Networking

Spidering – Systematic follow-up and the art of turning one deal (sale) into three deals.

“If you do build a great experience, customers tell each other about that. Word of mouth is very powerful.” – Jeff Bezos

**This article was written by Networking Expert and U.S. SBA Entrepreneur of the Year – Clay Clark

**For more information about hiring Clay Clark to work as a Las Vegas Motivational Speaker, Dallas Motivational Speaker or Tulsa Motivational Speaker contact Make Your Life Epic today at 918-851-0102.

In order to grow your business quickly and exponentially you must learn to become effective at the process I call “Spidering.” If you spent an afternoon watching spiders doing their thing you would be one weird human, however you would also learn a thing or two about business from them. Spiders don’t make webs out of 1 piece of spider string. Spiders spread their webs out, and overtime they become more and more intricate, because these guys are focused on catching other bugs in their web (net). Spiders might not be able to memorize the Periodic Table, but they do understand that they are going to need a bigger web, if they are going to catch more food. As a business owner or entrepreneur you must come to grips with this right now.

Over the years, I have met numerous bitter, broken and poor entrepreneurs who believe that “my great product should sell itself.” This is bogus and this is a good tip on how not to be successful. In order to make BIG MONEY NOW you must learn this “Spidering” system now. “Spidering” is nothing more than the systematic approach of turning one sell into three sells and one contact into 100 contacts. Listed below you will find my 7 rules for effective “Spidering.”

Rule #1 – Get the email address, name, phone number, their name and profession of every human you talk with. If someone buys something, get their email address. If you meet a business owner at Starbucks, get their email address, their name, phone number, and profession. Do this every time.

Rule #2 – Put all contact information you ever collect into a database (I recommend the Sage ACT! Software).

Rule #3 – Make it your mission to help your clients solve their problems whether or not your service is the one who can help them or not. If you own a bakery that specializes in wedding cakes, make it your priority to insure that every bride finds a great band, DJ, florist, photographer, etc… Go out of your way to improve the quality of their day by helping them to solve their problems.

Rule #4 – Whenever you give a referral, make sure you follow-up by calling the service provider you referred to tell them about the referral you sent them. You must establish and maintain “top of mind awareness” with each and every one of the service providers you refer. Referrals are like boomerangs. They will never come back and unless you actually throw them out there to begin with. You must first give a referral, if you ever expect to get one.

Rule #5 – Make it your team’s mission to over-deliver, to wow and to exceed the expectations of every client. Show up early. Bring your clients a little “something extra”. Bring your clients joy, exceed their expectations and do something for them that is well above what they expected and your clients simply will not be able to stop talking about you and the great job you did for them. If you simply do what you promised, clients will not talk about you.

Rule #6 – Become Facebook friends with all SATISFIED CUSTOMERS. After the service has been provided, survey each and every one of your clients via email. If the customer gives your company high marks, you must invite your clients to become Facebook friends.

Rule #7 – You must focus on taking your relationship with every buyer from that of “just a buyer” to that of a “client” and then ultimately that to that of an “apostle” and a “viral fan of the business.” This process takes a while but it will be done if you are systematic and diligent with your Spidering efforts.

Rule #8 – Send your clients at least 4 email newsletters per year. Just like friends, clients can forgot about you if they haven’t seen you in awhile. There is a strong chance that the buddies and homies that you had back in college are no longer super close with you today. Why is that? You have to stay on the minds of your clients or you will be forgotten.

Rule #9 – Routinely post your company’s testimonials and good news via your Facebook page. Clients and potential clients must see that your company is consistently prospering, growing and wowing other clients if they are to remember you when they need you and if they are going to begin virally referring your business.

Rule #10 – Stay aware of contests, business awards, and other public relations opportunities that your company is eligible for. These awards and contests often require testimonials from previous clients, and certified financial records. Make sure your company stays in contention for these awards, and then make sure that you ask your “apostle” and “super happy clients” for their support in providing a testimonial for your company. When people invest their time in a business or organization they naturally begin to become even more loyal to your brand.

Rule #11 – Energize your clients with routine customer appreciation parties, customer surveys, vendor appreciation events and other events that will give you face time with your clients to tell them “thank you” without attempting to “sell them” anything.

Rule #12 – Be the guy (or lady) that mails HAND-WRITTEN “thank you notes” to your clients. When you mail a “thank you” note, you will break out of the “clutter of commerce” almost immediately. People remember “thank you notes” and “personal letters from the companies” and they will talk about them.

Rule #13 – Be memorable to your clients. Be the Fitness Boot camp who brings more energy than anybody else. Be the bakery whose cakes are over the top. Be the insurance agent who is hilarious and who always wears a bow-tie. Be the conservative business owner who is always rocking a “faux-hawk” on your head. Be the business that has real “cool” factor associated with it (think of the Mac Store). Be professional, yet be MEMORABLE. If you are not memorable, you will not be remembered.

**Creating a checklist and a duplicatable system for “spidering” in your business is very important and very uncommon. Countless studies show that time and time again well over 80% of small businesses fail within their first 2 years and I would argue that much of this is due to the fact that most small businesses are clueless about how to leverage their existing client base. I certainly once was. If you need help developing an effective “spidering system” I recommend that you would give our office a call so that we can setup a brain-storming session with our team. We’ve built countless “spidering” (leveraging) systems and it is incredible to see them work. Getting more business and more referrals from your existing book of business has the power to change everything.

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  • Founder of DJ Connection
  • Founder of Epic Photography
  • Founder of the Tulsa Bridal Association Wedding Show
  • Founder of Make Your Life Epic Marketing / Advertising Agency
  • Founder of Thrive15.com
  • Former Owner of Party Perfect (Which is now PartyProRents.com
  • Co-Founder of Elephant In The Room Men’s Grooming Lounge
  • Co-Founder of Fears and Clark Realty Group
  • Co-host of the Thrive Time Business Coach Radio Show