Increase B2B Sales with this Marketing Strategy (Works every time)
B2B sales, also referred to as business-to-business sales, are sales made from one company to another. Rather than selling from […]
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If you have been in business for any amount of time …
you already know ..
Referral marketing can be your best source of new customers.
That’s because a referral has already crossed the line of credibility.
That is, your credibility is not in question any longer.
In fact, many groups of people only do business with a new company as a result of gaining a trusted referral from a colleague, friend or trusted associate.
Think about making a high-end transaction, such as real estate, finding an attorney, buying a boat, airplane or luxury car, or even a money manager.
In these intensely competitive industries, referrals from happy customers will have better closing rates than all other sources:
Source of customer | Leads | Sales | Conversion rate | |
Online advertising | 100 | 5 | 5.0% | |
Direct mail | 100 | 19 | 19.0% | |
Walk ins | 100 | 22 | 22.0% | |
Newspaper advertising | 100 | 6 | 6.0% | |
Referrals | 100 | 72 | 72.0% | |
Total | 500 | 124 | 24.8% | avg. |
Oftentimes the differences are not even close, such as in this above example which are not unusual.
Advertising is extremely important and must be done to bring in new customers, but consumers in most cases are more inclined to listen to their friends, relatives, and even strangers promoting their honest feelings about a product or service.
Lets now dig into some examples of referral marketing that will generate big sales for you.
We are going to focus on two ways we do referral marketing. And the results are fantastic. But first we need to establish parameters for your referral marketing strategy.
Here’s two plans for referral marketing, first to increase referrals for a service based business and another plan to increase referrals for an ecommerce business.
First, here is a 4 step plan that will reliably bring referrals to your service business:
1. Have a plan and a goal -- oftentimes business people tell us the majority of their business comes from referrals. Our first question is, “That’s awesome! What is your monthly goal for referrals?” We are always met with a blank stare because they have no system for gaining referrals, only an irregular volume of calls that randomly come in as a result of a referral. This is no way to build an actual formal referral program. And certainly no way to scale your business model, let alone have any chance at managing KPIs or basing your financial future on.
2. Build your referral flow from the beginning of the sales process -- here’s how to have a reliable flow of future referrals:
When you sign a new contract, build into the conversation that you build your business from referrals so you can keep the advertising costs down and therefore pass on the savings to the customer. The customer will be delighted to hear this 100% of the time. Then say, “Who else do you know that can benefit from my services?” Then hand them your business card and ask them to write 3 names on the back of the card.
3. Do your research about each customer -- Make this process easier for your new customer by doing some research about who they know, what associations they are involved with, groups, etc. Find 2-3 names of people they know and ask, “Of these 3 names who do you think makes the most sense for you to introduce me to?” Let them think it through. Often, they will take the card, put it on their desk, and a few days later will make a longer list.
4. Follow up -- after a few days, ask your new customer again and say, “Is now a good time for you to introduce me to [the name on the card].
This is a quality referral marketing system, as part of your overall marketing strategy.
Let's assume you work with 10 new clients per week. That’s 40 a month. 480 per year.
If you get 2 names from each new customer, this is 960 potential referrals.
If you close 50% of the referrals, now you have a reliable referral program.
And one that you can do KPIs on and forecast sales.
Onward.
Now, let’s assume you have an eCommerce store selling products.
Referrals work in basically the same way, but these systems are automated in an eCommerce business.
One downside to automating these referral systems is that conversation rates will go down significantly. But because you have the opportunity to work with much higher numbers, sometimes databases with hundreds of 1,000’s of customers or more, your referral numbers can be quite substantial.
Similar to our above example, in eCommerce, a referral program will help you acquire new customers by teaching your existing customers to refer business.
Your online store will offer rewards to referring customers when a newly referred customer completes a purchase.
Here is an example admin screen from retainful, a shopify app that helps owners manage a variety of digital marketing solutions:
Notice you can set the reward, typically a dollar amount or a product award and set the reward that gets sent to the customer for referring the friend.
Another benefit of using digital platforms for your referral program is that you can track the performance in real-time using the software dashboard.
Recommendations and referrals are the easiest and most effective ways to increase sales and acquire a competitive edge.
That’s because up to 84% of customers tend to trust referrals from people they know. Here is how you improve your referral program:
Find one referral that works for your business and take off with it. Here are a few examples:
About Your Strategic Marketing Partner
Sam Hirschberg, MBA, is Your Strategic Marketing Partner in Arizona. Always professional and a delight to work with, Sam is not your typical “marketing consultant”. Unlike most consultants who tell you there is a problem and say, “See you later and good luck!” Your Strategic Marketing Partner knows how to find solutions, execute programs, test and measure campaigns, and how-and-when it’s time to roll-out big! You are invited to call (602) 892-0777 to learn more about Sam’s background on his FREE 9-minute recorded message. For more information about Sam, please visit https://strategicmarketingpartner.com.