later AND produce growth and profitability. This is the highest and best use of your time because you’re working on the single most productive and profitable activity you can be doing: systemizing your referral marketing.

Finally, a few tips on using this Membership site...

• Below each lesson is a box that says "I completed this lesson". Check that box after you've completed the lesson so you can keep a record of your progress (and don't forget where you left off).

• Also, at the top of each lesson page you'll see a heart shaped icon. You can click that icon to save the lesson as a "favorite" if you want to refer back to it later. You'll see a record of your favorites will apear in your "favorite lessons" sidebar widget (below the navigation bar on left side of the page).

• Take a look below this lesson and you'll see there's a place for you to make comments. You'll find this comment box below every lesson. So if you have questions or comments on the specific lesson, feel free to post them in that box and I'll reply, or you can post them to the Facebook Group.

• And below the comments box you'll see buttons that say "Previous Lesson" and "Next Lesson". Those buttons are a quick and easy way to navigate through the lessons (alternatively, you can use the primary navigation at the top left of each lesson). You don't see the "previous lesson" button on this page because this is the first lesson.​