Building a Referral-Friendly Business
Referrals are an important part of any successful business.
They're a great way to keep building your customer base, year
after year, without having to go out and pay for advertising.
Instead, you use the power of your current customers to help you
continue to grow.
Referrals really are 'golden'. For one thing, in this
time-crunched age where everyone's so busy, people are more
willing to depend on the advice of trusted contacts. It saves
them from spending time in laborious research.
Referrals also produce a 'snowball' effect. Happy customers tend
to have a good idea of which one of their friends would
appreciate your product or service. They refer people similar to
themselves... who also refer people they know... and so on.
But one of the best things about referrals is that they're
easier to convert into customers! It's fine for YOU to say that
you provide a great product or service -- but when someone else
says it, it instantly has more impact... especially when it
comes from a trusted friend or contact. Your credibility and
expertise have been established by the referrer.
However, many business owners assume that just because they do a
good job, referrals will happen automatically. This isn't true;
people often need a little encouragement to send referrals your
way. It's up to you to take a more active role in making them
happen.
Go ahead and tell your customers that you'll do your best to
make sure they're happy. Then let them know that you would
welcome any referrals -- in other words, simply ASK for new
referrals. Encourage them by offering referral incentives.
For example, offer a referral bonus or discount. Offer free
gifts, extra entries into a contest, whatever is appropriate for
your business. And ALWAYS send a thank- you note and possibly
even a small gift to the referrer ... regardless of whether or
not the person he referred becomes a customer. This will show
that you appreciate him thinking of you. Everyone likes to feel
appreciated, and he'll be more likely to continue to send
referrals your way. You never know -- someone he refers in the
future might very well become a customer!
Another example of how to generate referrals is to write
articles and distribute them around the Internet. Once again, if
you get published you instantly have more credibility -- you
build an "expert" status, so to speak. Many article syndication
sites offer a feature that allows the reader to email the
article to a friend... and articles are often passed around from
person to person through email.
In both of the above cases, your business automatically has more
"clout" than, say, if a prospect were to simply visit your
website. In the case of a referral, the prospect has already
been at least partially influenced by his or her friend or
contact... which makes your job of converting him to a paying
customer that much easier!
A referral-friendly business is one which can continue to send
you new customers day after day, year after year. Encourage it
and reward it!