As a result of his experiences at the funerals and wedding, Joe recognized a pattern, which he began to call his Law of 250. In a nutshell, the law states that most people know about 250 people who care about them enough to go to a funeral when they pass away or to go to a wedding when they get married. Yes, there probably are some instances where people know more people or fewer people, but in general, about 250 people care about somebody enough to go to their funeral or go to their wedding. So, Joe went home and realized, “If I can do a great job for a customer, not only am I going to gain that customer’s possible repeat business down the road. I’m also going to gain 250 additional, potential customers who care enough about that person that they may ask for their opinion or ask for their referral for buying a car.” Joe then put together a great system that enabled him consistently to stay in touch with all of his past clients. Each of those clients represented approximately 250 possible referrals. So, that’s what you can do. Figure out a way to stay in touch with all of your past customers — in fact, your entire sphere of influence. By continuing your communication with past customers, you change the nature of your marketing from a one- time transactional model to an ongoing relationship-based model. At the same time, you grow a clientele that achieves a critical mass — enough repeat business and referrals to ensure sustained growth. These are the customers you can expect to just walk through your door.
HOW JOE DID IT
Here’s what Joe Girard did to cultivate all of his past customers. He knew if he just sold them a car and they never heard from him again, he probably wouldn’t gain their repeat and referral business. So, every month, he’d mail out a little postcard or a
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