Five Effective Strategies To Receive More Referrals

September 13th, 2009 |

The advent of mass or “push” marketing changed the business landscape and the emphasis of word-of-mouth-marketing diminished… Potential customers could easily learn of your business, product or service in the newspaper, magazine, radio or on TV. Therefore, word-of-mouth marketing/referral marketing didn’t have a high ranking in the Entrepreneurs/Small Businesses marketing strategy.

Most entrepreneurs too often overlook the value of referral business or simply don’t know how to go about getting referrals. It is a fact that customers referred by other customers, friends, associates are generally more loyal, hold a more positive opinion of your business and won’t price shop you than customers who come to you from other types of advertising. Those customers are more likely to trust the information given to them from the referral source versus information that comes from an impersonal source, like an ad or radio advertisement. Building trust in your customers is one of the most important steps to creating repeat customers – that solid customer base that will help your business thrive no matter what the economic climate. So, how do you start getting more referrals?

Well here are 5 strategies to being with:

1. Create a Referral Mindset – Start looking at yourself as providing an amazing service and excellent value to prospects and customers. Embrace a generous attitude and be a resource for your customers and others you know, by giving THEM referrals. Basically, give referrals to others as you would like to have others give to you. The motto of BNI (Business Network International) is Givers Gain.

2. Be a Go-Giver – Bob Burg says it best in his best selling book The Go-Giver: A Little Story About a Powerful Business Idea

The law of Value – Your true worth is determined by how much you more you give in value than you take in payment.
The law of Compensation – Your income is determined by how many people you serve and how well you serve them.
The law of Influence – Your influence is determined by how abundantly you place other peoples interest first.
The law of Authenticity – The most valuable gift you have to offer yourself.
The law of Receptivity – The key to effective giving is to stay open to receiving.

Bob Burg & I

3. To Receive you need to Ask (be SPECIFIC) – Most Entrepreneurs/Small Businesses overlook this one, yet it’s actually quite simple to do. You see, your customers have a vested interest in you, they want you to succeed, so they naturally want to help, you just need to ask! One way is when you talk with your customers, friends and associates is to simply state that you’re looking to expand your business and would be grateful for any referrals. However, just asking for a referral, any referral, will usually get you none… You need to be specific when you ask for a referral! Why? Because simply asking for a referral is too broad and people can’t think of someone. However, let’s say your a Chiropractor, then you would say for example, “If you hear someone say they have migraine headaches or neck pain, that would be an ideal referral. Now people can focus on that request and deliver. How do you ask? You can do it verbally, send an email or best yet send them a note in the form of a card.

4. Acknowledge your Customers, Friends and Associates – Acknowledging people is very important, everyone want to feel appreciated and more importantly recognized. Connect with your network on their life events for example: Birthday, Anniversary, Birth, Death, Marriage, Sickness, Promotion, etc. This will display to them that you acknowledge them as a PERSON. Recognition is huge, EVERYONE wants to be APPRECIATED. So someone give your a referral, send them a thank you card, if you host a client appreciation event, recognize them in front of others. Sending out Cards to you Customers, Friends and Associates is one of the BEST ways to express appreciation. Don’t forget to include a small gift if you can along with the card, it will go a long way to differentiate you.

5. You need to Systematize your actions – We all have good intentions, however we all know life gets in the way… Sending Cards, Fliers, Emails, etc. all take time and as an Entrepreneur, Small Business Owner or a given Professional we don’t have the resources to delegate this tasks. That’s where “systems” come into play. You can automate these tasks to save you time and money, more importantly you get it done! There are email systems that allow you to do drip email campaigns. One of these email systems (MailChimp) will let you send up to 500 contacts for FREE! There is also a Greeting card system that is internet based, allows you to choose from over 13,000+ cards on-line or you can create your own, type in your message in your handwriting, add pictures, include gifts or gift cards and the company will print , stuff , stamp and mail them for about $1.00! You can try this system for FREE simply by clicking here: FREE System Test Drive