“I don’t generate leads, all my business is word of mouth”. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard this response from business owners when asked how they generate leads. “Word of Mouth”, otherwise known as a referral, is one of the best sources of leads, but one you can’t take for granted.
Referrals are one of the most powerful way to generate leads in the world. It is a cheap and very effective, not to mention, extremely desirable situation when people start spreading the word for you.
If you are already getting referrals, it means you are probably offering exceptional value and service. But you can get much more business out of referral leads by using a purposeful, specific program designed to generate referral leads.
Step One: Ask!
Your satisfied customers, happy employees and devoted friends/family will want you to succeed in your business endeavors. But don’t sit back and wait for them to take action. Set up a program with specific timing, offers and sequence. Ask your customers if they are happy. If they are, ask if they know of other like-minded customers who have interest in your products or services. Make an offer that will entice them to take action. People like being viewed as having knowledge or expertise. If you help them do that by recommending your product or service, most are usually willing to help you.
When asking for referrals in your network, be specific. For example, ask them, “I am looking for people interested in getting in better health through new exercise programs”, or “My ideal client is a retail business owner with revenues between $1 million and $10 million.”
- Identify a number of potential referral sources for the next year.
- Schedule a lunch/breakfast with each referral, each month.
- That will result in 12+ meetings and exponentially more new business contacts.
Step Two: Hints and Tips
- Be specific with rewards; for example give someone who introduces his or her friend to your yoga studio with a free one week membership, or it could even be a “finder’s” fee paid in the form of a gift voucher.
- Offer a reward that is simple, easy to administer and clear, so people know exactly what they get for a referral.
- Be very generous with those who spread the word. Consider what you would have to spend on advertising to get the same results.
- Talk to other businesses that complement yours’ (ie; workout clothes or juice bar if you own a yoga studio). There are great opportunities to do a little reciprocal referring.
- Test and Measure, as always!
Test & Measure:
Just like any program designed to generate leads, make sure you are tracking the source of your referrals. Knowing where your customers come from gives you the power to make smart decisions about what to spend your marketing money on and where to further cultivate your referral system.
Hints and Tips:
- Keep meticulous records of where all leads come from and how much those customers spend.
- Monitor how well every single product sells, and WHY it’s selling.
- Keep running a referral program that works, even if YOU are bored of it.
The key is not taking referrals for granted and rewarding those who are your best ambassadors.
To learn more about how to generate leads and referral program marketing, join ActionClub starting next week on Oct 14, 2014.