Marketing & PR Firms - Referral Marketing Strategies
Saturday, November 23, 2013
Referral marketing is a technique to promote a product or service to new prospective customers by having other people promote what you have to offer. For example, you could ask existing customers to recommend you to their contacts and friends. Companies that have a high customer acquisition cost benefit most from referral marketing because this type of marketing does not require a significant investment. Understand and deploy referral marketing strategies and you will have in your marketing arsenal a new sales-producing tool.
Ask
If you are not asking for referrals, simply ask and you will receive them. Ask your customers, ask your suppliers , ask your family, ask your friends. As a first step, make a list of all the people who could possibly refer you to others. There are multiple ways to ask. Send out a thank you letter to your customers for their business and ask them to refer others. Provide a reward to the referrer with a special discount and provide a discount to the person who is being referred to encourage them to do business with you. Instruct your salespeople to ask at the point of purchase. Place signs in locations where customers do business with you. The sign could read, "We build our business by referrals only rather than spending money on expensive advertising. We would rather invest that money in our business to provide you with even better products and services."
Prime the Pump
How you ask for referrals is also important. Tell potential referrers what type of prospect you are looking for and how you can help that prospect such as solving one of their problems. For example, "As you may know, we build our business by referrals. Do you know any people in Westchester County who are paying too much money on property taxes and want to reduce their taxes?"
Train Customer Facing Employees
Have a meeting with all employees who interface with customers -- on the phone or in person. Educate them about the importance of referral marketing and how it will help grow the business. Provide them with tips on how to ask for referrals.
Joint Venture Referrals
Approach companies that have the same target market. Ask them to refer their customers to you for a percent of sales. In the offer to the company's customers on your behalf, give the referring company a special discount on your products or services. Provide the referring company with a suggested mailing piece to promote your company. As an incentive to the referring company, offer it a reciprocal arrangement where you endorse it.
Tags:
Marketing, Marketing amp; PR Firms
Ask
If you are not asking for referrals, simply ask and you will receive them. Ask your customers, ask your suppliers , ask your family, ask your friends. As a first step, make a list of all the people who could possibly refer you to others. There are multiple ways to ask. Send out a thank you letter to your customers for their business and ask them to refer others. Provide a reward to the referrer with a special discount and provide a discount to the person who is being referred to encourage them to do business with you. Instruct your salespeople to ask at the point of purchase. Place signs in locations where customers do business with you. The sign could read, "We build our business by referrals only rather than spending money on expensive advertising. We would rather invest that money in our business to provide you with even better products and services."
Prime the Pump
How you ask for referrals is also important. Tell potential referrers what type of prospect you are looking for and how you can help that prospect such as solving one of their problems. For example, "As you may know, we build our business by referrals. Do you know any people in Westchester County who are paying too much money on property taxes and want to reduce their taxes?"
Train Customer Facing Employees
Have a meeting with all employees who interface with customers -- on the phone or in person. Educate them about the importance of referral marketing and how it will help grow the business. Provide them with tips on how to ask for referrals.
Joint Venture Referrals
Approach companies that have the same target market. Ask them to refer their customers to you for a percent of sales. In the offer to the company's customers on your behalf, give the referring company a special discount on your products or services. Provide the referring company with a suggested mailing piece to promote your company. As an incentive to the referring company, offer it a reciprocal arrangement where you endorse it.
