The following blog contribution is from Darren Bosch at DeliberateU.
We are seeing two Sales scenarios facing businesses right now. There are those who need more Sales and those who are doing well - for now. However, the challenge they both share is that they leave easy Sales opportunities untapped… making it harder on themselves.
I want to share what is perhaps the most effective way to keep a sustainable flow of ideal leads coming in your Sales pipeline: a Formalized Referral Program. Before some of you shrug it off saying, “Yeah, we’ve got that covered”, I challenge you. We’ve often seen this as one of the most underused, underrated, and poorly executed areas facing small business owners. Track with me as I unpack this…
I’ll be frank. I have yet to meet a small business owner who effectively and consistently executes a solid referral program. I’m sure they are out there, but the common refrain is, “Oh, yeah, we ask for referrals.” Yet, when we dig in, sure, the intention and effort are there… but the tactical execution is often lacking.
Why might that be? There’s no condemnation here but, in order to grow, we need to know the common pitfalls that keep us trapped with a poor Referral Program:
1. Ignorance:
- we don’t know what it’s costing us to not do this well
- we don’t know what we don’t know; we’re not aware of a better way
- we think our approach is just fine
- Fear: we don’t dare do the ask, so we come up with every excuse in the book
- No Tools: we don’t have an easy system, training or accountability to drive results
The great news? This isn’t “rocket science” folks! It also doesn’t take a huge investment or months of implementation. We have a proven, simple way to help… so you can increase the quality of the leads you are getting. Before you ask, yes, I’ve personally done this as a Sales Manager and experienced the results!
The strategy is called a Formalized Referral Program. Note that all-important word – formalized. We are not talking about passive word-of-mouth lead generation. We’re talking about an active strategy that you control to prompt your customers to help you generate more ideal clients – like them.
WHY WOULD PEOPLE GIVE REFERRALS?
Because they trust you personally. Not firstly your firm or even your product. If you’ve created a remarkable experience for them, you would have made a connection with them that triggers a positive emotion. They love you. People will refer you to others if they are delighted. Further, as client satisfaction increases, their perceived risk decreases and your chance for referrals rises. This all hinges on you delivering a remarkable experience.
People hang out and buy-in tribes. Research shows they’re sooner to engage and consume with those who were recommended by someone they know, a trusted source.
HERE ARE 4 REFERRAL APPROACHES:
There are several different ways to get referrals. At this time we are focussing on B2C (business to customer) referrals only. Stay tuned for our B2B strategies in the blog next week.
1. Delighted, Direct Purchase Referral:
“Strike while the iron’s hot” they say. The best time to ask for a referral is when your client is most delighted in you, your work, and your service. For contractors, manufacturers, or service providers, that’s when the job is just finished or delivered… and in-person. Don’t wait... this is the “golden hour”.
What’s critical here is to not be self-serving. This is about authentic engagement where you seek to serve them! It starts with a humble posture to inquire and receive feedback on your product or service. Focus on their needs and interests, not your own. Check out our simple, Referral Tool for a step-by-step process.
Remember, this isn’t something you just pass off to someone on your team without proper training hoping they will figure it out. This is a trained and rehearsed process that you implement with every customer who buys from you.
2. Point-of-Purchase “Gift for a Friend” Referral:
An example campaign might look like, “Thanks, Allan, for shopping with us today. I know you’ll love your new Spa Hot Tub. Do you have two friends who would enjoy our special “Bath Spa Sampler Kit”? Normally it’s $19.95 for the kit, but for a limited time we have two complimentary Gift Certificates including a spa robe that you can give out to your friends today.
3. The Compliment Campaign
Every time one of your clients says a nice thing about your business, ask them your powerful referral question. This query should be scripted out and memorized by all your team members. “Hey Justin, I really appreciate what you just said. It means a lot to us to deliver high-value, practical help as Christian business mentors and peer community. May I ask you then… who are two business owners in your circle of influence who, like you, are serious about growing their business and could use help getting there?”
When people love and trust you, they naturally want to reciprocate. People are people... if you ask them to get back to you “sometime”, good luck.
4. Referral Tools Campaign:
If you already send physical PR materials to your customers, send them a few extra to give out to friends in a personalized, attractive kit that encourages the friend with some incentive to try your product or service.
For example, when working in a Landscape Design-Build firm, I would often send clients a thoughtful, personalized note and small gift every quarter – or at Thanksgiving to differentiate from the Christmas barrage. One of the things I would do is send complimentary tickets to an event I knew would be of interest to them and their circle of friends who might be considering what we just did for that customer. It continued to build rapport, value and network in their tribe. As they were cash-rich but time-poor, it brought them specialized, high value from a trusted friend that met their needs.
So, whether you are short on leads or have a lot of Sales currently, ask yourself 3 questions:
- What’s the impact if I continue doing things the same?
- What’s it costing me if I don’t have an effective, formalized Referral Program?
- What’s preventing me from getting started on this now?
My encouragement to you is “get the ball on the field”! Feel free to utilize our Free Tool, click here to download it. Further, is there someone you know who has similar challenges and needs to grow their Sales who you could share this with?
CONTACT US IF YOU NEED HELP WITH:
- Motivating and training employees to implement our referral program
- Getting production labourers to create referrals
- Ensuring the best way to qualify referrals
- Creating a referral system you can automatically implement when you’re busy
- Unresponsive requests for referrals
May God bless you with the integrity to authentically care, service and support your clients – and their referrals…. so they too can taste and see what is good!
