How To Grow Your Referrals From Other Wedding Professionals - Part Two.

How To Network With Your New Connections - aka Networking Etiquette.
 
Now that you have a pocket full of business cards it's time to get to work and start networking.  There is no doubt that networking with other wedding professionals will increase your referrals. Sadly though most of us will not follow up. Don't let that stack of connections gather dust. Just by picking up the phone and making a few calls you'll be ahead of the game. Follow this list of networking tips and you'll soon have a large pool of professionals referring you:

• Call each new connection the day after you meet them (or wait till Tuesday if you meet them over the weekend as most of us need Monday to catch up).  Tell them how great is was to meet them and that you hope to stay in touch.  Use the calendar in your email program to set reminders to follow-up.
• Look them up on Facebook and become Facebook friends and fans of their business fan page.   Check their profile and make note of their birthday - send them a birthday card.
• Look them up on LinkedIn and connect.  Once you get to know them a little better and have worked together you can ask them to write a recommendation for you on LinkedIn.
• Set up a referral alliance!  A referral alliance is a group of professionals who refer each other to their own customers.  Some wedding vendors give a kick-back or referral fee back to the vendor who referred them. I suggest that you do not do this. Instead come up with some benefit or extra service the bride will receive if she books with a member of the alliance.  This gives the bride a reason to call your "friend" and make an appointment with them. I think this section needs a blog post all of its own!
• Set up all your new connections into a database and send them a quick email when you have some great news to share (perhaps you won an award or are offering some great deals during the slow season). Make sure you do not do this too often though as your emails will just get deleted and not actually read!
• Mail holiday cards.  Make sure they are tasteful, non religious and arrive before the holiday!  You are going to hand write them of course!
• Reciprocate - ask each couple you meet with who they still need to hire. Pass out their business cards and let your customers know about any special offers.

Don't forget the familiar fact that a potential customer needs to see your marketing message 8 or so times before doing business with you. Networking works the same way.  Other wedding professionals need to get to know you before they'll trust you with their precious clients. Keep networking consistently and you'll soon see the benefits.

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