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Adam's Advice: Use Your Brochure to Boost Referrals

Following up last week's look at creating a powerful brochure, we'll now discuss ways to effectively use your brochure to build relationships and grow referrals. Your brochure is a crucial part of the process of building a relationship with a potential client or referral source. Use it to introduce your agency, inform prospects of your agency's services, educate them about new concepts and help make the appointment to close the sale.

Here are a few specific ways to boost referrals with your brochure:

• Send brochures to prospects who are "pre-qualified." Always send a brochure to a new prospect that you've already spoken with or that has been referred by someone you know. And always include a sales letter.
• Send brochures to a broader, but targeted prospect list. In addition to your pre-qualified prospects, reach out to other prospects with a well-researched list of a specific demographic group that would consider your services. Attach a personal cover letter introducing yourself and explaining why you're sending your brochure to them.
• Obtain an endorsement from a happy client. Endorsements provide credibility. The concept is simple: The endorser provides letters on his letterhead to people who know and trust him, but do not yet know you. The letter serves as a general endorsement or recommendation of your company and is, of course, accompanied with one of your brochures. Ideally, the mailing is done using the endorser's letterhead envelopes, not your own, so that the recipient will be sure to recognize and open the letter.

Remember, while you can use your brochure to help grow referrals, don't rely on that alone. You must employ many different tactics to build relationships with prospects. A brochure will not usually close a sale, but it can certainly open a door and put you on the right path.