How much time and money do you spend on marketing to acquire new clients or customers?  Of course, it will depend on your industry and target market.  But do you truly know what the return on your investment is for each activity and whether it is a good return or not?

 

We would love to share with you the most cost effective and ego boosting marketing tool available to all businesses – the Referral Program!  

Referral Programs are THE most powerful, but underused, tool in marketing.  All you need is an amazing base of raving fans who trust you, an easy way for them to refer which makes them feel and look good, and a clear process on how to take care of those referrals – who then in turn become raving fans – and so the cycle continues!

There is much talk and advice around about creating a Referral Program, but how do you do it?  Firstly, It should be designed to genuinely reward your raving fans, tailored to your market and those referring you.  If done well and with authenticity it can be the most effective qualified lead generation and conversion activity in your marketing strategy.

Trusted raving fans – who are they?

• Your existing clients who receive such great results from working with you through the products and services you deliver they can’t help but share it with people
• Your partners and business associates who value the relationship you have invested in building with them and likely receive a reciprocal benefit through your relationship

How can they refer to you?

You need to make it as simple and enjoyable for them. Some ideas that we know work brilliantly are:

• Provide a complimentary gift voucher that your raving fans can share with their contacts. At Gallop Solutions, all of our clients and partners receive complimentary gift certificates to share with their business contacts, which allows them to attend a Discovery seminar as the guest of the referrer
• Hosting a “bring your friend” showcase event once a quarter or more regularly
• One point of contact in your team who they can always contact to discuss referring their contact

What do you do with the referrals once received?

Your company’s primary contact person needs to be listed on all contact materials as the “go to” person for referrals; then they act as the custodian, first qualifying the referrals and then tailoring the communications with the referred party and keeping the referrer in the loop with progress. Depending on your business, it might take weeks, months or years for that referral to come to fruition, but maintaining  your contact points throughout the process is the key to keeping the ball rolling. Don’t forget to utilise your Customer Relationship Management (CRM) tool to its fullest potential for this!

How do you recognise their trust in you?

• It might be as simple as an acknowledgement of their trust in you to take care of their contact in an email, card, gift or take them out for lunch. Make sure it’s tailored to them, there is nothing worse than sending wine to someone who doesn’t drink wine!  Perhaps they would appreciate an introduction to one of your own business contacts as a thank you.
• Another great tool is a formal referral recognition program where you track who refers most and it then creates an ongoing and regular incentive. At Gallop we have a monthly prize of a $200 restaurant voucher for the most qualified referrals given by a client
• You might like to consider offering bonuses, discounts or ‘credits’ as incentive for referring. Think big – many successful companies such a Dropbox, PayPal, Eventbrite, Airbnb, Spotify and Uber have enjoyed raging success using these methods!

The Referral Program has certainly been a fantastic tool for Gallop; our entire client base has been built upon referrals! So, THANK YOU! And if you would like any more hints and tips on creating your own program, please don’t hesitate to contact us and we will put you in touch with our amazing referral care team!