Make your clients and referral partners feel special! If they feel like the same commoditized “unit” at your service as they would at the next, then there’s no reason to come to you…

Think of different ways (not expensive ways) to make your client realize that you are thinking of them…

For example… I always tell my consulting clients to send New Years cards instead of Christmas Cards… and it’s not because I’m politically correct… I said Christmas… because for the past 50+++ years everyone called the “Holiday season” the “Christmas Season”, regardless of what holiday you celebrate… and that’s ok…. I’ve spoken to hundreds, if not thousands of people who celebrate alternate holidays- I celebrate many holidays!!!… and still call it the “Christmas Season”… Ok… Enough of my P.C. rant… The bottom line is- I don’t say send new years cards for the wrong reasons..

The reason that I suggest New Years Cards is because of competition… There’s less competition on New Years… No one else is sending cards (Or at least not too many…)
If less people are sending New Years cards, then your news years cards WILL STAND OUT!!!!!…

A Legendary Marketer once said… Send a Thanksgiving Card… No one else will… So for the next several years I sent, Birthday, ½ Birthday, Anniversary, New Years, Valentines, and whatever cards I could find… I still send out about 4 – 500 cards a month, depending on the month…

Handwritten thank you notes… In a previous message I discussed the importance of delegating … These are tasks to delegate and automate… I certainly don’t lick or handwrite the envelopes….. I found an automated system to do it for me… My automated system actually seems as if I personally wrote it…You can easily use an automated system to do it… I just suggest that GET IT DONE… BUT YOU DON’T DO IT!!!

After you meet with a  new referral partner, send them a handwritten thank you card… Ask yourself how many other companies that provide the service that you do, approach that referral partner on a daily or weekly basis? Then ask yourself how many of them send a handwritten thank you note after a call or a visit? I think you know where I’m going with this…

Client retention and referrals should start at the initial call… When my focus was on training loan officers I always gave the example of me, when I was a loan officer (Many Moons ago) I would ask for a referral at the time of application…. Yeah – before I even qualified that person for a loan…
It was always easy for me… I would simply explain that my business was based on referrals and ask who do they know that could benefit from the valuable advice that I gave?

I always said “Valuable Advice” because I wanted to be an advisor, not a broker or salesman… People trust advisors and distrust salesman…

Put yourself in that “Advisory” role when talking to your clients or potential clients… It is usually a good idea to start a conversation with probing questions… don’t go straight for the sale…. Make sure your clients know that you are interested in hearing them … so LET THEM TALK… When they TALK you should LISTEN!!! They will tell you a lot more than you’ll ever need to know but… let them go… A good salesman knows he has 2 ears and 1 mouth… which means he should be using his ears twice as much!!

When you’re an advisor, you truly understand the situation, and the client must be confident that you will advise regardless of financial gain for yourself… THAT is NOT A PITCH!!! You must truly believe that … Don’t take every client unless you can help them! This business has enough unscrupulous individuals doing that… There is a lot more money to be made by providing a great service at a reasonable rate…

There are alternative ways to make money from clients that you can’t help…. If you know them, great, make the best of them… If you don’t, let me know and I’d be happy to make some suggestions…..

I went off track a bit…… I was up to the part about asking for referrals day one…
Don’t just stop there… KeeEEEEp asking for them, every conversation… EVERYONE knows someone with BAD CREDIT!!! Offer valuable informative info, white papers, free reports, articles for local newspapers etc…

Those items will assist in long term relationship building…

Create good looking Gift Certificates (Ones that look valuable, not the nonsense that you’d print on your regular penny copy paper)…. Make the gift certificates look valuable then give them to potential referral partners… Give away a $50 cert for a “Credit Analysis” or “Credit Exam”…. Rather than a FREE Consultation that has no value, (because it’s free)…. Make the certificate look valuable and it will be perceived as valuable… Then your referral partner will see additional value in you and your services….

If you only remember one thing from this e-mail… Here’s what it should be:

PERCEPTION IS REALITY!!!!

Your friend in the credit biz

Small claims courts proceedings can be very effective. The concepts many companies have conjured is that the data furnisher will probably not show up in court…

I agree this is a great possibility BUT- you must be prepared for the worst… Many will use this theory without preparation and proper knowledge, this would be like “taking  a knife to a gun fight”… you’d know a bit and have a chance of slipping through and winning but your opponent has an EXTREME advantage.

When preparing for a small claims strategy it is imperative to understand the details and concepts of the various laws and acts. Some of the obvious laws and acts to understand are the FCRA (Fair Credit Reporting Act), FACTA (Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act), FDCPA (Fair Debt Collection Practices Act)— some of the not so obvious but very useful are the FCBA (Fair Credit Billing Act), HIPPA (Health Information Patient Privacy Act), SSRA (Soldiers and Sailors Relief Act), TILA (Truth In Lending Act) and general legal procedures…

One of the key elements that I elaborate in “Credit Biz in a Box” is the way to turn your small claims necessity into a profit center and a marketing center…

Knowing all of the details of the laws and learning how to set traps for the data furnishers is important BUT understanding that there is a FINE line between friendly advice and legal advice is CRUCIAL…. Unlicensed practice of Law is a serious offense that is typically enforced by the Bar Association in the state of your practice.

In many cases the relationship that you have with a client when you are in the Credit Repair business can easily be perceived as “Unlicensed Practice of Law”—

Although perception is not always true- I always teach that “PERCEPTION IS REALITY”//// you can however use this to your advantage….

Learn the laws in and out, study them, understand the concepts and ways to set booby traps for creditors, collection agencies, credit card companies, banks and credit reporting agencies….

Once you understand them fully- find a local attorney or 2 (I prefer 5-6 but…)… Once you find a local attorney that is looking to expand his practice, get a consultation. During your consultation explain your dilemma… Explain that you are an expert in FCRA, FDCPA, FACTA, FCBA, TILA violations… .Explain that- although you understand the complexities and intricacies of the procedure in court you have a greater understanding that Unlicensed Practice of Law is a serious offense… Explain that you want to help consumers and your clients, let the attorney know about the free education that you offer to various groups (I’ll talk about that in another message)….

Then ask the attorney if he is willing to become a strategic partner with you— A proposal could be structured in many ways but I suggest the following… Do all of the research, compile all of the traps, put together a detailed summary of the violations then present a complete package for the attorney to file a small claims case….

Most attorneys do not specialize in these laws and many don’t care to know anything about them… If you make the attorney’s job easy- he will likely be willing to take these additional cases.. the monetary settlements on theses cases is usually small BUT… if the attorney has little work to do on them and they are looking to expand their practice, then this is a win- win for everyone…

Having an attorney do the small claims will help in 2 ways- 1) It will keep you out of hot water with regulators/violations and Most importantly 2) Will allow you to partner up with a professional that is likely to give you more referrals that you will give him…. You will quickly become the “credit expert” in their eyes which will go ALONG WAY!!!!

Side-Note… Make sure you know your STUFF before attempting to form a relationship… it’s not easy to “Fake it til you make it” with attorney’s… they’ll see right through it…

The client may have to come up with a small retainer but- it is much better than them trying to do it themselves. Most attorneys will work without a retainer for clients in need when they know there will be a monetary award- the typical award is $1000 + so the attorney’s money is usually secure…

Detailed info on how to set the “Mouse Traps” and what the most common violations to look out for are a part of “Credit Biz in a Box”…. If you are interested in finding out more about that take a peek here CLICK HERE TO SEE “CREDIT BIZ IN A BOX”

A quick explanation of it is- The complete resource for starting running andn managing a credit repair business… How to guides for all situations along with employee training manuals and marketing materials… There are several books, audio CDs, DVD Presentations etc… Enough stuff to fill up a box…  A bunch of marketing material too….

Your friend in the credit biz,

Mike Citron

P.S. These are REAL TIME Real world tactics…. This idea is not theory it is fact… When I was still actively practicing credit repair, at any given time I could get 30+ attorneys on the phone within minutes… (Because I had their Cell #’s) and they would ALWAYS ANSWER the PHONE!!! I still provide continuing education for the Florida Bar- Several of the courses that I created have been presented to groups of all sizes… I’m not telling you this to brag.. I’m sharing my experience so you can benefit from it… If I did it- so can you!!!

P.P.S. I still want you to check out the latest updates to our website www.DisputeSuite.com

P.P.P.S. I’m starting a small campaign… it’s called THREE AND ITS FREE-Three and it’s free is this… If you know 3 people in the credit repair business that can benefit from our software- send them our way… When three people sign-up, I will give you a month for free… Your THREE friends will get their first month free as well…. This is Hard to keep track of so— I’m not publicizing this on our site- just e-mail me the 3 names of your friends once you know that they signed up!!

P.P.P.P.S. If you can think of other unique promos like THREE AND ITS FREE- and you’d like me to think about implementing.. I’d be happy to listen!

By the time you’re done talking to an internet marketer most people are lost… I know I used to be! One of the biggest mistakes that I typically see in internet marketing is not focusing on a niche’.

When starting out, or even if you’ve already establised a typical business model it is easy to get overwhelmed, and easy to go over budget! Think about narrowing down your marketing to a local area can help 

But many credit repair businesses that market online tend to focus on too broad of a picture (trying to target the entire U.S.).  In reality, most credit repair businesses do the bulk of their business within their local community, typically within a 50 – 100 mile radius.

Research shows more and more people are using the internet to locate local businesses. For example, if you want to find a “Restaurant” in Tampa, Florida, you will go online to a local search engine and type “Tampa Restaurant.” People are doing the same for credit repair.

A study by ROI Research Inc. indicated that online searches influence 20 – 30 percent of purchases made locally.

So how do you get your credit repair businesses listed online for your local market?  This article provides you with a list of search engines you can use to get your name out to your local market.

1. Website: Google Adwords

How to use it: Adwords will allow you to target local online customers by setting pay-per-click advertisements to appear when people search for a particular city or state.

As the name implies you are going to pay every time someone clicks on your listing.  So, if you operate a credit repair business in Tampa, you would pick keywords like “Tampa Credit Repair” or “Tampa Credit Restoration.”  Then when someone Google’s the term “Tampa Credit Repair” your web site listing will show up.  There’s no minimum spending requirement for Adwords and your daily budget is up to you.

2. Website: Google Local Business Listings

How to use it: Google displays local businesses in the middle of the web search results.  You can list your business with Google’s business center, and your listing will be included in search results for free. In the image below, you can see I searched for “Credit Repair Tampa” and it includes the local businesses on the top. Although businesses don’t need a website to be listed in Google Local, it’s a good idea to have a properly optimized website.

3. Website: Yahoo! Local Listings

How to use it: Unlike Google, users have to select Local Listings as an option in Yahoo. Yahoo created this to promote local businesses. You can choose from a couple of different plans including a free listing. The one thing I recommend is to put the word “credit repair” in your listing. For example if your company’s name is “Smith & Co.” add the word “Credit Repair” next to it, such as “Smith & Co. – Credit Repair.” That way people see you are a credit repair business.

4. Website: City Search

How to use it: Although City Search is not free, if you have the budget it works well.

They offer online advertising tools to get your ad listed on MSN, Yahoo!, Google, and Ask.com. The service works a lot like Google Adwords, where you pay-per-click.

5. Website: Craigslist

How to use it: Craigslist gets an estimated 10 million unique visitors per day (that’s a lot of people). You can take out an online classified ad for your local city. Posting on Craigslist is also free. But, be careful not to go crazy, or they will mark your stuff as Spam.

6. Website: AOL’s CityGuide

How to use it: AOL’s CityGuide provides local entertainment information to AOL members. If you advertise with AOL you can target consumers based on lifestyle and market.

7. Website: Local.com

How to use it: Local.com has 10 million + monthly customers which you can target

You can choose a basic free listing or pay-per-click.

8. Website: YellowPages.com

How to use it: The online equivalent of your yellow pages phonebook, yellowpages.com is a large directory for businesses. You can get a basic listing for free.

List your credit repair business on the above web sites and you will be generating local business in no time!

Marketing must constantly change. I was recently reminded of this on a business trip to San Diego. I had a great time, I was able to spend several days with some of the nations top marketing and sales minds… We had several closed door no invitation, no nonsense- just work – mastermind sessions…. It was very useful and the relationships made during those days will last a long time!

There was great information shared amongst these top minds but…. The lesson at hand was not learned in any of those sessions… As a matter of fact it was quite odd when I realized it…

I usually don’t get to enjoy these business trips- being away from my wife and son, makes it tough but- this time I decided to ask them if they wanted a quick weekend in California… The answer was obviously yes…. and they understood that, they would be on their own most of the time… however during some of the time that we did get to spend together- Is when this great realization of marketing came about…

We took a visit to the San Diego Zoo… One of the most extraordinary attractions in the country…  But enough about that-

The bottom line is – you have to adapt to your client base and your prospecting base… The same ad’s and types of ads that you did last year, or even last month might not be effective today…

Your message might be the same but the media might have to change… In the credit repair business you have to be especially concerned about your advertising dollars…. Keeping a budget and remaining in the budget are crucial to success… I always suggest highly targeted marketing rather than exposure marketing. I like to refer to it as “sniper” marketing instead of “shotgun”… In the Credit Repair Business a good example of sniper markeing is targeting individuals who have recently been denied credit for an auto loan, home, loan or credit card- whereas an example of shotgun would be to target all people in a certain neighborhood.

The neighborhood approach might be good if you’re a Pizza delivery or a lawn service but- if you’re a specialized business you need to have a targeted sniper approach… With the sniper you attack less people but you can spend more $ per person because you know that they need your service…. It is better to send 10 marketing pieces to the same client that you know needs your service than it would be to send 20 random pieces….

So, I’m sure your wondering what made me think of this at the San Diego Zoo????

What do you think of this use of advertising dollars???

WOW!!!  That could be your ad dollars being destroyed… I guess they figured since they don’t use it- find a use for it-Many people will have the same response… That’s right… A “Perfectly Good” advertising medium – (The yellow pages) is being used for filler in a cage!

Yellow pages used to be the premier advertising solution….. Think for a second- when was the last time you opened one? Does your target market open the yellow pages? Do they shop on the internet? Do they rent? How old are they?

Regardless of ad type- and I don’t mean to pick on the yellow pages, (they’ve made me a lot of money over the years).. My message is – Know your clients and constantly adapt your marketing around them… There is NO “One size fits all” and certainly no “Set it and forget it)…..

If you target via the internet, understand there is a whole world beyond pay per click… If you do direct mail, there are ways to get double digit response rates…

Study your market!

Good Luck,

Your friend in the credit business