Where Does Your Business Come From?

Where does your business come from? In a survey of roughly 4,000 people at the BNI.com website, roughly 73 percent of the respondents said that they get most of their business from networking and referral activities. Only 12 percent get most of their business from advertising and less than 10 percent get most of their business from cold calling!

What I find amazing about this is that most colleges still focus on courses on advertising, and most big companies still train their new salespeople how to cold call! Despite that, most entrepreneurs and salespeople (according to this survey) don’t get the majority of their business from these two methods.

Where do you get most of your business from? Comment here on this blog and take the survey (and others) at this LINK.

0 thoughts on “Where Does Your Business Come From?”

Dear Dr. Misner,

Not only does 80% of my business come from word-of-mouth marketing, but it is also my best business.

Since my referral partners know my target market, the clients I receive from them are well qualified. Most other forms of marketing and advertising fail to do this qualifying process as well.

Unlike networking, I have yet to be impressed with the response to any form of advertising I have tried. Much time and money has been invested in many campaigns with dismal results. Often the poor results are blamed on bad ad copy or mis-matched market. In all fairness, I am experimenting with pay-per-click key word internet advertising for the first time this Fall. I am curious to see the ROI compared to networking.

Regards,
Tom Doiron
Atlanta

Dear Dr. Misner

What a privilege it is to belong to a group like BNI. I have had more success obtaining new business in BNI than I have in any other form of marketing.

I have been disappointed in all other forms of advertising yet the word-of-mouth referral never disappoints. Even if the referral does not end in hard cash – the window of opportunity you have to expose yourself and your business is priceless!!

My fellow Chapter members are dedicated in seeking business opportunities for me…that is amazing! What else offers that peace of mind??

Rock on BNI!!!

Helen Terry
Port Elizabeth
South Africa

I have been in real estate sales for 11+ years. Every Sales Seminar I have encountered encourages the Realtor to try marketing techniques that are as effecient as the U.S. Postal Service. You may not get it packaged the way it was shipped but you will get something…someday or maybe not (lost opportunity with no insurance). The Motivational Speakers say things like….if you get even one sale at least it reimburses you your advertising fees; yeah….but when?

The best exposure for me has been marketing myself in front of quality people that know other quality people. I mean truly, Teddy Pendergrass (well reknown in R&B) would have never found me in the local newspaper. Today, 100% of my success comes from the people I rub elbows with.

Long Live BNI!

Angie Richards
Marietta, GA