The Power of Referrals
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Although I've talked about referrals on this blog in the past, maybe even recently, I thought I'd spend some more time focusing on this very important aspect of marketing. Whether you are a marketing manager, business owner, or salesperson, referrals make the difference between success or failure.
Referrals come in all different shapes and sizes
It's pretty common for someone to think of a referral as one person telling another about how great a product or service is. However, referrals go beyond the obvious. Many times, individuals seek out referrals from others. A great example is that of a neighbor who has a well manicured lawn. The guy next store looks at his own lawn and says, "my lawn doesn't look so good." As a result, he seeks out information on making his lawn look better.
The lawn service should be supportive of this type of referral-seeking behavior. Is there a sign in front of the neighbors house that indicates the lawn service provider? Are the trucks well appointed with lawn service logo, name, and phone number? Has the lawn service provided all of the neighbors with "we cut Bob's lawn at 123 neighborhood way, let us cut yours?"
There are many different ways to support what I call sought after referrals which are often overlooked. The yellow pages are also another great tool to use when trying to capture those seeking referrals or points of reference. I recently needed some repair work done. Since I like to kick it old school every now and again, I reached for the Yellow Pages - yes the actual 4 inch thick book!
Setting yourself apart
I saw a number of vendors who could provide a service for me but the one I chose said, "Serving [townname]... hundreds of satisfied local customers." I checked around and in fact, there were plenty of people in my own neighborhood who had used the guy. His ad was focused on the local flavor I wanted and the fact that he had already serviced many of the homes in my neighborhood.
The motto of this story is, don't think that you always have to hard sell people head on. Rather, consider the softer approach with leverage. Leverage is using your existing customers and those especially satisfied with your services to help sell for you. When prospects know they will be in good company, they're often much easier to convince.
You can always rely on the more direct referral approach. You know, "Please recommend us to five of your best friends," but how often has this really had the impact you've hoped for? Probably never. Instead, think about making it easier for others to find you and create the leverage you need for getting them to buy.
Marketing Blog founder and top-selling author Michael Fleischner has been featured on The TODAY Show, ABC World News, and Bloomerg Radio. 
10 comments :
Is it possible to use a referral bonus of some sort to stimulate business growth if you don't have many clients?
Speaking of referrals - can I get you to take a look at The New Profit Rules and if you think it's of value mention it to your readers - and it you want I can set up up with an affiliate link to make money in the process. Just let me know what you decide.
Awesome Blog, in my view of The Power of Referrals is Internet blogs and articles
Smart post! You should always ask for referrals.
Totaly agree with you, your blog is in my list of favourites, thank a lot for sharing this info !
Joseph, i think it is the most suitable way for a small business, but this depends also on the kind of service you provide...
if the service is popular or convincing it would be nice to use referral bonuses, inversely, if the service is accessible only by a unique type of customers it may be understood as you business is struggling.
What works best for me is the indirect approach. I simply tell people to read one of my many articles. Chances are, I've written about a topic that concerns their industry. For example, I once wrote an article about "green" gasoline, which turned into a lead from a company that sold electric vehicles. Oblique, but nonetheless related.
Referral applied to local small businesses is great, but when it comes to the internet the story is different. On the net everybody is linking, referring and becoming a fan of everybody else.
Referral is becoming clutter and standing out of the clutter is the becoming harder and harder
There are already a lot of roofing contractors and finding the best one is not easy. I only know one that is at par with my standards and that is NY Roofing Company.
There are already a lot of roofing contractors and finding the best one is not easy. I only know one that is at par with my standards and that is NY Roofing Company.
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