Brad Sugars’ book Instant Referrals explains the process through which entrepreneurs can grow their businesses by encouraging their existing customers to promote their business for them.
If you’re the kind of business owner who hates cold calling and chasing after new leads, then you’ll love the easy referral strategies in Instant Referrals
Instant Referrals follows the story of Charlie, an auto repair shop owner who dreams of turning his business into a referrals-based enterprise. With a captivating narrative story, Brad Sugars outlines proven methods that Charlie and other business owners can use in order to promote their businesses through referrals from current customers.
“One of the most inexpensive ways a business can increase its customer base is through referrals provided by current clients,” said Brad Sugars. “Instant Referrals focuses on teaching small business owners how to convert their business into a referrals-based enterprise, inexpensively boosting sales and increasing positive word-of-mouth.”
Definition: A Referral Business is one where the leads are highly qualified and the emphasis is on long-term customers. New customers are introduced at a low acquisition cost and these customers drive your business for you. But remember, you still have to ‘buy’ customers.
A successful Referral Strategy depends on 2 key foundation elements:
- Your Service: This has to be extraordinary and beyond your customers expectations – Create Raving Fans
- Your Offer: WIIFM
Is it right for you? Ideal for higher priced products/services where there is a higher perceived risk. Word of Mouth is more the rule, than the exception.
Be clear on your target market? …because you only want A and B clients, not C or D clients. Define Age, Gender, Income, Lifestyle, Address – The who, what, where, how, why.
What is it that YOU are offering in exchange for their customers? You need to educate them how you do business, what you expect of them as customers and what they can expect in return i.e. you don’t put up with 3rd rate, abusive customers – they can go elsewhere. What you need to generate are Raving Fans (Loyalty Ladder i.e. from Suspect to Raving Fans)
21 Referral Strategies
- Define your ideal customer, and who you want referred to your business
- Grade your customer A,B, C & D
- Work out your customer acquisition cost per individual custome.
- Decide how much you are willing to invest to ‘buy’ a new customer
- Contact each customer quarterly
- Teach your customers why it is good for them to give you referrals (WIIFM)
- Create ‘delighted advocates’ through ‘awesome’ service, not just satisfied customers
- Thank your customers and ask them to tell their friends about you
- Ask for a referral when people buy from you (and even when they don’t)
- Positioning: let your customers know you’ll be asking for referrals later on
- Make giving you a few referrals a condition of doing business with yo.
- Reward customers with a special price if they give you a certain number of qualified referrals
- Offer your customers a gift, gift cheque or free service for each referral
- Let your customers give their family & friends a gift from you
- Give gifts to customers on the number of referrals and on the number of those you actually convert into a sale.
- Mail out a referral card with all orders, or just drop it in the shopping bag
- Turn your products into ads with a sticker making the users an offer
- Present a seminar/information night and get them to bring a friend along
- Encourage you customer s to buy gift vouchers for their friends
- Have a closed-door ‘bring-a-friend’ sale
- Throw a party celebrating your customer’s purchases and invite their friends along
Now What? Turn your best customers into your most passionate promoters…
- Test & Measure which referral strategies work.
- Eliminate strategies which don’t cover the net profit
- Chanel your marketing funds elsewhere or improve the strategy
- Do more of the things that work – Massive Action
Book review courtesy of Stuart Goodfellow
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