![](https://www.salesoutreachheroes.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/sales-outreach-referrals.jpg)
So many people just wait to be discovered. Wait to be picked. Wait to be referred to. You, however (we will assume) are looking to grow, which means you need to make things happen for yourself. You can’t just wait for them to happen to you.
With this in mind, one of the best ways to get referrals is by straight-out asking for them from customers whom you’ve delivered a good result. Something as simple as:
“Jo, it’s been such a pleasure working with you. If you know anyone in a similar situation to yourself, I’d appreciate it if you could send them this link to our company referral scheme. It comes with many benefits, including 10% off their first project. One of the reasons we’re able to keep the cost of our service down is because we get a lot of our business through referrals, from people just like you”…
See what’s going on here:
- We’re acknowledging them and appealing to their ego. People love being acknowledged.
- We’re not asking them for a favour but instead offering something valuable they can give to someone in their network.
- We’re giving them a reason to provide us with referrals, which had directly benefited them.
By putting in a system around generating referrals, we dramatically increase the reliability of word-of-mouth marketing. And while not everyone will give you referrals, many will, and it easily beats just passively hoping.
One of the things you can almost be sure of is that your customers know other people similar to themselves. It’s human nature to attract people with the same likes, interests and situations as us.
Another excellent strategy is to make known during your sales or customer onboarding process that you expect them to give you referrals as a natural course of doing business with you.]
“Jo, I’m going to do an amazing job for you, but I need your help also. Most of our new business comes through referrals; this means that we pass the cost savings directly to you rather than paying for advertising to get new customers. We typically get about three referrals from each new customer. When we’re finished working together, and you’re 100% satisfied with the work we’ve done, I’d really appreciate it if you could keep in mind three or more other people who we could also help”…
Again, breaking it down, we are:
- Letting them know that they’re going to get a great result
- Showing them a direct benefit that they’re going to be, or already are, deriving by referring us
- Creating an expectation of a certain number of referrals (without being too pushy) so that they can start thinking ahead of time about who would be suitable
- Leaving the power with them by telling them that their referral is subject to us doing a great job for them
By increasing the reliability of word-of-mouth marketing, you take back control of your lead flow and build a solid foundation for rapid business growth.
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