Referrals happen when a current customer of your business shares what they like about it to a potential customer. This could be a friend, family member, or even a stranger. Either way, this word-of-mouth has a huge impact on the growth of your business. We’re here to teach you about the value of referrals and how to get them.
What are the benefits of referrals?
It’s free.
Encouraging your happy customers to share your business with others is not only easy – but it’s also free. Although there are options to reward customers for referrals, which we’ll get into later, it doesn’t cost anything to make your customers happy. Happy customers are the start to great referrals – without them, it’s difficult to utilize this type of word-of-mouth marketing.
It can help you skip some unnecessary steps.
It can be hard to grow your network. Referrals are one of the resources that make it much easier. With the help of the people that already enjoy you and your business, you can skip the step of reaching out to people who are unfamiliar with your products or services and get quality leads and insights from your current customers. This means that the people that are referring you and your business to others are reaching out to potential customers for you and can give you the inside scoop so you don’t have to find it yourself.
People trust others’ experiences.
People know when they’re being sold to. That’s why they trust the opinions of others more than they trust yours. This actually isn’t a bad thing if you know how to utilize it. Referrals are a great way to get the word out there about your business from an unbiased perspective. For example, would you feel more comfortable buying a new line of merchandise from someone who CLAIMS their products are the best or by someone who you’ve been TOLD is great by a friend? This concept works with any business, no matter the product or service.
It reinforces your brand in their minds.
Referrals aren’t just great for potential customers, they also have a positive impact on current customers. When one of your happy customers talks about what they love about your business, it will reinforce the idea in their own minds. It’s kind of like when you tell someone your favorite ice cream is from Coldstone, it makes you want to go get Coldstone.
How do I ask for referrals?
Mention it on social media.
Social media is a great marketing tool for referrals because there are so many easy ways to encourage your followers to share your business with their friends. It’s as simple as saying, “Share this post with someone who needs this!” or “Bring a friend to our next event!” Not only does this help grow your social media platforms, but it helps grow your business too.
Offer a reward in person.
People are more receptive to information and more likely to act upon it when it’s given to them in person. You could simply ask if they’d like to receive a discount for referring a friend or give them a free product when they bring someone with them. Small rewards like these can provide an incentive for your customers to share your business for you.
Contact your customers directly.
Don’t be afraid to reach out to your customers on social media or through email to ask them for referrals! This can be a great way to let them know how much you appreciate them and how they can help. People are usually willing to help when they know there is help to give.
Create a referral program.
A referral program is a program that offers some sort of reward to your customers for referring your products or services to their friends and family. There are so many opportunities when it comes to creating one for your business. You could do it internally by offering in-store or online discounts or externally by utilizing online referral program tools such as Drum for Business or Talon.One. A referral program is not required to generate successful referrals, but it can be a great way to increase them by creating incentives for your customers to help grow your business. Referral programs also allow you to keep track of your referrals to more easily determine how they are affecting your business.
Referrals are an excellent tool for any business. No matter what you offer, it pays to have happy customers that are willing to share their experience with others – so remember that the first step to getting good referrals is to have satisfied customers!
