Ask any good business owner how he generates most of his business and he will instantly tell you that he does it through referrals. Ask him to explain his referral system to you and you are very likely to get a blank stare. Only this week I asked the vice president of two large companies what type of referral system they had in place. Both said, they didn’t, referrals just happen. So does death, but it doesn’t mean you should wait around for it!

Referrals are the life-blood of any good business. There is simply not a faster way to build your customer and prospect base and increase your companys revenue than to double or even triple your referral rate, but to make that happen you have to have an referral effective system to take advantage of this power yet never used correctly process!

The Psychology of referrals

Let’s start by looking at the psychology of referrals. The first fact you should know is that contrary to what many believe, most people actually like to give referrals. There are three reasons for this:

1) The first is ego. When someone buys something new he wants his friends and neighbors to be impressed. He wants them to know what a great deal he got. When was the last time you met someone who bought a new car and told you what a schmuck they were for buying it?

2) The second reason is that most people like to feel important, they like to be the center of attention or information.

3) The third reason is that people like their friends and neighbors to share and experience the same things they do!

Many people are bashful or just downright scared of asking for a referral. They don’t want to seem pushy, desperate or, heaven-forbid, both. While I assure you that most people really do like giving referrals, you can make the process even more painless by re-framing the way you ask for a referral.

When a parent signed up a child for martial arts lessons at my karate school, I immediately went for a referral, but rather than asking outright that the student bring in some friends, I positioned it like this. Mrs. Smith, often when a child comes into the first class he can be a little tentative because he does not know anybody and everything is new. We have found that one of the best ways to counter this is to have him bring a couple of his friends into the first class with him. That way I can guarantee that he will settle right in, and, of course, there is no charge for his friends to take lessons with him while becomes more comfortable.

Other such conversations might be: Who else at work would like to help out by sharing this opportunity with them before the prices go up? or Can I help anyone else in your business save time by employing this service or product? or, Who else can I help become a more productive part of your team?

How you actually phrase your request can make the process a lot easier. So can how you time it. Right after you have just completed a sale is the best time to ask for a referral. This is the time when excitement and anticipation are always at the highest level.

The first commitment you must make to double your referrals is as simple as just asking for them. Not sometimes, not when you feel like doing it, not when you are having a really good day, not if you feel the customer likes you, but ask every single time in as many different ways as you can think of. There are seven key groups from which you can gain referrals;

1) Ask new customers to purchase again. The reason we get referrals is so that we can sell more products, right? Well, the very first thing to consider before we even start to work on the referral stage process, is, can we sell anything else to this new customer in front of us right now? Dental insurance to go with the newly acquired health insurance? Or some glasses to go with the new contacts they just bought?

2) Ask new clients who else might benefit Even if your most recent customer doesn’t want to buy something else from you, it’s almost certain that he knows someone who has similar needs. Everyone is an opinion leader to some group.

3) Ask non-customers for a referral even when a sales presentation has not been very successful, there is no reason why you should not ask for a referral. The owner landscaping company who did my homes yard told me that he had contracted to do 2 new jobs each was worth almost $50,000, as a result of asking for a referral from two homeowners who had turned his bids down.

Simply say to your prospect, “I’m sorry I don’t seem to be able to meet your needs today. Who else do you know who might be interested in a, whatever your product happen to be?” Notice that I did not ask if they knew anyone, for that almost always brings an instant NO response. I asked who else they knew, suggesting that there must be someone. It’s a subtle difference that makes a huge difference in the response you will elicit.

4) Ask ex-customers Just because a customer is an ex-customer doesn’t mean he or she can’t or won’t refer you business. Make it a point to stay in contact with ex-clients. I frequently get referrals from ex-customers who have since moved on to other things but still have friends or contacts in my industry.

5) Ask business suppliers for referrals from their company. Remember, you also buy services and goods from other businesses. Youre a good client to someones business. That someone should be glad to give you referrals. Make sure to that you always remind your companys suppliers that you are always in the market for new leads or prospects, and that you will be sure to return the favor to their company if the opportunity comes about.

6) Demand more referrals!

As a speaker I actually demand referrals from my clients by including a clause in my speaking contract that includes, as partial payment, the guarantee of 2 referrals for a job well done. As a result I have massively increased my referral base.

7) Acquiring referrals from your competitors. Competitors can often be a good source of referrals. Sometimes you just get a job that you do not want. Its too small or you and the prospect simply dont hit it off! In these types of cases, instead of letting the prospect bounce around to three or four more people, take the proactive approach and refer them to a company that can help them at once. They in return will refer people to your company!

When a customer gives you a referral that results in a sale, at the very least, you should send him a thank you note. Every time you thank a customer for a good referral, you have the chance to repeat the cycle by asking for another referral from their company. Always end each thank you communication, by asking if the customer knows of anyone else who might benefit from what you have to offer.

Make it easy to get more referrals

When I sell one of my audio programs I often include postcards, fax sheets or reply cards to encourage an instant response and referrals for my programs. If you are able to make it easier for people to promote you and your company, the more they will do it. When I bring on a new partner to my golf resort management company I will send them multiple brochures and cds that they can give out to other people in the industry.

Referrals are the life-blood of any good business or service, but they work a whole lot more predictably and effectively when you develop and follow a system so that good leads don’t just slip through the cracks. Oh and if you know anyone who needs sales or marketing help refer them to me!

Andrew Wood is the world’s leading expert on golf related marketing. He is the author of over 20 books including Cunningly Clever Marketing, his newly released small business marketing book. Andrew speaks worldwide on sales and marketing topics. He is the CEO of multiple golf marketing companies including Legendary Golf Management Company.

I am going to do this review in reverse and tell you right now that Cunningly Clever Marketing by Andrew Wood is a must buy. Anything you need to know about marketing is in this book and Im shocked that these books are still in stock in Amazon. As of this writing they say there are only 2 left but more are on the way.

Now on to the review of Cunningly Clever Marketing. I got asked to read this book by an associate of mine. He had received a copy of the book for free by the people who actually run the Cunningly Clever Marketing operation. They had asked him to review it and put it up on his marketing. Before he posted the analysis he wrote on his own website he asked me to read through the book and see if I had the same opinion as him. Well I read the book and will be angering him by posting a review of this book on my website before he gets it on his own! First person to have the content on their website gets the most points right?

Anyway, the book is amazing. Ive read a lot of marketing books from all of the greats. Books like Ogilvy on Advertising, The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding and The Book of Gossage; they all set the standard which all new marketing books are judged against. Well, add a new book to that list because Cunningly Clever Marketing deserves its rightful place right next to David Ogilvy and the rest of the Marketing Legends.

Why is this book so great? Well for one it takes all of the marketing strategies that have worked in the past and puts them into individual chapters that are extremely easy to read and understand. Literally almost every chapter in this book is no more than 2 or 3 pages long at most.

Another reason this book is great is the writing style of Andrew Wood. The book is self published so there are spelling mistakes like most self published titles, but Andrews writing style flows well and it is like the book is actually speaking to you. When I finished reading this book I felt like I spent a day in a marketing hospital and had an IV in me dripping pure marketing knowledge.

Andrew Wood has definitely earned the title of Marketing Legend and everyone who is in the profession of marketing or advertising needs to read this book because this internet marketing book has just become standard reading criteria. This book will not only supply great new marketing ideas to people who are already in the advertising industry, but also people who run a local businesses or really any other type of company. So what are you all waiting for? Go to Amazon, order the book, and get reading and using the extraordinary marketing ideas and marketing plans inside of this book!

Travis James is a successful business owner and has sold 10 businesses before the age of 40. He now specializes in business consulting and marketing systems for small businesses and marketing companies. His marketing plan will be available in January of 2010. He can usually be found at marketing conventions. Travis also reviews marketing blogs on occasion.

categories: book,book review,marketing book,business marketing book,advertising book,internet marketing,sales,marketing ideas,marketing strategies,business management,marketing,advertising,management,email marketing

In a perfect world every part of your business would work flawlessly. You’d sell more product, schedule more services, make more money. Sounds great doesn’t it? The truth is that in real life, nothing ever works flawlessly. If you’re not selling products, or services you’re not making money. If your service is poor and you get a bad reputation, you’re not making money. If your product is breaking all of the time and word gets out, you’re not making money. This sounds more like real life doesn’t it? The truth is there are so many negative things that can affect your business that it’s amazing any company can make a profit in this day and age.

Does Microsoft spend hundreds of millions of dollars on TV commercials just for fun? Does Apple spend hundreds of millions of dollars on TV commercials just to slam Windows for being insecure? They do these commercials because they have found them to be profitable to advertising on TV. They do it because they developed marketing systems that work, and they stick to them. Why develop a marketing plan for just TV commercials? Well because it works! In fact they probably have a system for how their websites get updated, how they answer the phone, how particular problems with software or hardware are handled. In fact, I guarantee you that they have systematized absolutely every aspect of their companies.

It’s amazing how many businesses I speak to each week do not have any type of marketing system in place. A lot of people think systematizing a business is only for large corporations, it is definitely not. Having a system in place for every aspect of your business is essential to whether a business will be successful, or wilt and die out in the future.

Not only does systematizing a business make sure that every single task of your business is handled quickly and properly, it documents those tasks so if your accountant decides to leave for new opportunities, a new accountant could be hired, handed the systems and get to work right away. All the new employees you hire will need to do is read the systems, apply the systems, and if they can follow directions well they will be ready to go! How much overhead time would this save your business in the long run. Think about it for a few minutes, training a new employee how to do every task of your business and answering countless numbers of questions that eat up your precious time versus handing the new employee a binder or cd full of all your businesses systems that they can read and apply almost immediately. Depending on the amount of responsibility each employee gets at your company this could amount to weeks of information that just got handed down through a binder containing all of the needed info! This means that none of your imperative employees need to spend countless hours training and hand holding a new employee. At my company I projected that it saves me roughly 200 employee hours, that is five weeks of time that I was losing before I systemized my business.

So the question is, why haven’t you created a marketing plan or marketing system for your business? The experts have already done it for you! Just Google search “marketing system” or “marketing plan” and you will get hundreds of results in all types of flavors that will suit your business! The initial investment will be low too. Most good ones start around $2000 and can go as high as $25,000. You could make up $2000 very quickly. If you hire a new employee and pay then $30.00 and hour, which would mean it would take you approximately 67 hours to earn back the money. If you normally spend weeks training them to perform at their job, you earn your money back on your very first hire! That’s not even including your valuable time!

So what are you waiting around for? Have your business start using a marketing system. Get your company systematized. Set up marketing plans so your business will succeed. Start reading marketing blogs to find new strategies! Don’t just sit and wait for your competition to go out of business, be the more successful company and do it for them!

Travis James is a successful business owner and has sold 10 businesses before the age of 40. He now specializes in business consulting and marketing plans for small businesses and marketing companies. His new marketing system will be available in January of 2010. He can usually be found at many marketing conventions and does require a fee to speak at consulting events.

categories: marketing system,marketing plan,internet marketing,internet advetising,business management,email marketing,direct mail,branding,company management,staff training,marketing,business,management,budget

In a perfect world every part of your business would work flawlessly. You’d sell more product, schedule more services, make more money. Sounds great doesn’t it? The truth is that in real life, nothing ever works flawlessly. If you’re not selling products, or services you’re not making money. If your service is poor and you get a bad reputation, you’re not making money. If your product is breaking all of the time and word gets out, you’re not making money. This sounds more like real life doesn’t it? The truth is there are so many negative things that can affect your business that it’s amazing any company can make a profit in this day and age.

Does Microsoft spend hundreds of millions of dollars on TV commercials just for fun? Does Chevy spend hundreds of millions of dollars on TV commercials just to slam Ford for being not as good of a truck, even when everyone knows the F150 is the best selling truck in America?They do all of these commercials because they have found them to be profitable to advertising on TV. They do it because they have developed marketing plans that work, and they stick to them. Why develop a marketing plan for just TV commercials? Well because it works! In fact they almost certainly have a system for how their websites get updated, how they answer the phone, how particular problems with software or hardware are handled. In fact, I guarantee you that they have systematized absolutely every aspect of their companies.

It’s amazing how many businesses I speak to each week that do not have any type of internet marketing system in place. A lot of people think systematizing a business is only for large corporations, it is definitely not. Having a system in place for every aspect of your company is essential to whether a company will be successful, or wilt and die out in the future.

Not only does systematizing a business make sure that every single task of your business is handled quickly and properly, it documents those tasks so if your accountant decides to leave for new opportunities, a new accountant could be hired, handed the systems and get to work right away. All they have to do is read them, apply them, and they are good to go! How much overhead time would this save you in the long run. Think about it for a minute, training a new employee how to do every task of your business and answering countless numbers of questions that eat up your valuable time versus handing the new employee a binder or cd full of all your businesses systems that they can read and apply almost immediately. Depending on the amount of responsibility each employee gets at your company this could amount to weeks of information that just got handed down through a binder! This means none of your essential employees need to spend countless hours training and hand holding a new employee. At my company I estimated that it saves me approximately two hundred work hours, that’s five weeks of time that I was losing before I systemized my business.

So the question is, why haven’t you created a marketing plan or marketing system for your business? The experts have already done it for you! Just Google search “marketing system” or “marketing plan” and you will get hundreds of results in all types of flavors that will suit your business! The initial investment will be low too. Most good ones start around $2000 and can go as high as $25,000. You could make up $2000 very quickly. If you hire a new employee and pay then $30.00 and hour, which would mean it would take you approximately 67 hours to earn back the money. If you normally spend weeks training them to perform at their job, you earn your money back on your very first hire! That’s not even including your valuable time!

So what are you waiting around for? Have your business start using a marketing system. Get your company systematized. Set up marketing plans so your business will succeed. Start reading marketing blogs to find new strategies! Don’t just sit and wait for your competition to go out of business, be the more successful company and do it for them!

Having a marketing system is essential for every business. From dry cleaners to major fortune five hundred companies, they all need to have something in place to plan out their marketing tactics and strategies throughout the year. Not only does a marketing system lay down the structure of how their marketing campaigns will function throughout the year, but it will also allow a company to look back on their plans from previous years to see what worked and what did not.

The foundation of any good marketing plan starts at actually getting an idea of what your company is. Are you ultra luxurious home builder, or someone who builds quality average sized homes? You can only market to people what you are, not what you wish to be. You need to be fully aware of what your business is so you can target you’re the people in your actual marketing. Going back to the example above, an average home builder should not be trying to sell to people who plan to be spending a million dollars or more on a home, just as a high end home builder should not be trying to sell to people who only plans to sell to people who will be spending $200,000 on a home. Targeting your market place will allow you to focus all of your marketing efforts on a precise group of potential customers which in return will result in more sales. If you are targeting too many different groups and spreading your marketing to thin, it will have poor results.

Once you have figured out what your company is, or what your company does, it is time to develop a USP. A USP stands for Unique Selling Proposition. The Unique Selling Proposition (USP) was first described more than 50 years ago in the classic book by Rosser Reeves, Reality in Advertising. While given much lip service, the concept of USP is seldom understood or operationalized well. Reeves said that your USP must meet three criteria to be complete and powerful. It must say to your consumer, “Buy this and you will receive this specific benefit.”

Your USP must be one that your competition does not, or cannot, offer. It must be strong enough to attract new customers to you.

Your USP is the basis for your marketing and advertising efforts. It is the unique advantage you use to sell your business. Your USP should be dramatic and memorable. It needs to make, stand out and attract new business. It should also generate word-of-mouth to drive referrals.

And now to finish off the base of your new marketing system, we will once again talk about target marketing. You need discover how to recognize perfect customers and how to segment your market into demographic and psychographic categories for greater response.

What types of people make up your customer base?

How close do they live to your business?

What makes them purchase?

Few businesses ever take the time to answer these – and other – critical questions in any detail. (Which is good news for you!) Once you have answered these questions, you will be in an excellent position to redirect your advertising and promotional efforts, refine your sales methods and tailor your marketing to the specific segments most likely to response.This will give you a significant advantage in the marketplace.

The more specific your target audience, the more effective your marketing will be. This is one of the most difficult concepts for most people to grasp. After all, don’t you want all the business you can get for your business? The answer is simply, “No!”

You should be much more interested in pinpointing your best customers so that you can target market to them. The more you can segment your market into key target groups, the higher your response rates will be!

The foundation to your marketing plan is now complete. There are many “marketing experts” who have already done all the work for you already and offer step by step guides on exactly what you should be doing with your marketing plans for your company. The prices for good ones usually start around $2000 and I’ve seen some plans cost $100,000 or more! To quicken up your process of building a good marketing plan I would do a search online for one that fits your needs.

In a perfect world every part of your business would work flawlessly. You’d sell more product, schedule more services, make more money. Sounds great doesn’t it? The truth is that in real life, nothing ever works flawlessly. If you’re not selling products, or services you’re not making money. If your service is poor and you get a bad reputation, you’re not making money. If your product is breaking all of the time and word gets out, you’re not making money. This sounds more like real life doesn’t it? The truth is there are so many negative things that can affect your business that it’s amazing any company can make a profit in this day and age.

Does Microsoft spend hundreds of millions of dollars on TV commercials just for fun? Does Apple spend hundreds of millions of dollars on TV commercials just to slam Windows for being insecure? They do these commercials because they have found them to be profitable to advertising on TV. They do it because they developed marketing systems that work, and they stick to them. Why develop a marketing plan for just TV commercials? Well because it works! In fact they probably have a system for how their websites get updated, how they answer the phone, how particular problems with software or hardware are handled. In fact, I guarantee you that they have systematized absolutely every aspect of their companies.

It’s amazing how many businesses I speak to each week that do not have any type of internet marketing system in place. A lot of people think systematizing a business is only for large corporations, it is definitely not. Having a system in place for every aspect of your company is essential to whether a company will be successful, or wilt and die out in the future.

Not only does systematizing a business make sure that every single task of your business is handled quickly and properly, it documents those tasks so if your accountant decides to leave for new opportunities, a new accountant could be hired, handed the systems and get to work right away. All the new employees you hire will need to do is read the systems, apply the systems, and if they can follow directions well they will be ready to go! How much overhead time would this save your business in the long run. Think about it for a few minutes, training a new employee how to do every task of your business and answering countless numbers of questions that eat up your precious time versus handing the new employee a binder or cd full of all your businesses systems that they can read and apply almost immediately. Depending on the amount of responsibility each employee gets at your company this could amount to weeks of information that just got handed down through a binder containing all of the needed info! This means that none of your imperative employees need to spend countless hours training and hand holding a new employee. At my company I projected that it saves me roughly 200 employee hours, that is five weeks of time that I was losing before I systemized my business.

So the question is, why haven’t you created a marketing plan or marketing system for your company? The marketing legends of the world have already done all of the work for you! Just Google search “marketing system” or “marketing plan” and you will get hundreds of results in all types of flavors that will suit your business! The initial investment will be low too. Most good ones start around $2000 and can go as high as $25,000. You could make up the $2000 spent extremely fast. If you hire a someone and pay them $30.00 an hour, which would mean it would take you just about 67 hours to earn back the money. If you normally spend weeks and weeks training them to perform at their job, you earn your money back on your very first hire! That is not even including your dear time!

So what are you waiting for? Get your business or company a marketing system. Get your business systematized. Set up marketing plans so your company will succeed. Don’t just sit and wait for your competition to go out of business, be the more successful company and do it for them!

I’m going to do this review in reverse and tell you right now that Cunningly Clever Marketing by Andrew Wood is a must buy. Anything you need to know about marketing is in this book and Im shocked that these books are still in stock in Amazon. As of this writing they say there are only two left but more are on the way.

Now on to the review of the book. I got asked to read this book by an associate of mine. He had received a copy of the book for free by the people who actually run the Cunningly Clever Marketing website. They approached him and asked him to write a entire evaluation of the book and place it on his website to generate some interest since the book was just released earlier this year. Before he posted the evaluation he wrote on the website that he maintains, he wanted me to take a look at the book from and see what I thought about it. Well I have read the Cunningly Clever Marketing and will be upsetting him by posting a review of this book on my website before he gets it on his! First person to have the content on their site gets the most points right?

Anyway, the book is amazing. Ive read a lot of marketing books from all of the greats. Books like Ogilvy on Advertising, The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding and The Book of Gossage; they all set the standard which all new marketing books are judged against. Well, add a new book to that list because Cunningly Clever Marketing deserves its rightful place right next to David Ogilvy and the rest of the Marketing Legends.

Why is this book so great? Well for one it takes all of the marketing strategies that have worked in the past and puts them into individual chapters that are extremely easy to read and understand. Literally almost every chapter in this book is no more than 2 or 3 pages long at most.

Another reason this book is great is the writing style of Andrew Wood. The book is self published so there are spelling mistakes like most self published titles, but Andrews writing style flows very well and it is like the book is actually speaking to you. When I finished reading this marketing book I felt like I spent a day in a marketing hospital and had an IV in me dripping pure marketing information.

Andrew Wood has definitely earned the title of Marketing Legend and everyone who is in the profession of marketing or advertising needs to read this book because this internet marketing book has just become standard reading criteria. This book will not only supply great new marketing ideas to people who are already in the advertising industry, but also people who run a local businesses or really any other type of company. So what are you all waiting for? Go to Amazon, order the book, and get reading and using the extraordinary marketing ideas and marketing plans inside of this book!

Travis James is a successful business owner and has sold 10 businesses before the age of 40. He now specializes in business consulting. His new marketing system will be available in January of 2010. He can usually be found at marketing conventions and does require a fee to speak events. Travis also reviews business marketing books on occasion.

A large number of small business owners are losing the fight for business survival because they try to compete with their larger competitors on price. These days you need to consider offering some sort of unique benefit or extra value that the big guys just don’t do instead.

But instead of competing on price, here’s an alternative you might want to consider.

It doesn’t matter what you you sell, take a look around your local area and find a range of other business people who offer complementary (but not directly competitive) products or services to yours, then work with them to refer customers to each other. Find out the greatest fears, challenges and problems their customers have, and then help them to put together a range of Free Reports that highlight these problems, along with the solutions your partners could provide to help over these hurdles.

As an example, a motor mechanic could help to come up with Reports on -

1) What to do if your vehicle suffers a flat tire – a step by step guide for safely removing and replacing a flat tire quickly and easily, along with ideas for reducing tire wear and extending tire life. This Report could include a discount voucher for 12% off his customers’ next set of tires. This could be valued at between $80 – $150, depending on the make and model of the customer’s vehicle.

2) How to care for your car’s interior and exterior so it holds it’s value for as long as possible, and doesn’t require major body or interior trim repairs due to lack of maintenance. This Report could include a voucher for a discounted exterior cut and polish from the local spray paint and panel repair shop, along with an interior vacuum and upholstery shampoo, which could increase the cars value by hundreds of dollars at trade in time. This could be valued at $100 or more.

3) How to drive more defensively to reduce the risk of you or your family being involved and hurt in an motor vehicle accident. This report could include a discount voucher from a local defensive driving school, or a free driving lesson for one of the customer’s family members from the local driving school.

These are just three ideas for low cost Reports that have high intrinsic value, but I hope they get you thinking.

Once your Reports are ready, you just collect and upload them to your website where they provide great content that not only gives your customers extra value, but also attracts other local visitors free from the search engines looking for advice on car service related topics.

You could also give copies of your Reports printed and bound to your customers, and encourage them to go to your website and sign up for your Free Member’s Newsletter. Tell them about other special deals available from your partners and other local merchants that are only available to Newsletter subscribers, and you’ll find lots of of your customers will subscribe to get these extras.

Then every so often, you follow up with your readers by email offering them tips and advice on how to get more out of your products and services, and reminding them that you are there to serve their needs whenever they need you. How many of your local competitors are doing that? Not all that many I’ll bet.

I think this article should give you enough ideas to get you thinking of ways you can provide greater value to your local customers, and generating more sales and profits for your business, without it costing you too much money. This simple strategy will help you to stand out in your local area as somebody who goes the extra mile and will reduce the need for you to compete on price. You will be able to get new customers and keep your current customers coming back more often, and after all, that is what every business owners wants to achieve.

So many small business owners lose the fight for business survival because they try to compete with their larger competitors on price, instead of offering some sort of unique benefit or extra value that the big guys just don’t do.

But instead of competing on price, here’s an alternative you might want to consider.

It doesn’t matter what you you sell, take a look around your local area and find a range of other business people who offer complementary (but not directly competitive) products or services to yours, then work with them to refer customers to each other. Find out the greatest fears, challenges and problems their customers have, and then help them to put together a range of Free Reports that highlight these problems, along with the solutions your partners could provide to help over these hurdles.

For example, if you run an automechanical workshop, you could help to come up with Reports on -

1) What to do if your vehicle suffers a flat tire – a step by step guide for safely removing and replacing a flat tire quickly and easily, along with ideas for reducing tire wear and extending tire life. This Report could include a discount voucher for 12% off his customers’ next set of tires. This could be valued at between $80 – $150, depending on the make and model of the customer’s vehicle.

2) How to care for your vehicle’s interior and exterior so it retains it’s value for as long as possible, and doesn’t require major body or interior trim repairs due to lack of maintenance. This Report could include a voucher for a discounted cut and polish from the local paint and panel repair workshop, along with an interior vacuum and upholstery shampoo. These services could increase the cars value by hundreds of dollars at trade in time, and this sort of bonus could be valued at $100 or more to the customer.

3) How about a Report on how to drive more defensively to reduce the risk of you or your family being involved and hurt in an motor vehicle accident. This report could include a 20% discount voucher from for lessons from your local defensive driving school, or a free driving lesson for one of the customer’s family members from the local driving school instructor.

These are just three ideas for low cost Reports that have high intrinsic value, but I hope they get you thinking.

Once your Reports are ready, you just collect and upload them to your website where they provide great content that not only gives your customers extra value, but also attracts other local visitors free from the search engines looking for advice on car service related topics.

You could also give copies of your Reports printed and bound to your customers, and encourage them to go to your website and sign up for your Free Member’s Newsletter. Tell them about other special deals available from your partners and other local merchants that are only available to Newsletter subscribers, and you’ll find lots of of your customers will subscribe to get these extras.

Then every so often, you follow up with your readers by email offering them tips and advice on how to get more out of your products and services, and reminding them that you are there to serve their needs whenever they need you. How many of your local competitors are doing that? Not all that many I’ll bet.

I think this article should give you enough ideas to get you thinking of ways you can provide greater value to your local customers, and generating more sales and profits for your business, without it costing you too much money. This simple strategy will help you to stand out in your local area as somebody who goes the extra mile and will reduce the need for you to compete on price. You will be able to get new customers and keep your current customers coming back more often, and after all, that is what every business owners wants to achieve.

With so many small business owners losing the fight for business survival because they try to compete with their larger competitors on price, it’s time to consider offering some sort of unique benefit or extra value that the big guys just don’t do instead.

But as an alternative of competing on price, here’s an alternative you might want to consider.

It doesn’t matter what sort of business you run, look around your local area and find 5 other business people who offer complementary products or services to yours, then work with them to refer customers to each other. Find out the greatest challenges, fears and problems their customers are facing, and then help these other business owners put together a series of Free Reports that highlight these problems, and then the solutions your partners could provide to help solve these problems for them.

As an example, a motor mechanic could help to come up with Reports on -

1) What to do in the event of a flat tire – a step by step guide for safely removing and replacing a flat tire, along with tips on reducing tire wear and extending tire life. This Report could include a discount voucher for 10% off his customers’ next set of tires. This could be valued at between $80 – $150, depending on the vehicle.

2) How to care for your vehicle’s interior and exterior so it retains it’s value for as long as possible, and doesn’t require major body or interior trim repairs due to lack of maintenance. This Report could include a voucher for a discounted cut and polish from the local paint and panel repair workshop, along with an interior vacuum and upholstery shampoo. These services could increase the cars value by hundreds of dollars at trade in time, and this sort of bonus could be valued at $100 or more to the customer.

3) How to drive defensively and reduce the risk of you or your family being involved in an accident. This report could include a voucher for a discount from a local defensive driving school, or a free lesson for one of the customer’s family members from the local driving school.

These are just three ideas for low cost Reports that have high intrinsic value, but I hope they get you thinking.

You just collect these Reports and upload them to your small business website where they give great content that not only helps your customers with extra value, but attract new visitors free from the search engines looking for local advice on car service related topics.

You could also give copies of your Reports printed and bound to your customers, and encourage them to go to your website and sign up for your Free Member’s Newsletter. Tell them about other special deals available from your partners and other local merchants that are only available to Newsletter subscribers, and you’ll find lots of of your customers will subscribe to get these extras.

Then every so often, you follow up with your readers by email offering them tips and advice on how to get more out of your products and services, and reminding them that you are there to serve their needs whenever they need you. How many of your local competitors are doing that? Not all that many I’ll bet.

I hope this article gives you several ideas for ways to provide greater value to your local customers, and generate more sales and profits for your business. It won’t cost you any additional money, and this strategy will help you to stand out in your local area as somebody who’s really there to help. And the best thing is that it will take away the need for you to compete on price to get new customers and keep your current customers coming back. And that, after all, is what every business owners wants to achieve.