I have preached in the past about having a referral system in place; in fact, the very best (and easiest) way to get new security clients is by having them referred to you. These folks are predisposed to doing business with you thanks to being referred by a family member, friend or colleague. With referrals, the trust factor is already in place; thus, the prospect is already sold on using you before they contact you.
So why not do everything humanly possible to get more referrals? Here’s a new referral piece I’ve devised. After writing about haptic sensation in SD&I last August, I decided to utilize the theory. The result is a new referral “Gift Card” that takes advantage of haptic sensation. With these gift cards, you can target the exact security clients you want – these types of cards will help get more referrals for commercial work or clients in high-end neighborhoods.
The best part? Gift cards are one of the cheapest tools to promote referrals and sets you apart from the competition.
How the Gift Cards Work
The gift cards are viewed to be much more valuable than a simple coupon or a discount – or even a free monitoring offer. They look like a real gift card and, for all practical purposes, customers treat them like a real gift card.
The only difference is the security dealer gives the card specific uses, for example, “good for new security installation or security upgrades, one use only, not valid with other offers.” This is spelled out on the back of the card to keep the offer from getting abused.
The gift cards can come in different dollar amounts: $25, $50, $100 or something else depending on the different security client segments you are targeting. Then you hand out the gift cards to your clients.
Residential clients, for example, would get $25 gift cards to distribute among family and friends. Commercial clients and high-end residential homeowners, on the other hand, may get $50 or $100 gift cards to give out. It all depends on your budget and what you’re comfortable offering.
The back of the card should have a few disclaimers, as stated earlier, as well as contact information, or course. See the example/template that you can use in the carousel above.
Remember Haptic Sensation
If you go back and re-read my column as referenced earlier, you will learn about haptic sensation – how adding a little weight to your marketing materials can help persuade prospects and close more deals.
I used the same philosophy with this referral card and hefted up the card stock. These gift cards are printed up to look like actual gift cards – they are on a really thick, glossy 80- to 100-pound card stock that is a bit larger than a business card. At first glance, they look exactly like a gift card; however, when someone holds it in their hand, it does not feel quite like a thick, plastic card.
Something like that does the “haptic sensation stimulation job” at an economical price, so you can afford to pass out thousands of them all over the city.
7 Ways to Use the Gift Cards
1. Pass them out to commercial and residential clients. Here is where the difference in dollar value on the gift card comes in. For residential clients, we typically give them the $25 value gift cards; for high-end residential clients, we give them the $50 gift cards; for commercial clients, we typically give them the $50 or $100 value cards – depending on the value of their security projects.
2. Pass them out to businesses who can refer you to their clients. Pass out the $25 gift cards to related businesses in the service industry –many of whom you probably already have a relationship with, including realtors, builders, plumbers, mechanics, maid services, property managers, restaurants, etc. You can hand out a stack of the gift cards at their offices or send a few to them in the mail along with a note that gives the benefits of how you can help them make their customers happy by giving them a little gift (your gift card). Also, think about the businesses that your security business frequents (and where you pay your hard earned money), like your mechanic, plumber, electrician, restaurants, coffee shops, etc. All of these places should have a stack of your gift cards, placed in key locations for their customers to access. If they know you are a frequent customer, they will be happy to oblige.
3. Hand them out at networking events. Why give out plain old business cards when you can give out gift cards? Go to networking groups as the bearer of gifts!
4. Distribute them in high-end neighborhoods. Mail out a $100 gift card (or up the ante and do $250 to big spenders) to high-end homeowners with a letter that lists the compelling protection benefits of your Platinum Concierge Residential Security Services.
5. Include them in doorknob hanging packets or combo coupon mailers. You can include $25 or $50 gift cards in the doorknob hanger packets or the combo coupon packets that get mailed to residential neighborhoods.
6. Mass email your clients and prospects with a special offer. Include an image of the gift card and ask the recipients to share the gift card with family, friends or colleagues.
7. Post pictures of the gift card on your social media channels. Post a picture of the front of the gift card on your social media sites for folks to use. You may want to include an expiration date to get folks to use the card ASAP.
Special offer for SD&I readers: Contact me to request a template for this gift card, plus a bonus holiday gift card template in Microsoft Publisher. All you will need to do is insert your own logo/image and contact info. My contact information is below.
Bob Maunsell is the President of SecurityMarketingGuru.com. He helps security dealers through his innovative Robotic Security Selling Systems™. Email him at [email protected] or call 508-835-1123.
