Three Ways to Get More Referrals

If you are a small business owner, you know that getting new customers is tough. You put out some great ads and follow up with the people who called to drive them to your store, but they never show up again. What’s going on? The answer is that you can't count on people finding your store by accident anymore in today's continuously connected world. They need somebody to tell them about it first. And the way they get told most often these days is through word of mouth - a reference from somebody they trust who's had a good experience with your business and wants their friends, family or colleagues to have one too.

Yet getting referrals from existing customers is no easy task, especially if they aren't eager to help. Many small business owners worry that the prospect of giving out their contact information means they're giving up their valuable sales leads - and with them, the money to keep their business operating. And some are simply too busy to put in the time and effort needed to recruit referrals from within their existing customer base.

In other words, this isn't as simple as it seems - but you can take steps that will increase your referral opportunities without sacrificing your long-term growth goals. Here are three ways to get more referrals from existing customers.

1. Encourage your customers to introduce you to their friends and colleagues. One way to do this is by offering a referral bonus for every new customer you bring in the door - especially for new cases where your customer has referred someone else on the way out. Not only does this encourage current customers to refer you, it also puts them more at ease about making recommendations of unfamiliar products and services, thus maximizing the number of referrals that get made from each individual sale. The bonus also provides a tangible incentive for referring customers, which can help move things along faster than they would naturally if an attractive sales commission was involved alone.

2. Provide your customers with paid advertising from your business. According to a 2009 survey by the National Association of Broadcasters, 86 percent of all American households get at least some of their news from television and radio. That means that more and more of America's new customers are discovering their businesses through word of mouth - which places an enormous responsibility on small businesses to provide proper advertising and promotion activities.

One way to do this is by hiring a graphic designer to create an eye-catching, affordable print ad for your business - or make the logo for your business easily recognizable with just a few changes in color or font size. The next step is to get your ad in as many places as possible; newspapers and magazines are good, but don't forget to reach out to local radio and television stations, too. Not only will this encourage customers to make referrals for their friends and family, it will also help you become a household name for your industry locally - which leads to business from people who aren't even looking for you when they start asking around.

3. Offer incentives for referring new customers. The simplest way to get more referrals from existing customers is by offering incentives that encourage a lot of word-of-mouth marketing from all over the place at once. The idea is to offer a high enough incentive that it's worth it to your customers to make the time and effort required to send out a referral, but not so high as to discourage them from doing so.

Here is an example of how this simple but effective idea can work for you: if you're in the business of painting cars, consider offering $50 for every new customer referred by an existing customer simply by sending that person a coupon for five dollars off any service or product in your business. If you're in the business of selling furniture, think about offering $100 for every new customer referred by an existing customer who buys from you within 90 days of their first visit.

The bottom line is that your customers are counting on you to provide an incentive for them to refer you to their friends and family, which is something that can't be ignored. With the right incentives, you can get more referrals from existing customers without sacrificing your long-term growth goals.

That's all for today. Thanks for reading! Blog next Tuesday! Have a great day! :)

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Whether you’re a small business owner or not, this post is going to help you towards building a new referral marketing strategy that will surely help boost your sales and profits.

First, let me introduce you to the concept of referral marketing. Many people think that it must be difficult to get customers trusting you enough to bring them to your door. But a study showed that about 77% of people go for online purchase after reading a review on websites like Yelp and Trip Advisor. The key is making sure that your customers trust you and believe in your product or service. Make sure that if they will say anything bad about you, they will remove the negative comments immediately! There are many ways through which one can build trust with their customers. The best way is by building the reputation in the market so that buyers feel safe buying from you.

Here are 3 ways through which you can build trust in your customers.

1. Give them value for their money. You can give them something extra by doing so, as it will help increase the momentum of your business. For example, if you sell a book, you can give it out for free to your first 10 customers like Amazon does! To make things more interesting, you can also offer them some prizes such as airline tickets or theatre tickets once they spend $200 or more at your store.

2. Keep the communication open throughout the process of dealing with your company. Speak to your customers frequently. Take care of their suggestions and requirements while dealing with them. You have the power to make their life easier, but the right way of doing that is by speaking with them.

Follow these simple steps:

1. Call your customers - use this tactic to get a foot hold in the minds of new customers because they feel being talked ‘to’.

2. Ask them for feedback - this will help you to find out what exactly they need and their perception of your product.

3. Get them to do a testimonial! Use this fact as leverage to get more sales. Approach your clients one on one and ask if they would give you some testimonials. Create a space for people to have their say in the start up section of your website, so that customers feel comfortable giving you feedback and talking about your products or services. This will definitely help you build a loyal clientele in the long run!

3. Provide tangible incentives for referring new customers and send it directly to the referrals via email, SMS etc.

Conclusion - Referral marketing is a great way to market your business without investing much money. By providing tangible incentives for your customers for the referrals, you can get your brand noticed. The key to building up a strong, loyal customer base is by making sure that you work towards building trust with them and not just merely selling products or services to them!

That's all for today. Thanks for reading! Blog next Tuesday! Have a great day! :)

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Whether you’re a small business owner or not, this post is going to help you towards building a new referral marketing strategy that will surely help boost your sales and profits.