There are all kinds of channels through which to reach SMBs. This has diversified well beyond the traditional local sales channels such as yellow pages and newspaper “feet on the street.” One of those growing – though not totally new – channels is local referral networks.

Key Takeaways

Here are a few key messages or insights that we gleaned from this session.

• Ruby provides reception and phone services to industries where there’s a high cost of missing a phone call. This translates to high lead value in verticals like law and home services.
• Ruby has gotten creative with its customer acquisition in the legal vertical by getting involved with bar associations in big cities like LA. They organize and sponsor educational and mixer/meetup events with these associations which spreads awareness and word of mouth for its services.
• They can also work with industry associations as channel partners to pass along discounted rates to those associations’ members.
• Meanwhile, Constant Contact has worked with the Small Business Association (SBA) in offering free educational seminars to members (think: how to start an email marketing campaign). This educational content was a great foot in the door for SMB relationships and ultimately sales.
• The common thread in all the above is education and content marketing. It can’t just be blatant sales… often there’s a value proposition in the form of a free enticement to demonstrate a given product or service. Show rather than tell.

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Meeting SMBs Where They Are

As small businesses look to grow, they often rely on local referral sources for recommendations on products and services. If you are a brand serving small businesses, partnering with local organizations and associations can be a great way to engage with small business owners and entrepreneurs. Wendi Caplan-Carroll of Square Biz will lead this conversation along with two SMB brands.

Michelle Winnett, Ruby Receptionist
Wendi Caplan, SquareBiz
Israel Serna, Digital Marketing Consultant