A $40 Million Dollar Little Known Referral Strategy

Would you like to know how a car wash chain with only 12 locations has cleaned over 33,373,975 cars and has an annual revenue of over $40 Million (that is not a misprint) using little to no paid advertising?

Well, sit forward because I'm about to tell you. The company name is "Car Spa" and here's how I discovered their brutally effective referral strategy. I often go to Taco Bell to have lunch and read a book. I noticed a little flyer next to their cash register.

A few days later I stopped in with my family to get a frozen yogurt and right next to the cash register was the same flyer.

The next day, I took my family to our favorite buffet restaurant and low and behold, there was a stack of Car Spa flyers.

I then started asking the people at these locations what the deal was with the Car Spa flyer that they had next to their cash register and they all said that some old guy comes around every week and replinishes their stack.

I asked them, "Do you have some type of reciprocal arrangement with Car Spa?" They all said, "No... they asked if they could put their flyers there as a gift to our guests and we said sure."

Here's a copy of the referral flyer that Car Spa uses to drive traffic. http://www.marketingbestpractices.com/temp/car_spa.pdf

Pretty simple. Notice the 48 hour guarantee.

They're All Over the Place!

Before you knew it, I started noticing their little discount flyers ALL OVER THE PLACE.

The copy center I use had a stack of Car Spa flyers.

The barber I use had a stack of Car Spa flyers.

The oil and lube place I use had a stack of Car Spa flyers.

The local handicraft shop my wife goes to had a stack of Car Spa flyers.

My son's dentist had a stack of Car Spa flyers in his office.

My local chiropractor friend had a stack of Car Spa flyers in his office.

An apartment complex office I visited had a stack of Car Spa flyers.

Everywhere I went, I saw a stack of Car Spa flyers. It was amazing. The have these little "referral lead generation magnets" all over the place.

So I Finally Visited Car Spa

And it wasn't any surprise that they were so busy that it took about 15 minutes of waiting just to get my car into their car wash.

I then went inside their office to wait for my car and noticed that they did NOT have one flyer from another business inside their office.

They were able to get all those other businesses in the area to send them referrals without having to do one reciprocal referral arrangement. And they did it simply by asking the business owners. That's all.

Car Spa probably gets 100 times the amount of referrals of any other business in the area as a direct result of this simple referral tactic.

If you have a brick and mortar business, what's stopping you from doing the same thing? All it takes is a couple of hours a day and a handful or referral flyers to pass out.

Copyright 2005 David Frey

David Frey is the author of the best-selling manual, "The Small Business Marketing Bible" and Senior Editor of the highly-acclaimed, "Small Business Marketing Best Practices Newsletter." To get your free lifetime subscription simply visit http://MarketingBestPractices.com

---

How To Create A Better Brochure

Having a quality brochure makes a positive impression on a... Read More

16 Methods for Getting Free Advertising

1. Place copies of your circular on bulletin... Read More

I Dont Want to be Different

To succeed in today's crowded marketplace where most of the... Read More

Mortgage Marketing - Broadcast Advertising vs Direct Advertising

Do you know how to design and deploy a marketing... Read More

How You Measure Yourself Is How You Motivate Yourself

One of the keys to strong positive mental attitude is... Read More

Marketing Tips For Small Business ? Advertising That Works, Part I

Have you ever seen an ad on television that was... Read More

Attention-Grabbing Fixes that Make Your Yellow Page Ad Leap Off the Page

Stand Out in Ways that Matter to Directory Users A... Read More

Why Hire an Advertising/Marketing Consultant?

As a business owner, you have the option of taking... Read More

3 Inside Secrets To Making You Richer Using Direct Mail!

Making money using direct mail isn't easy. And anyone who... Read More

The Future of Voiceovers: Hold Your Tongue...Possibly Forever

"Do we need to cast a voice-over talent for this... Read More

The Shrinking Ad Dollar

CPR CPA CTR... what does it all mean? What it... Read More

Finding Your Target Market

Achieving sales is probably the biggest challenge a web business... Read More

Worn Out Brochure Design Is Keeping Small Business Owners Down

I got another one of those calls the other day...Can... Read More

Direct Mail Catalogs & Brochures: Write Captions That Sell

Many prospects skim through catalogs and brochures, glancing at the... Read More

The Internet and Beyond - 12 Tips on Writing Better Brochures

Every year thousands of online businesses fail. None of them... Read More

Do Your Radio Ads Work?

Most small businesses don't have a high powered advertising agency... Read More

Hit Them With Benefits

More about advertising from BIG Mike McDanielIt makes no difference... Read More

How to Write B2B Ads That Catch Customers

Are your business-to-business ads working for you? If they are... Read More

Information To Include On Your Business Card

The logo and graphic elements that you include on your... Read More

The Seven Second Race: How to Draw Attention Your Ad

You've decided to launch your advertising campaign but you have... Read More

If You Invest Money on Advertising, then You could Save Thousands through this Simple Little Secret

A few years ago, I analysed the statistics of where... Read More

Using Ad Agencies and Designers

Advertising and promoting your business is expensive, so it's important... Read More

Offline Advertising Tips

Since most of us are always online and our business... Read More

Avoid The Big Advertising Mistakes

Is your advertising copy getting the results you want? If... Read More

Do Your Business Cards Say Who You REALLY Are?

Here are a couple of tips for creating an eye... Read More

Cross Cultural Advertising

"Culture is a like dropping an Alka-seltzer into a glass... Read More

Nine Power Words To Punch Up Your Ads

As every professional politician and public relations man knows words... Read More

Raising Funds For Your Nonprofit Using An Annual Direct Mail Program

A good annual direct mail solicitation program can produce unrestrictive... Read More

5 Reasons Why Headlines Are Crucial To Your Website?s Success

Without a powerful headline, your message stands little chance of... Read More

Brochures - The Ultimate Sales Tool

"How brochures can help you stand out from the competition,... Read More

Effective Promotions Through Local Classified Sites

Today's online marketplace is extremely competitive. People want to market... Read More

How to Save Money by Making Your Own Sign

In the sign industry we commonly refer to the material... Read More

Prove It! - Give Your Marketing and Advertising More Credibility

Your marketing and advertising won't be effective if your potential... Read More