Why Getting Referrals Is Harder Than Ever - How to Double the Ones You Earn
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How powerful are referrals? 400% more!
Getting referrals is harder than it used to be. If 87% of happy customers intend to refer, why don't they? What happened? Astonishingly, only 7% of sales people and business owners ask. Also, media has changed, culture changed and how people interact has changed. We receive 105,000 words in 12 waking hours- 23 words per second! With 34 gigabytes a DAY coming in to us, our brains are full. People have a hard time remembering everything they need to do for their own business. So they can’t remember to do something for your business too. Like send you a referral. And this is the problem – Getting top of mind awareness is harder than ever. The solution is to have a simple process for asking for referrals - and use it.
Discover how to build your own referral system at my upcoming workshop. You'll walk away with a customer plan in your hands you can start using right away.
We are competing with more messages than ever. Even when people INTEND to refer, they often forget. Successful businesses use an easy to follow process to convert those good intentions into sales.
Getting referrals isn't just good for our business
Here's the thing about getting referrals - it's a way people give too. People love to help other people. And they love being a go-to resource for their friends. Who are we to deny them the joy of sending their friends to us?
People naturally enjoy connecting with others we know, like and trust. We rely on our relationships with others for referrals and recommendations. We feel good about ourselves when we help each other and when we are a resource others seek for recommendations.
In his blog post, "87% of your customers will give referral, if you just ask", Michael Boyettsuggests asking "for a specific introduction. Example: 'Bill, I’ve wanted to connect with Martha Smith but haven’t had much success. You mentioned working with her. Would you be willing to introduce me to her?'
You know Bill knows Martha, so you are not wasting Bill’s time, but asking to connect. Think of the time and energy you’ll save."
Ask for the introduction and if it's appropriate, ask for the referral. Embed this into your customer experience and watch your business grow.
Whatever method you use for getting referrals, I encourage you to include these key elements:
- Commit to consistently executing the plan
- Hold yourself accountable
- Regularly evaluate your referral process and improve it
If you want to quickstart your referral program, consider attending my popular "Build a Referral Pipeline Workshop" on Feb. 17, 2018.
