How to get more referrals

Everyone loves referrals, don't they? Many enterprises seem to rely on them, as their primary source of new business. The key question is, do you ask for referrals at every opportunity? How do you go about asking? Is your 'referral request' consistent, or do you say whatever comes to mind? Why not take a moment now and write down your 'referral request'. Do you have a referral marketing system? Do you offer incentives for people who refer business to you? What, exactly, do you offer them? Cash? Discount vouchers? Cinema tickets? Something else? How do you measure your results? Where do you keep records of the referrals you have received? Is this part of your CRM (Customer Relationship Management) system? Here is a referral marketing checklist: 1. Ask for referrals at every opportunity 2. Make referral marketing part of the 'way we do things around here' 3. Provide an incentive for referrals 4. Have a clear message (and write this down) 5. Track and measure the referrals you receive Do...
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How to get more referrals

How to get more referrals

In this blog we'll discuss how to get more referrals... When I ask my seminar audiences whether they like referrals, the room becomes a forest of raised hands. I then ask the audience to describe the systems they use to create more referrals. Interestingly, few, if any, hands are raised. Here are some practical tips and ideas on how to get more referrals – based on the power of advocacy. A few of your customers, a larger percentage of your clients and some of your (non-client) friends will become advocates. These are the people who recommend you. They are worth their weight in gold. Some 5% of people are natural advocates (i.e. 1 in 20). They simply enjoy the act of recommendation. The challenge is that you may never know who all your advocates are – unless you start asking the following question (in response to a sales enquiry): “I wonder how you found us?” The rule is: always try to find out...
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