Been reading a marketing report today that talks about sales models…

# The rise of the platform model – such as Amazon and eBay.

# The rise of direct to consumer – where brands like Apple, Samsung and Nike sell direct.

# The importance of bricks and mortar – in-store distribution still accounts of 80% of retail sales.

Interestingly, some companies today are adopting a mix of two or all three of these sales models.

Take Amazon. They were 100% the platform model, until realising not everyone want to constantly buy online. To sustain their growth, they’ve had to test and invest in bricks and mortar too.

Then you’ve the big brands, not just technology ones, but’s sports and fashion brands too. They’ve built such a strong brand image and audience they’ve opened dedicated online and bricks & mortar stores, whilst still distributing their products through other online and offline companies.

The traditional bricks and mortar retailers are not being left behind, as many are coming from the opposite direction and building sophisticated e-commerce models to compete.

Most retailers will end up meeting somewhere in the middle, with a mix of these three sales models.

This is fabulous for big brands who can splash out millions of brand building advertising dollars. But small companies can’t do this.

So how can a small company compete?

Interestingly, we’ve found good old-fashioned word of mouth or put in a more fashionable way ‘referrals’ are a powerful tool in our armoury.

But there is a huge caveat to this. What?

To build a referral-based business, you must be honest, transparent, and present a clear message about what you stand for and why people should do business with you and then refer you to others.

This message must be delivered consistently with great service over a prolonged period, so potential referrers believe in you and have the confidence to introduce you to their networks.

In our office technology company, we’ve worked extremely hard to grow through referrals.

It’s been down to an effective team and business built on honesty, trust, and transparency, backed by fixed priced guarantees, which delivers certainty and peace of mind to all customers.

…referral business models are hard to achieve and not for everyone, but could one help you?