ON A SHOESTRING - Sign Off on More Referrals

Instead of using your email signature just as a way to end a communication, why not make the most of the marketing opportunity every email offers by asking for referrals?

EVERY BUSINESS sends out emails, but have you ever stopped to consider how many you personally send each day? Depending on your role, it could be well over 1,000 if you include all the ‘CCs’.

For most brokers, the numbers would be close to the triple digits at the very least.

With so many emails sent each day, it is both good sense and a good business strategy for brokers to personalise their email signature so it can be used to provide their details in a way that promotes their business.

But why stop with just the basics? Instead, look at your signature as your virtual business card with referral abilities.

The cost of getting business cards printed or an advertisement designed comes straight out of your business’s pocket; the beauty of marketing your services and asking for referrals via your email signature is that it comes at no extra cost.

By simply adding in a short message asking clients to refer your services, you effectively increase the amount of promotion your business gets with every email sent. The wording should be concise and to the point: For example, ‘We’re always looking for referral business. If you know someone who may need the services of a mortgage broker, please pass on my details.’

While you cannot guarantee a flood of referral business activity just by adding a spiel at the bottom of your email, the ‘bottom line’ – literally – is that you have nothing to lose. There is no cost to you because the email is being sent anyway and even if it only produces one lead, one is better than none.

Having an email signature that encourages clients to refer their friends and family has generated leads for Chris Booth, mortgage specialist at Announcer Group. However, Mr Booth emphasises this must be done in conjunction with verbal contact if any real results to be realised.

“Our email signature directs all our clients to refer their family and friends and we have received referrals from this approach,” he says.

“Since it is quite a passive form of requesting a referral, you must also actively speak to your clients about referring your business if you are going to achieve any success.

“You need to note it in your emails as well as tell your clients when asking for referrals.

“It’s a visual remark that should then be brought to life with a little bit of effort,” he says.

Greg Crellin, finance consultant with All Coast Home Loans & Finance, agrees that while it can be hard to gauge the amount of business generated off the back of referral requests in emails, either way it can’t be bad for his business.

“I always ask new clients, ‘How did you hear about me?’” Mr Crellin says. “From asking this question I have found I’ve picked up the occasional referral from personalising my email signature – especially from emails I have sent to other professionals.

“I want referring to always be in the back of their mind. That’s why I put it in my email signature; it does no harm but rather acts as additional promotion,” he says.

For your signature message to achieve the greatest impact keep your note short and sweet. Drawing out your referral request will be the best way to ensure it loses its relevance – and you lose your audience.

Also, make sure to include all relevant contact details in order to direct recipients and potential referrals easily to your website. There will be nothing more frustrating for prospective clients than not having your particulars on hand and having to go searching for them using Google.

If you have provided your clients with good service, they should have no qualms about referring your business on to someone who is looking for a mortgage broker. With the email signature approach, you boost your chances.