This is the third and final entry on how to help generate more and better referral business. Read on for three more tips. . . You'll find the first three ways to generate referral leads here: http://www.examiner.com/x-725-Tech-Marketing-Examiner~y2008m9d10-3-Ways-to-Get-Quality-Referrals.
4. Give them something of value. If you're going to give referral gifts, be as consistent as possible. People talk. If one customer finds out that they got a $20 gift certificate, and another got a gift of ten times the value of the same type of referral, you could burn bridges, all in the name of trying to build relationships.
If your organization has clients on maintenance contracts, think about giving “gift certificates” that can be applied to service contracts, additional services or sponsored company events, such as customer conferences. This is a gift that benefits both the customer and the company. We have seen this company gift certificate approach work well time and again. It’s well received by the client base, costs the company soft dollars and improves your relationship with your client. There aren’t any losers with this type of program.
5. Arm sales to gather referrals. Your sales people understand the value of referrals. Make sure they're part of the program. They can use it as a tool to touch base with your customer base, warm up leads that have cooled, or resume contact with a customer who hasn’t purchased from you recently. In this way, your referral program is an integral part of your sales and marketing strategy.
6. Measure the success. The only way to know if your program is successful is to measure its results. Results of this program should be relatively straight forward and easy to measure. Since your client or partner will be receiving a gift for referring you, they will help ensure that the lead is traceable back to them. If you're promoting the program and your customers are talking to other qualified leads, you should notice an increase in the number of referrals you’re getting and the number of sales closed. The only way to be sure of this impact is to measure it.
Referrals should be a valuable part of the growth strategy for your business. Have any of these approaches worked for you? Have you had success with others? Share the love and let us know.
You can contact me privately or get more tech marketing tips at Q2marketing.com.
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These are valuable tips for any businessperson.
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