Become a Prospecting Ninja: Influencer Marketing for the WIN!

Stop Chasing Leads, Start Creating Opportunities

The importance of leveraging influencers to win your perfect client cannot be underestimated. By forming strategic partnerships with influential people in your industry, you can quickly and effectively establish credibility and trust with potential customers. In this blog post, we'll explore how to leverage influencers to reduce the time and effort necessary for winning a dream customer. From clients to ideal referral partners,we'll share how to build relationships with them, and borrow the outreach of their platform to snag more prospects in less time. Even more importantly, we'll help you figure out where to start finding these relationships to reach your perfect prospect.

But first....

Why Influencer Marketing works, when it's done right!

The modern buyer is inundated with marketing messages from every direction, making it difficult to stand out. On top of that, they are increasingly suspicious of any message that looks too much like a sales pitch and are skeptical of anyone they perceive as being 'bought'. This means brands need to find creative ways to build trust with their target audience. One effective way is by leveraging influencers who look like your prospects - people whose opinions and endorsements will be trusted more than those coming directly from your brand. By creating a prospecting tool kit you can begin forming partnerships with these meaningful voices, you can tap into their personal networks and reach an even wider audience in less time.

Now when I'm talking influencers, I'm not talking about Kim Kardashian or Ryan Reynolds (although, hello, the Boost Mobile ads are a thing of beauty!) I'm talking about the influencers that are trusted advisors to your perfect prospect. This might be their banker, attorney, accountant, coach or other advisor, perhaps even a colleague or peer they hold in high regard.

But why would they refer you?

Because you solve big problems for people who look like their clients, and they like being the provider of solutions.

So how do you demonstrate the quality of your solutions?

Enter client recommendations and 'social proof'.

Having happy clients is one of the most powerful ways to win referrals and establish trust with potential customers and referral relationships. By presenting case studies, social proof, and online recommendations from satisfied customers, you can build an airtight foundation for referral-based marketing. Not only do these reviews help prospects make informed decisions about your services or products, but they also create a sense of trust that goes far beyond what traditional advertising could ever achieve. Through positive customer feedback and testimonials, you can demonstrate the value of your offerings in a way that resonates with prospects and encourages your other clients and referral partners to refer their friends or colleagues. This allows you to 'construct' your story based on info that really matters - your client's perspective of your value!

Before someone will lend you their influence, they need to trust in your competence.

Which leads to the first and one of the most important elements of your ultimate prospecting toolkit, your Story!

When meeting with potential partners or prospects, it is important to articulate your value proposition in a way that resonates and compels them to take action. One effective way to do this is by sharing examples or stories of how you have helped your relationships reach their desired outcome. By providing tangible testimonies, you can demonstrate the value of your services or products in an authentic and meaningful way; by "showing" rather then telling, like an author would write a novel. Additionally, sharing references from past clients who are willing to vouch for your work adds another layer of credibility which will further increase the likelihood of success when meeting new prospects.

Now let's talk about which 'influencers' you want to start with...

The 'low hanging fruit' of your prospecting effort to harvest is client referrals. Studies show that more than 90% of happy clients would refer you, but that less than 40% of sales professionals ask (and professionals are even lower than that, believe it or not.) The referral opportunities within clients are limitless! One of my long time clients and dearest friends has introduced me to over 220 amazing people, and many of those great people became my referral partners. I can tie about 75% of my business to this one individual and one other who was among my clients from month 1 when I started my business.

Wrapping it all up!

It is clear that referrals are a powerful tool for achieving success in prospecting. By leveraging influencers and their personal networks, you can quickly build trust with potential customers. Additionally, by utilizing case studies, customer feedback and testimonials to demonstrate the value of your services or products, prospects are more likely to take action. If you need any more motivation for building this prospecting tool, sharing stories about how you have helped past clients achieve success will help create an emotional connection between yourself and future prospects. With these techniques combined with others I'll share in the coming weeks, you can create your very own ultimate prospecting toolkit. I'm hoping you can see why referrals hold the path towards real success when it comes to winning new business!

Next week I'll talk about a concept called sales enablement is and how it can make your client origination process much more effective!

Want to talk about how to make referrals predictable and profitable for your business? Grab a spot on my calendar and let's connect!