Growing your business an additional 40 – 80% is realistically possible if you already have existing customers or clients who like and respect you – who are eager to urge their friends or colleagues to start using your products or services. I’m certain that a surprisingly large portion of your new customers actually come from direct or indirect referrals right now.
I’m also certain that you haven’t put a great referral system in place too and if not, than you need to starting right now. You’ve invested far too much in your business and customers or clients – and you’ve provided far too important values or benefits to allow all of the friends, coworkers, family members and colleagues of your current customers to be denied access to you.
Most small businesses spend way to much time, effort and money on conventional advertising, marketing or selling programs when a fraction of that effort – virtually no expense would get them many tomes the results if they developed a formalized referral system. Lets take a closer look at the psychology behind such a system and how you can add one to your business.
First, the psychology – I believe you have a moral and business obligation to each and everyone of your customers or clients to extend the same superior level of results or benefits you provide them with to everyone they hold dear. Most people in business think of the generic aspects of what they do – they sell shoes or real estate or industrial parts, for example.
Well, you need to refuse becoming a commodity. Instead, you need to focus on the positive transactional results that you contribute to your customers lives or business. You really need to look at your business in the same proud light. If you sell real estate, I would focus on how much greater benefited your clients are because you helped them acquire a wonderful home for less than they may have been willing to pay.
The same goes for the industrial parts business. Here, I focus on the contribution you make to the completed manufactured product – and to the fact that this product performs for years, or for thousands of service hours, without failure or interruption, in some or in great part because of what you do. The moment you alter the way you see yourself and your contribution, everything in your business or profession changes – for the better. This could not be truer for referrals.
Putting a referral system in place
Look at how many referrals you get accidentally right now. Then multiply that number by 10. Then double it again. And then, redouble once more. Potentially, that’s the increase in business you should be looking at producing. A formal customer referral system will bring you an immediate increase in customers and profit.
A referral generated customer or client normally spends more money, buys more often, is more profitable, loyal and likable than any other category of business you could go after. And, referrals are easy to get. Referrals beget referrals. They are self-perpetuating.
Step One: Every time customers deal with you – or you deal with them in person, through your sales staff if you have a sale staff, by letter or on the phone – diplomatically ask them for customer referrals, but first you have to set the stage. Tell your customer or client that you realize you enjoy doing business with them more than any other customer or client you’ve work with in the past, and that you realize they probably associate with other people like themselves who mirror their values and quality.
Tell them that since they obviously know the exact people you prefer working with, you’d like to extend to them the opportunity of referring their valued and trusted associates to you. Tell them you would prefer their referrals to any other source of customer or client acquisition. Then help the customer or client see a clear picture of who in their lives could benefit most effectively, and naturally, from your services or products.
Tell them what kind of person or business it might be, where they are, what they are probably doing – and why they’d be benefited. Show them what that person or entity would be doing or buying right now – so that the picture is vivid. Then extend a totally risk-free, totally obligation – free sales offer.
Step Two: Willingly offer to confer with, review, advise or at least talk or meet with anyone important to that customer – as a service to their referral without expectation of purchase, so your customer sees you as a valuable expert with whom they can put their friends or colleagues in touch.
If you do this every business day to every customer or client you talk to, sell to, write to or visit for the next 30 days straight – and you also get your key staff members to try it out too for 30 days – you can’t help but get dozens or hundreds of new customers. I can’t guarantee that you will triple your business from this technique, but I can promise you’ll get more customers before the month is over. Conceivably a lot more customers. And since it doesn’t cost a thing in terms of advertising or commissions to generate substantial ongoing referral business, I hope you will jump at this chance to put this into action starting right now.
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