In our last blog, we revisited the topic of referrals and listed a number of ways to secure them for your business. They included offering a reward program, giving referrals yourself and discussing the mutual benefits of word of mouth promotion.
Here are three more ways to get your customers to sing your praises:
1. Listen to and implement feedback.
There is arguably no greater gesture you can offer your customers than to listen to their feedback and make changes based on it. Consumers appreciate being heard. They want to know that how they feel matters. This is especially true when a customer lodges a complaint. Take it as an opportunity to make improvements in your company. By making changes based on feedback, you won’t even have to ask for referrals. Your catered-to customers will likely be happy to tell others all about how great you treated them.
“Being referable means accepting all feedback, positive and negative,” says Mary Flaherty of the award-winning sales training company, RAIN Group, “Surveys and other feedback tools can help you get a sense of what you’re doing well and where you can improve. However, be sure to construct survey questions to be unbiased and useful to you. By acting on feedback, you improve your credibility and reputation.”
2. Ask at the right time.
Naturally, you shouldn’t ask for a referral from a customer when he/she is disgruntled. It’s imperative that you provide the best possible customer service long before requesting a little word of mouth promotion. According to freelance writer Steff Green on behalf of the client engagement platform, Ignition, you don’t always want to ask for a referral right at the end of a job.
“Look for opportunities where a client is particularly pleased with the work you’ve done,” she recommends, “Perhaps after you hand in the first stage of a multi-stage project, or when they’ve come back to you after one project is finished to ask about a second. Also, be sure to use our referral email template to get the best response when you ask.”
3. Add a link to a form on your website for referral submissions.
Of course, not all referrals are done in person. In fact, in today’s internet-obsessed world, most referrals are bound to be done electronically. Make it easy for your website’s visitors to pass along the good word about your brand to others. As Flaherty suggests, provide a form on your website for buyers to provide referrals and include the link in your email signature.
“The simpler the form, the better – but make sure it’s still specific enough to accomplish your goals,” she advises, “You can also expand to different channels. If you’ve already established outreach and engagement efforts on social media, clients have more ways to find and refer you. Even something as simple as a client sharing a piece of content is still a tacit recommendation.”
At Unity Payments, we offer referral programs! They compliment your business with Aggressive Compensation, Sales Automation and Complete Back End Support. Contact us to discuss your needs. You can call us at 1-800-661-3761 or email us at info@unitypayments.ca to learn more.
