Referrals are often overlooked but are actually one of the best ways you can gain business. If referrals aren’t a part of your primary marketing strategy, you will want to add it immediately. Not only are you missing out on money, but you’re abandoning one of the best chances you’ll have to build your customer base by word of mouth. When they tell other people about your business, the new customers will already have a good impression. Starting off on the right foot will provide even more leverage down the line.
Referral marketing is one of the quickest ways for you to grow your business. In fact, it is one of the strategies that helped sites like Facebook and Instagram get off the ground so quickly.
The 80/20 Rule Can Improve Productivity
If you’ve haven’t been in business for very long, you may not realize that the majority of your customers won’t be sending new business referrals your way. As much as this would be a godsend, it never seems to happen. It’s just the nature of the business. The Pareto Principle, or 80/20 rule, is a formula that figures 80 percent of your results will be a direct result of 20 percent of the efforts you put in. You can assume the same will be true for your customer base.
Eighty percent of your referred customers will arise from twenty percent of your customers. Those are the loyal clientele that is already pleased with your products or services, that will remain true to you ‘til the end.
When you are a business owner and wishing to grow your referral network, you must identify who that 20 percents, and then find innovative ways to stay ahead of them, while impressing them enough to spread your name for you. When potential customers hear a person they know and trust talking positively about your business, it creates an instant trust in your company and products. This is hard to beat with any other marketing technique out there.
This article includes five strategies to help you grow your business referrals base, also making it simple for your current clients to send you new prospects on a regular basis.
Offer Extraordinary Customer Service
You will never get your current customers to spread the word about your company to their family, friends, colleagues, and random people they meet by chance unless you’re offering the best customer experience and shopping experience possible. By designing your entire business model to focus on service, your customers won’t be able to help to talk about how great you are.
Do Not Ignore the Data
Like the old saying goes, “the numbers don’t lie.” If you have collected data then you can analyze it to help identify who the 20 percent of customers are referring your business to people, or the 20 percent of websites that steadily refer new traffic to your site. It is necessary to focus more time on those essential people and websites, in order to continually gain more of the same referrals.
If you’re not tracking your data, you’re letting the perfect opportunity pass you by. When you use analytics on your site, or customer management software along with a business referrals reporting system, you will have a clear idea of the 20 percent that is sending new business in your direction. Once you recognize them, you must find a way to keep the referrals coming.
Create a Memorable Product Experience
Providing exemplary customer service is only one way to get people talking about your company. You also want to stand out to them by the way you deliver your products and services. With all of the social media platforms that millions of people are using at any given moment, you must create content that users want to share.
When you have people sharing their experience, or sharing your products, business will begin to skyrocket. Figure out what is was that made these people tell their network about you. Then, continue to provide that same experience to new customers. It doesn’t necessarily have to be anything major. Sometimes, something as small as a personalized thank you note with your product is plenty to make your customers want to share their experience with your company.
Make the Referral Process Simple
When you wish to make a sale the simplest way to go about it is to ask for the sale, at the same time making it easy for your customers to make purchases. This plan works the same for building a referral marketing network. Try simply asking your customers to recommend your business to their friends, family, and associates.
Some will be glad to do you the favor. When you offer incentives for the sharing of your business, you will find even more that are willing to comply. Always reassure your customers that sharing your business with other people will result in a reward before asking them to refer you to others.
One easy way is to ask them to share your posts on social media. This literally takes a few clicks and a few seconds of their time. Make sure the buttons on your website are easily seen and accessible for them to refer other people to your business. Be certain that each product page has social sharing buttons and a link to your fan pages can be found in every email you send.
Put a Referral Program into Action
Offering incentives to current customers is probably the best and most cost-effective plan of action you can take to generate new business referrals for your business. By rewarding them and making them a part of an exclusive group, your customers will feel special and compelled to start sharing, becoming more loyal to your brand. Think of starting a “member’s club” as a way of offering in-store incentives, it will end up costing you less than using other marketing strategies would.
There’s no denying it, referral marketing is one of the leading ways to grow your business. It can also be one of the hardest for business owners to master. Implementing the tips broken down here, you now have five simple ways to tap into the 20 percent of customers who are currently recommending you to new customers, and get them more motivated to help you continue to grow your brand.
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