Experts provide insight to the most efficient ways of doing business in our modern and fast-paced times

Dubai, UAE, 12 December 2013
The Dubai Business Women Council (DBWC), the official representative organisation for business women, both professionals and entrepreneurs, in the Emirate of Dubai, today (12 December 2013) held their monthly Network Majlis event, at the Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry, under the theme “Referral Marketing and Networking”. Experienced business trainer, Phil Bedford, lead the event’s discussions.

The December event, which attracted members of the council and honorary guests including Deedee Corradini- President of the International women’s Forum (IWF) and Former Mayor of Salt Lake City, USA, and President of the IWF Leadership Foundation and Ms. Nabila Wassef , Deputy Consular General - The General Consulate of the Arab Republic of Egypt in Dubai, gave attendees the opportunity to understand the competencies of referral marketing and networking and highlighted the benefits of doing business by referral.
Commenting on the event’s topic, Mrs. Raja Al Gurg, President of DBWC, said: “Dubai has become a competitive business hub as there are multiple companies with the same offerings. This makes it even harder to select the right vendor, service provider or product to best suit your needs and referrals from friends, business relations and industry experts will certainly aid in making the best decision.”
Referral marketing is a process to maximize word of mouth potential. It does this by encouraging, informing, promoting and rewarding customers and contacts to think and talk as much as possible about their supplier, their company, product and service and the value and benefit the supplier brings to them and people they know. It further takes word of mouth from the spontaneous situation to one where maximum referrals are generated.
Phil Bedford, who is the Master Franchisee of the Referral Institute, provided insight into one of the most efficient ways of doing business in our modern and fast-paced times, called referral marketing. There are many benefits for doing business by referral including: 1) you have business coming TO YOU; 2) the prospective client tends to be less “price sensitive”; and 3) you have perceived trust with the client because you were referred.
The Referral Institute is a referral marketing training, coaching, and consulting company that helps people create Referrals For Life®! They offer professionals a systematic way to gain more business by referral. They ensure to give clients the right referral marketing education, make sure that their referral network gets trained and that they stay immersed and engaged in the information.
A study conducted by the Goethe University Frankfurt and the University of Pennsylvania, on referral programs and customer value which followed the customer referral program of a German bank that paid customers 25 euro for bringing in a new customer, was released in July 2010. According to Professor Van den Bulte, this is the first ever study published on the financial evaluation of customer referral programs. The study found that referred customers were both more profitable and loyal than normal customers. Referred customers had a higher contribution margin, a higher retention rate and were more valuable in both the short and long run.
“This session was a great way of showing our members the importance of our networking opportunities as many new business opportunities are created from the monthly Networking Majlis sessions and our other events. Furthermore, because these new business relations are incorporated from a very personal level, we see a lot of members referring each other within, and out of the network,” concluded Mrs. Al Gurg.

About DBWC:
Established in 2002, under the umbrella of the Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Dubai Business Women’s Council is the official representative organisation for business women, both professionals and entrepreneurs, in the Emirate of Dubai.
Building awareness, educating, promoting opportunities and enhancing positive change in the community towards the acceptance of women in business is at the heart of the DBWC’s belief in empowering women and motivating them to be productive members of the society and economy.
The ‘Network Majlis’ events are hosted monthly by the DBWC in order to provide information about the latest knowledge, skills and best practices for women entrepreneurs and leaders. For more information about DBWC and their recent activities, visit www.dbwc.ae.
Log on to the Council’s Facebook page - https://www.facebook.com/pages/Dubai-Business-Woman-Council-DBWC/146645812070341

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