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How To Immediately Get An Avalanche Of Referral Business: Secrets For Turning Your Happy Clients Into A Powerful Sales Force!
How To Immediately Get An Avalanche Of Referral Business: Secrets For Turning Your Happy Clients Into A Powerful Sales Force!
Hello Marketing Maniacs! Here’s a question I got the other day…
Q: Joe, we try to get referrals from most of our customers, but we don’t get as many as I would like. How can we improve our results?
A: First of all, I’m glad to hear that you are actively going after referrals. Congratulations. You will find these to be your most valuable clients. They tend to spend more, they are more loyal, they are frequently “pre-sold”, and they appreciate your service more. Every single entrepreneur and business owner should have a referral system in place to capture and cultivate referalls. Here are some tips for maximizing your Referral Plan:
1. Use a simple referral form where your client can give you the names, phone numbers, and email addresses of their friends and family members. Insert blank slots for at least six names to as many as 15. With this single page form you can start quadrupling referrals immediately.
2. For example, let’s suppose you were a Carpet Cleaner, but adapt this to your own industry… you could give $1 or 2 off today's cleaning for each referral they fill out. But tell them the folks they refer have to… a.) live in your service area, b.) not already be clients and c.) own their home. They can get $30 off right then and there, if they give you a referral form with all the contact slots completely filled out. The key is a low, immediate, cash reward that is not contingent upon whether their friends actually use you or not. This will maximize the number of people who get referred.
3. Hold referral contests with your techs. Whoever collects the most referrals next week gets a $50 bonus.
4. Send the referral form in your newsletter and host a referral contest for your clients with rewards for a.) the most referrals sent in, b.) the one to get the most people to actually
call you and c.) the biggest job. Make the rewards substantial.
5. Reinforce the referral habit. Every time someone refers you, call and thank them, give them a thank you card and small gift, assign referrers a special status, invite them to a client appreciation party where they will receive a special reward, and of course list the names of every client who referred you in your newsletters every month. Also list the names of every new client that month. Feature testimonials from new clients.
6. Test sending a thank you card and small reward to clients that haven’t referred you. You will find that they often start referring you.
7. Find out what lists your clients are able to endorse you to and work on endorsed mailings. These generate business, but also commit your endorser to champion you and become an active referrer.
8. Market to the kind of people who refer. Market your service to socially minded persons, businesspersons, exclusive or tight communities, leaders, clubs, churches and generally the upper middle, to upper class.
9. Establish a clear USP (Unique Selling Proposition) that defines your company to a precise market segment and you will get referred heavily within that segment.
10. Finally, remember you won’t get many referrals unless you ask for them! Ask for referrals at every opportunity. If you talk to a client by mail, on the phone or in person, ask for referrals. The more frequent the reinforcement, the more they will refer you. Don’t be shy about it, if you offer an awesome service you are doing them and their friends a favor!
About the Author
Joe Polish is the President of Piranha Marketing in Tempe, Arizona. He has consulted with and helped over 4,100 Entrepreneurs dramatically multiply their profits and take their business to new heights. You can get access to a wealth of expert advice and insider knowledge through Joe’s private Interview With Masters Series at www.geniusnetwork.com
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