The most effective way to engage with your clients
This is part 4 of the 5-Days To More UX Leads course.
- Your Unique Value Proposition
- Marketing Gravity
- Watering Holes
- Warm Introductions 👈 You are here
- Paid Exposure & Sponsorships
The power of referrals
While you can spend money on YouTube pre-rolls and Instagram ads, decision-makers in most software companies don’t (always) hire based on ads.
Decision-makers in software companies only work with consultants and agencies they know, like, and trust. It’s too difficult to earn that level of trust on a single, 5-second interaction.
According to Tom Miller’s Expert Acquisition 2020 research, most consulting firms under 50 employees acquire clients either through referrals or through LinkedIn. These are two channels that allow for warm introductions.
What to do instead?
Warm Introductions
While building trust takes time, there’s a shortcut that you can use and that is referrals.
The opinion and recommendations of people you trust play a major role in all your important purchase decisions.
Whether that’s a car or a house, you want to make sure you are making the best decision. So what do you do? You ask people whose judgment you trust. People hiring UX agencies operate in the same way.
Companies outsource a lot of services.
The best way to be recommended to a decision-maker is by networking with other people they work with.
Here’s a list of non-design-related functions that companies outsource.
- Accounting
- Administrative Tasks
- Community management
- Customer Support
- Data Entry
- Human Resources
- Legal ServicesLogisticsManufacturingRecruitingResearch
- Research And Development
- Software Development
- Taxes
The way to reach your target buyer is to first figure out which other companies provide services to them on a regular basis and connect with them. You can then ask them to introduce you.
Establishing partnerships
You might even consider a referral partnership in which they’ll earn a commission for every successful introduction they provide you.
Like we saw in part three, you can also take part in some communities where they are likely to participate. This strategy has the extra benefit that you are getting to know how they think and make decisions.
It will also give you the opportunity to give them value in the form of informal conversations that may lead to bigger projects.
Next, in part five, we will look at how to boost your exposure without spamming people through paid sponsorships.
Paid Exposure & Sponsorships: Maximize your reach without spam
