What is a referral system? A referral system is a strategy you put in place to get your current customers to recommend your product or service to others. Creating a referral system can be time consuming but is generally free minus the time you spend creating it. Once created this system can generate you an endless stream of business for years to come with little effort on your part.
Step 1) You must have a high-quality product or service, if not you will only incur headache after headache with displeased customers.
Step 2) You must have excellent customer service. So often if you’re selling a commodity your price and the price of your competitor will be extremely close. The only differentiator will be the service you provide with the product/service.
Step 3) Don’t be shy about asking for referrals, it’s a great way to keep your prices down because you can spend less on paid advertising. Remember if you don’t ask for it you won’t get it.
A simple yet effective referral system
In order for your customers to refer business your way you will need to make it 100% easy peesy for them to do so. After your customer has bought from you and is completely satisfied is the best time to approach them asking for referrals. There are a couple of ways that you could go about this; one way would be to ask them for 3-5 friends or associates that would benefit from your product/service and send them some of your marketing literature such as a brochure or flyer detailing your business. Another way that doesn’t put your customer on the spot is to leave some of your business cards, brochures or flyers with them asking them to circulate them if there happy with your service in exchange for a discount on future products/services. You can also let your current customers know that when a new customer purchases from you mentioning their name you will send them a discount coupon in the mail. This may prompt your current customers to be more inclined to reach out to business owners they know. A referral strategy is not a one and done system, it is something you will need to stick to see positive results.
