A Marketing Secret that is 10 X More Effective (And Won’t Raise Your Marketing Budget)

When you read a head­line like the above, the first thing that prob­a­bly comes to mind is, “Nice inter­net hoax … catchy head­line, empty promises.” But before you dis­miss the pos­si­bil­ity of imple­ment­ing a tech­nique that is ten times more effec­tive in get­ting new cus­tomers — and doesn’t require a mar­ket­ing bud­get that could pay for a Super Bowl com­mer­cial — read on. We’re not talk­ing here about a viral mar­ket­ing cam­paign or a break­through sales-lead tech­nol­ogy; we’re talk­ing about some­thing that your com­pany already uses, relies on, and that prob­a­bly has already gained a lot of busi­ness for you. Are you ready for the secret?

Refer­rals.

Yes. Old-fashioned busi­ness refer­rals. Before “mar­ket­ing” ever became a term, trust and word-of-mouth are what built busi­ness, and today, the use of refer­rals to drive busi­ness remains one of the most effec­tive ways to increase busi­ness. Research has shown that refer­rals are ten times more effec­tive than other mar­ket­ing tools, and they cost next to noth­ing – just a com­mit­ted invest­ment into your cus­tomer relationships.

If you feel like you need to take a refresher on how to increase refer­rals and cus­tomer loy­alty, read on. We have some of the most effec­tive tech­niques out­lined for you below.

Set up a refer­ral program

You wouldn’t build a house with­out a set of archi­tec­tural plans, would you? Of course not. Just like you wouldn’t hope that your refer­rals would mag­i­cally increase with­out a ded­i­cated plan in place.

In business-to-business (B2B) envi­ron­ments, respect that your cus­tomers are plac­ing their own rep­u­ta­tion at risk when they give some­one a refer­ral on your behalf. Make sure you give your cus­tomers the recog­ni­tion that they deserve for plac­ing the trust in you and advo­cat­ing for your prod­uct or ser­vice. Giv­ing some sort of refer­ral gift or dis­count is per­fectly accept­able, but choose some sort of incen­tive that is appro­pri­ate, and above all, if you promise some sort of refer­ral gift, make sure you deliver.

Rela­tion­ships build refer­rals, and train­ing builds rela­tion­ship skills

Hav­ing good peo­ple skills alone is not going to drive refer­rals. Refer­rals hap­pen when your cus­tomer ser­vice and sales teams have a thor­ough knowl­edge of your prod­uct, the sales cycle, and how to nur­ture long-term rela­tion­ships. Invest in sales train­ing and coach­ing, and you’ll be invest­ing in your refer­ral program.

Over-perform and go the extra mile

A great way to ensure refer­rals is to treat each and every cus­tomer like he or she is your only cus­tomer. Go the extra mile and make the cus­tomer feel spe­cial, val­ued, and like he is a pri­or­ity. This per­sonal, spe­cial touch can do won­ders in terms of how peo­ple speak about your company’s sales people.

Believe in “refer­ral karma”

Call it what you may, but refer­ring on behalf of other com­pa­nies and busi­nesses does work. Try to make a refer­ral a week on behalf of other com­pa­nies, and show your com­mit­ment to the idea that advo­cat­ing for oth­ers is a smart way to spread busi­ness and build trust.

Follow-up and keep the rela­tion­ship going, even after the sale

Refer­rals don’t usu­ally mag­i­cally appear just because you made a suc­cess­ful sale. Peo­ple will rec­om­mend your prod­uct or ser­vice because they enjoyed the over­all expe­ri­ence of work­ing with you and your com­pany; refer­rals aren’t just about a supe­rior prod­uct. Keep the busi­ness chan­nels open by fol­low­ing up, check­ing in, and build­ing a busi­ness rela­tion­ship with your cus­tomers, that doesn’t nec­es­sar­ily involve you try­ing to sell them some­thing. Show your cus­tomers you value their rela­tion­ship by remain­ing friendly and stay­ing on their radar. Check in to see how the prod­uct is per­form­ing. Ask them if there is any­thing else you could help them with, and let them know you are avail­able to answer questions.

These are the types of rela­tion­ships that will build refer­rals. Your clients will refer you because you have become not just a sales­per­son, but an ally, an advo­cate for their busi­ness, and a friend.

Refer­rals don’t just hap­pen – they take work

We hope that if you’ve got­ten any­thing out of this arti­cle, you’ve learned that refer­rals don’t just mag­i­cally appear. They may not require a mar­ket­ing bud­get, but they do require an invest­ment of your time, train­ing of your sales staff, and a com­pany phi­los­o­phy that is com­mit­ted to long-term cus­tomer rela­tion­ships and build­ing trust.

The reward is well worth it: Happy cus­tomers who trust you enough to tell their busi­ness con­tacts that you are worth work­ing with.