Happy customers are your most powerful business tool. When you make your customers happy, they’re more likely to share your business. However, even though for you it’s obvious how much you appreciate referrals, the average customer simply doesn’t think about it.
There’s nothing wrong with creating awareness. Check out these tips to get your customers thinking about you and referring their friends to you when they’re happy.
Start with your customer
Before asking your best customers to refer, you need to make sure you’ve created a meaningful, long-lasting relationship with them. By delivering a delightful customer experience, your customers will be ready and willing to refer.
Add a referral note to your products
You could include a note in the box of your product asking whether they know somebody that might be interested and giving them instructions on how your customer can establish a connection. The moment your customer receives a package delivery is one of positive excitement and it’s a great idea to catch them while they’re in a good mood.
Reward your customer for referring
There are a lot of ways to do this. You can offer your referrers monetary-related gifts, such as discounts on future products/services, gift cards, or even cash. Make sure there’s a short time-window between the referral and the handout of the reward (if possible immediate).
Reward your (potential) new customer for being referred
Friends don’t spam each other. But real friends don’t keep great opportunities for themselves either. Therefore, splitting up the referral gift between your customer and the new referral is an extremely powerful practice.
Show you care – say thank you
When people refer to you they are doing you a favor. When they then don’t hear back from you they feel unappreciated. Get back to your referring customers whenever possible and thank them for their efforts. Thank them regardless of whether they successfully generated customers for you or not. Positive feedback stimulates more referrals.
Return the favour
Referring customers to your strategic partnerships or business acquaintances is a great way to build up referral karma and receive back in the future. Make it a habit to go through the customers you have the best relationship with and think about what services could benefit them. Refer them on and make sure these companies know the referrals came from you.