The Care And Feeding Of Referrals
Referral marketing is a powerful way to grow your business, but you need to know how to handle it. Here are some tips on caring and feeding effective referrals.
-Identify what kind of referral best fits the needs of your business. This can be store location, brand loyalty, or event attendance.
-Reach out with genuine curiosity about their experience with your company in the past and for advice on how you can improve in the future. Remember that customers don’t want to be sold, they want genuine dialogue from someone who cares about them as people and understands their needs as consumers or attendees of an event.
-Be a good listener, ask questions and show interest in their experience. It’s not about you taking over the conversation, it’s about them sharing their story with you.
-Listen to the tone of their voice and let them know when you understand what they are saying. Use positive reinforcement and tell them that you value their business.
-Acknowledge them for what they have done for your company by thanking them in person or by sending a personalized thank you note.
-Thank them again in writing after they have left the event or completed their purchase of products/services. Include a small gift such as memento, stationery items, or other small token of your appreciation.
-Be a source of inspiration to your customers. Think of ways to be helpful and those things will stay in the forefront of your customer’s mind when they need to make a decision about their next purchase.
-If they have contacted you with questions or comments, follow up with them within 48 hours in person or via phone call. Don’t just email them an answer and assume that is what they want from you as a business owner. There is nothing more important than genuine human to human contact when it comes to referrals.
-When people buy from your company, do all you can to ensure that the experience exceeds their expectations and builds their trust in your products/services and brand.
-Ensure that you have a process in place to take care of all comments and concerns. Check in with customers by phone, email, and/or follow-up in person within 48 hours following the event.
-Be dependable, honest, trustworthy and sincere with your customers. If you’re not able or willing to follow up on their comments or concerns, let them know that you’re not interested in how many people you can sign up for the next event; instead you want to know what they liked about working with your company. Show them that it is about them and not about your bottom line at all.
-Make the event or product a generous and memorable experience for your customers. They are the ones that end up walking away with a memory with them for years to come.
-If your customers have an awesome time, invite them back, but make it clear in advance that they need to let you know a few months in advance if they want to be on the event roster. Don’t leave it up to their last minute decision!
-Maintain relationships with your clients, share photos of the event on Facebook and Twitter. Send out personalized thank you cards. Celebrate the success of your customers by sending out thank you notes after they leave.
-Don’t be afraid to ask your customers for referrals, but don’t give away everything for free just because you think it will help you grow your business. This is a tricky balance that most people don’t consider. You have to be worthy of referrals and also have something in return for the favors that are being offered.
-Listen to what customers say about your company, even if it isn’t a positive thing: “I found him or her to be rude and condescending during our experience at the event.” Use those comments to improve your customer service and the quality of your products or services.
-Find out what their partner, family and friends really think about working with you. Don’t be afraid to ask people who they are thinking of inviting to an upcoming event, seminar or workshop. If they don’t know anyone then make it clear that you would like to invite them, but not if they are only using your product/service because of a referral. That is a huge red flag!
-Don’t forget to follow up with every single person that comes through your door as a first time shopper or potential customer. If someone’s experience with you is just OK, but they tell their friends about it, then ask for their feedback. They may have felt a bit uncomfortable or awkward if you haven’t reached out to them.
-This is not a game of chance and you should never spam your contacts. Referral marketing is personal relationships, and when you are active in developing these relationships, the word will spread and more people will be more likely to want to work with you.
"Many different types of referrals exist, depending on how your business operates: from retail stores who sell products to service providers who provide services or product solutions," writes Dr. Michael O’Hare.
"Each type of business has different ways to get referrals, so the best way to find them is to understand the circumstances in which people prefer to use them."
Here are some tips that have worked for me!
-If someone uses a service on my website, I ask them for their email address so I can send a special reminder in 3-4 weeks. If they are still using the service, then I follow up again with a 20% discount voucher when they come back.
You pay $10 per referral and I earn 10%. The other $10 will be split between them and our publisher of the web site where they came from.
Join a referral program you love and make money off of it
-As a business owner, you may have to sell a product or service to get more customers. If so, think about promoting that product or service through your own referral program (see below) or by partnering with someone who does.
-If you operate an Internet business, there are plenty of ways to turn your traffic into customers! People from around the world are finding value in your business and as a result, they're sharing their opinions about it with the world. That can be called referrals, too.
-If you're a service business that offers product sales, you might consider partnering with another business that is offering product sales. For example, an airline may also be involved in a referral program.
-This is especially true if you're selling a product or service exclusively online. If potential customers can't actually try the product or service first hand, it will be hard for them to make a decision about whether it's worth their money and time to buy from your business. Other business owners might partner with you by giving out referrals in exchange for your referrals! That way, both of your businesses benefit from happy customers and results.
Conclusion:
-If you’re new to the world of referral marketing, here are some tips that have worked for me!
-Give your online clients a reason to refer you. Offer them discounts and bonuses for good word of mouth recommendations. Like me, I make it easy for my clients to refer me by creating a member section on my website where they can easily recommend me to potential customers. This is a very simple and effective form of referral marketing that I use on my site at www.caroleemurray.com .