If you want to smash the competition, referral marketing could be the answer to your marketing problems especially if you are a business with a small (or no) budget

There are at least six main reasons referral marketing is one of the most cost effective ways to build a small to medium sized business and level the playing field with the “big guys” or even tilt it in your favor.

1. Higher Closing Rate.
Prospects will almost always trust you more when a product or service is recommended by someone they know. Because of this you can achieve an amazing high closing rate.

2. Less “work”.
When trust is high you have to do less work and less “selling” and “pushing”. Usually it’s mostly a matter of simply going through what you offer is and asking them when they want to get started.

And it’s not only going to be less work with them it’s also going to be less stressful and more fun, because they have already been pre-sold they are less sceptical.

3. You will get more profits.
People that have been referred to you are often less sensitive to price, which make it easier to sell to them at full price. NOT having to haggle over price is a huge benefit of itself, but It’s also easier to sell them higher ticket items and/or upsells.

4. A good referral marketing system can go viral.
If your product or service is truly referral worthy and you combine it with a referral marketing system, you could have a runaway success on your hands.

5. Getting referrals typically doesn’t cost you anything.
There are of course referral systems that will have a cost, but in general it is FREE MARKETING.

6. Greater loyalty.
Referred clients will typically stay with you longer and be more forgiving
with hickups and mistakes.

So now that we know that referral marketing is the best thing since sliced bread let us look at some ways to get referrals.

The first thing you should have in place is A SYSTEM. This sound almost silly to mention, but most businesses actually don’t have a system in place when it comes to getting referrals.

A system should include: A script that outlines exactly how to ask for referrals in person, when to ask for them, how to award customers that give you referrals, how to track and test the effectiveness different programs and incentives etc. etc.

Number 1 overall strategy for getting referrals is being referral worthy. This is not necessarily achieved easily and quick, but it will truly be worth it and something you should be striving for your whole business life.

Here are a few ideas on how to become referral worthy:

a) Over-deliver on what you do.
Give new clients people something unexpected. The more unexpected and valuable
the more they will feel comfortable in referring their contacts to you.

b) Be different.
Being different shows that you have confidence in yourself and give people reasons to chose you instead of someone else. This principle shouldn’t just be used in your referral marketing strategy but in al marketing you do.

Obviosly being the best is also one of the best strategies but it’s getting harder and harder to achieve today. Standing out will get you noticed AND more importantly remembered which of course is necessary to be recommended by anyone.

Sometimes just being different will create the perception that you are the best and
that will get the clients in the door the first time but remember that they won’t come
back if you can’t deliver on your promises( and they wont recommend you).

c) Always keep your word.
When people see that you have integrity and always keep your word they will trust you to deliver on your promises with their referrals.

These are just few ideas and principles to get you going and help you get more referrals.

Happy Hunting For Referrals - Patrick Powers