Growth Through Word-Of-Mouth Referrals
It’s true that word-of-mouth referrals are the cheapest form of advertising. So how are you using them to fuel the growth of your business?
For many SME businesses, referrals and positive word-of-mouth are seen as something that will come if you just do a good enough job. But rather than wait for this happy by-product of your work to arrive, why not seek to actively cultivate more referrals to help drive sales growth in your business? Unfortunately, plenty of Kiwi business owners are shy about asking their customers for a referral or testimonial, all-the-while, loads of customers would be only too happy to provide a glowing review.
How to create more referrals for your business
Over the years, savvy business owners have created a number of ways to help their customers refer them to friends and family.
Below are a few of our favourites.
1. Ask
Most business owners simply never ask their customers for referrals. But the simply act of asking your customer if they know of anyone who would benefit from the products or services you offer can have surprisingly effective results.
2. Relationship Building
For many businesses, referrals will come from a small pocket of customers, or potentially partners who aren’t themselves customers of your business. In these cases, it pays to invest time in building quality relationships that allow these potential referrers to see the value you provide your customers. Many people want to have good contacts they can recommend, if you want to be recommended, people need to trust that you won’t let them or their friends down.
3. Referral Programs
This is a formalised process within your business that helps you identify potential referring customers (or customers who have just started referring) to encourage more referral. Often accompanied by some form of incentive, a referral program could be actively promoted, or kept as a secret only for those in-the-know.
4. Loyalty Programs
While not typically a referral activity – they’re typically more focused on getting existing customers to buy more frequently – loyalty programs can have the added benefit of driving referrals, particularly if loyalty rewards are increased when new people are introduced to the program.
5. Testimonials
Again, it’s not a direct form of referral request, but asking for a customer testimonial does two important things; it helps customers keep you top of mind so they’re more likely to think of you when a referral opportunity arises and, your use of the testimonial can give prospective new customer greater confidence in your business and lead to increased sales.
How do we help with
customer referrals?
If you’re not currently actively seeking referrals from your customer base, we can help you to put some simple systems in place to make this an easy and painless process. Given the relatively low cost of generating referrals for your business, it makes complete sense that this should be one of the first areas your business focuses on when looking to grow.
Is it time for your business to focus on referrals?
We can help you drive more referrals to support the growth of your business. To find out more, arrange a free chat with one of the SME Growth team today.