In the third episode of The Selling Local Podcast, Tyler speaks with Beau Andrews and Meagan Reitz. Beau is the founder of BayWest Digital and Meagan is the owner and a stylist at Ella Rose Hair Boutique.
This episode was full of insightful points we'd like to highlight. Beau talked about the importance of referrals in locking down local business clients. He also underscored how you don't have to be an expert when it comes to understanding clients and their world, but you have to be willing to learn. Meagan spoke on examples of bad selling and the value she finds in products/services that are personally recommended.
If you'd like to listen/watch the episode in full, you can watch it here on YouTube and listen to it here on Spotify as well as other podcasting platforms!
The Importance of Referrals
Beau built plenty of his client base through the referral process. "We built a lot of our business off of referrals and partners. I kind of took it from the mentality of a certain man, he died years ago but he was the first person to do over a million dollars in sales and insurance. His approach was he would call somebody up and say "Did so and so talk to you about me?" Whether it's a good person or a bad person because then it causes intrigue and there's some kind of validation in that."
"So I kind of dived into that and I went through referrals and I just would go to networking events or I would put out on channels saying "Hey we've noticed there's a struggle with this, is this something that you're struggling with?" Because you can do base research, so even if you don't have a referral you can do that based research."
The Law of Reciprocity
Beau's story of how he got to build his client base off of referrals has a lot to do with reciprocity or the act of doing and receiving in return, mostly through mentorship. "I was first starting in business and I was looking for mentorship because I knew it was really important. So I reached out to a few platforms and I got connected with a local business owner that does bookkeeping for high-end salons."
"I was talking about you know what I'm looking for and when I showed the business I was building, he acknowledged that it was really impressive. From there he had some clients that he wanted to refer to me. So then that conversation led into where I was educating him, I was allowing him to increase his book."
"That's how we got into the high-end hair salons. I reached out to a mentor, he saw the business and wanted to help my business grow so he referred us to other salons and they saw proof in the pudding. Because of the validation that we had from that referral, it was really unique and we've got clients all over the country in that market because of it."
Meagan's Examples of Bad Selling
As the proud owner of a hair styling boutique, Meagan has also encountered plenty of professionals looking to sell her products. Not all of them have had the greatest approach. "I think that some companies claim to be the best to the point where they kind of put everybody else down around them. I think part of marketing for some companies, which in the beginning works, is this kind of cult-like approach, where a company is saying "We're up here and you guys are down here".
"In the beginning, I think that appealed to me and a lot of other people because they're like "Well we want to be cool too we want to be a part of the Cool Kids Club". But then you get in there and you realize that a lot of what's happening is just marketing and smoke and mirrors."
Value In Personally Recommended Products/Services
From Meagan's POV, personal connection is essential and she prefers using services/products that are recommended to her by a trusted source. "I tend to find more value in personal recommendations and so often if I do get a cold call from say a website company like "Hey we were looking at your website and we noticed this and we can help you" I'm like I don't know who you are."
"Why am I going to just reach out to this random person? Especially nowadays, who knows if the person you're hearing from is even real, it could be completely fake or automated. So I feel like the longer time goes on and the more stuff is automated, the more I value personal recommendations and connections more than I ever used to."
We hope you enjoyed the third episode of The Selling Local Podcast! If you are a Local Business Owner or know a Local Business Owner that would be a perfect guest for the podcast, e-mail our Content Marketing Lead Alex @ Alex@re2.ai with the business and owner's name!