The Golden Rules to get Value (including Referrals)
Nothing comes easy, and never anything as valuable as a flow of referrals. It requires effort, but a lot less sweat and money if you follow these rules!
1. Have a Clear Plan with SMART goals (as you need for all areas of your business).
2. Just Ask! You’ve done everything right. Your client’s happy, you’ve met their needs but they’re not referring you. Why? Everyone who manages a business is always busy so your needs are not their priority. Take the initiative and just ask for them. Don’t allow your rejection fears to stop you from asking.4 You must also ask yourself a few questions…
Have I earned the right to ask for a referral? Is my service worth it? Have I gained their trust? Once you assure your clients that you offer a valuable service and you’re trustworthy, referrals will eventually come.
3. Offer an incentive. Even if they think your services are great and you’ve asked for a referral, many clients still won’t deliver. Entice them: everybody loves something for free! Whether it’s a discount, free upgrade, extra service or even a small thank you gift such as an event invite, it all helps. Be careful, however, as valuable gifts such as an iPad or a weekend in a resort will rightly be seen as a bribe and is a bad look. It cheapens you and may raise doubts about whether you are truly referable. The only way to avoid this is to offer more of your service as the gift. The logic is simple — if they like it and value what you offer, they’ll want more of it. It remains an incentive, but is much less likely to be seen as a bribe. At Lead Creation we usually offer to fix an element of their marketing — something that delivers an immediate impact to their business.5
4. Make it Easy for your Clients Inform them about what’s a suitable referral for you. A brief statement about your business objectives, your services and the benefits you provide is essential. Also, creating a clear description of your niche is necessary, so that people know who to refer to. This saves your clients a lot of time and effort — and therefore makes referring you an easy task. To illustrate this, Lead Creation’s niche and value is… “Medium to large B2B companies in Professional Services and IT located on the East Coast. Also, B2B startups with venture funding — we love this blue-sky work! Within that niche, companies who regularly exhibit at Expos as event marketing is our USP. Most importantly, we don’t just tell our clients what to do, we implement it at less than 40% of what our competitors charge.”
Following these 4 golden rules ensures you’ll utilise your most valuable resource – your happy clients. They will result in great referrals and a thriving business.
Not sure where to start? Keep an eye out for our next article to learn the first key steps
To know more about how to get a flow of referrals, book a complimentary 10 minute…
Marketing & Referrals Effectiveness review here https://bit.ly/2J0EWFS [GR5]