The Sales Evangelist’s path to a pipeline

In the world of the bootstrapper there are little resources. No millions in marketing, strong SEM campaigns. The whitepapers and case studies are few are long to get developed. The number one marketing tool is word of mouth. Through networking and phone calls we use our voice to promote our offerings. This is our marketing engine, or lead generation tool, our cultivator.

What many do not do is take that verbal marketing and empower people to make it viral. See what makes a startup go big is the customer evangelist. How to get that person to make you money is simple. Get them in forums talking about your product. The prerequisite to all of this is them being truly in love with you and your offering. The customer evangelist will make you money but by definition an evangelist is a true believer. Here are three ways to get great referrals:

1. Leverage their relationships. Get them in front of their acquaintances. Have them bring you into a networking session that they frequent, or offer to take them and some of their colleagues at other companies out to eat. Make it about the people closest to your clients. The people that trust them through experience and will listen to them.
2. Leverage their reputation. Get them in front of those that will want to learn about the advantages of your offering. Put them in a webinar or in front of a relevant group of their peers. Have them share what working with you has done for them. Make it about the people that are most likely to believe in and respect your clients. The people that trust them through reputation and respect and will listen to them.
3. Leverage your prospects. Get them in front of the people you are working with. Have them on conference calls, at trade shows and industry events, or sponsoring open houses. Make it about the people that need that last push to move and become a client. The people that are starting to trust you and have to hear it from someone a little like them.

These are some basic ways to get your customers working for you. Please share other ways to get references and leverage customers.

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