One of the best ways to re-ignite cool customer relationships is to ask for their opinion, and one of the easiest ways to do that is to conduct a survey.  There are several free and simple tools available, lke Survey Monkey, Zoomerang or the survey tool built into LinkedIn.

And the best way to motivate people to participate in a survey is to promise to send them the RESULTS of the survey at its conclusion.

Curiosity is one of the most powerful motivators in human nature. That’s why 80,000 people will pay 50 cents each to participate in a CNN poll; so they can see the results at the end of the newscast.

If the response to your survey is negative, then do everything in your power to make that customer happy.  And while you’re at it, share your survey results to show that their poor experience was the exception, rather than the rule.

If the response is positive, ask them for a referral.  Knowing that 97% of your customers gave you an “Excellent” rating makes them even more confident.

And a referral has a five-times better chance of resulting in paid business than any other lead from any other marketing source.

According to a poll conducted on LinkedIn, when asked, “What would motivate you to refer someone to a service provider?”

• If they asked for a referral 32%
• If they referred clients to me 27%
• If they acknowledged my help 18%
• If it made me feel good 18%
• A financial reward 2%

So the absolute best way to get new referral business is to ASK for it.

–OrvelRay

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At the Musée du Louvre in Paris, you can stand in line for half an hour for a chance to gaze upon what is perhaps the most famous work of art ever created, Leonardo da Vinci’s portrait of Lisa Gherardini, the wife of Francesco del Giocondo, the Mona Lisa.

It was a disappointing experience. The painting hangs alone in a large, dimly lit room. And it’s small; only 30 by 21 inches, protected behind a box of four-inch-thick bullet-proof acrylic. The paint is crackled and the colors are dark and smoky. She has not aged well in 500 years.

But in the gift shop, you can buy a poster-sized reproduction that is aesthetically superior to the original in every way. Scientists have analyzed the pigments, and using the most modern digital technology, they have re-created the Mona Lisa exactly as it would have appeared sitting wet on Leonardo’s easel in 1506. It is stunning. The poster is only €20 (about $25), while the original is, of course, priceless.

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