Are you wondering how to get referrals for your business? Over the years, I鈥檝e seen countless businesses thrive or flounder based on their ability to tap into the power of word-of-mouth marketing.
Generating a steady stream of high-quality referrals is like striking gold. It鈥檚 not just about asking for favors 鈥� it鈥檚 also about fostering genuine connections and delivering such exceptional service that people can鈥檛 help but sing your praises.
Today, I鈥檓 excited to share my insights on how you can cultivate a thriving referral network, how AI plays a role in all this, and a few extra tips to stay ahead of the curve.
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Departments Impacted by Referrals
In my experience, I鈥檝e observed that while the journey to securing referrals often begins with stellar customer service, its positive impact can resonate across various departments.
Having worked extensively with , I can confidently say they can be an invaluable asset in managing and nurturing your referral network across these departments.
Now, let鈥檚 roll up our sleeves and get into the details of generating more referrals.
From my perspective, referral marketing isn鈥檛 just about asking for favors. It鈥檚 about nurturing genuine connections and providing such outstanding service that people want to recommend you. It鈥檚 about establishing a win-win scenario where your customers feel valued and their connections benefit from your offerings.
Here鈥榮 why it鈥檚 so effective:
At its core, this is how referral marketing works:
All of this is perhaps easier said than done, so it's beneficial to implement referral marketing strategy and tactics as you move forward. You can find some tips on that below:
If you鈥檙e introducing a new product or service to the market, generating buzz and early adoption can be challenging. Taking advantage of referrals can be a game-changer in this scenario.
Here鈥檚 how to leverage them effectively.
Exclusive early access is a powerful way to reward your loyal customers and brand advocates. Think of it as a VIP experience. These individuals already trust your brand, so giving them the first look at something new will make them feel valued.
This sense of exclusivity can encourage them to naturally share their positive experience, bringing in high-quality referrals from those who will champion your product through social media posts, reviews, and word-of-mouth.
As someone who鈥檚 worked closely with customer-centric brands, I鈥檝e seen how early access can create lasting loyalty. It鈥檚 not only about giving them a headstart, but also, making them feel like an integral part of your product journey.
Finding the right influencers is more important than their follower count. You want to make sure their values align with your brand. Whether it鈥檚 micro-influencers with a niche following or larger thought leaders, influencers offer built-in trust with their audience.
Provide them with the product to experience and encourage authentic feedback. Their endorsement acts as social proof, giving your new product or service immediate credibility in the eyes of the potential customer.
Word-of-mouth is one of the most powerful ways to propel referrals for your company. However, it's largely dependent on loyalty, which means that this is something you really have to earn.
If you want to get your customers (or potential customers) raving about your service, you have to delight them.
Go above and beyond for your customers not just by achieving goals with them, but by sharing their content on social media, citing them in your blog content, and proving to be an indispensable resource for them. Then, you鈥檒l present a compelling case for why they should share your exceptional work with their network.
Your most loyal customers are probably going to be the ones who refer your company the most. Different than a referral program, acknowledge these groups by creating a customer loyalty program that rewards them for engaging and advocating on your business' behalf.
This system could be point-based resulting in rewards, or it could even be a . No matter how you do it, make sure your customers feel valued and inspired to become loyal. In turn, loyal customers will talk, especially when delighted, and give you free referrals through word-of-mouth marketing to their family, friends, and even strangers online.
The previous tips touch on delighting the customer. It stands to reason that you should be continually providing high points throughout the customer experience (and even well after if you provide one-time services or purchasing experiences).
That means that you should continue investing in each relationship you make in your business, providing ways to keep them engaged with your brand so that you continue to remain top of mind. This can be done by:
Staying top of mind ensures that customers are always thinking about you. Instead of being three months out from a purchase and not having heard from your business, they鈥檙e already thinking about how satisfied they are and it won鈥檛 be as difficult for them to identify a connection they have that will benefit from what you have to offer as well.
When asking for referrals, it鈥榮 important that you鈥檙e mindful of how busy your clients are (that's why they hired you in the first place, right?).
Rather than ask and hope that they find the time to follow through, be more proactive in your approach by eliminating some of the heavy lifting for them by providing a fillable template.
Here's a you might use to get the ball rolling:
[Referral]
I don鈥榯 know if I鈥檝e mentioned it before, but I've been working with [Your Name] for a few months. The other day, I was talking with him about some of the things that he and I have done, and I realized that I should put you two together. So ...
[Referral], meet [Your Name, with a LinkedIn profile URL]. [Your Name], meet [Referral, with a LinkedIn profile URL].
Can I leave the rest to you guys?
Talk to you both later.
If you get any pushback from your customer on sending it out, don't push them on it again. Instead, focus on nurturing the relationship and delivering exceptional value, so they feel confident recommending you when the time is right.
If you want your customers to make referrals, give them a reason to talk about your company. As you approach your day-to-day, you must constantly be innovating in the area of customer experience.
Not only do you want to delight them, but you want to delight them in a way that will put you top of mind. You want them to say to individuals in their network, 鈥淵ou will not believe what happened to me today.鈥�
Stories are powerful, and if your customer is compelled to share their experience, prospects will listen.
Here's how you create customer experiences that are noteworthy:
It's possible that the answer lies in a new method of delivery, going above and beyond on a particular task, providing more value than you promised, or ideating ways that the process can be more enjoyable, fun, or experiential.
Rather than asking for referrals aimlessly, you can improve your odds of success by doing your homework first. In addition, this is a free method of obtaining referrals as you鈥檙e using a public social media platform and sales prospecting techniques to discover network connections that may be interested in your offer.
When you approach a customer with a name or company that you鈥榙 like to connect with, you鈥檙e eliminating the need for them to sit down and think about it for you. Lucky for you, LinkedIn's Advanced People Search feature makes it easy to turn up qualified second-degree connections that your customers can introduce you to.
To get started, click the search bar at the top of the page, search for a company or name, and then select 鈥楶eople鈥� from the drop-down menu.
From there, you can filter your search by second-degree connections as well as additional specifics like industry, title, keywords, and location to turn up a list of potential referral opportunities. This will help you find an ideal referral candidate to bring up to your customer.
Adopting an official customer referral program is a great way for your team to be proactive when acquiring new referrals. This 探花精选 post on how to build a customer referral program asserts, 鈥渢hat you're confident enough in your services and team to know that a referral program would be a positive investment.鈥�
Your customers will notice this confidence and feel more comfortable with sharing information because you have an organized system in place. Customer referral programs improve the credibility of your business, making it easier for customers to trust you.
In addition, when customers are offered an incentive as part of your referral program, they鈥檙e more likely to follow through with the recommendation.
Nobody likes to work for free, right? If you want to sweeten the deal and make sure your customers actually scour their networks for a good referral, offer them something valuable in return. Whether it's a Starbucks or , a free month's subscription, or cold hard cash, give something back to your customers for connecting you with warm leads 鈥� they deserve it.
One way to organize these incentive offers is to set up a program that oversees customer referral agreements (more on that later). Referral agreements can help your business continuously generate substantial amounts of new leads by creating a system that rewards influential customers.
You wouldn鈥榯 ask your boss for a raise right after you missed the mark on your monthly metrics, which is precisely why it wouldn鈥檛 be appropriate (or effective) to request a referral when you鈥榬e under-delivering on what you promised a customer. The best referrals come about after the customer has had an opportunity to experience the value that you鈥檙e capable of delivering.
To set yourself up for success, keeping your customers up-to-date on the outcomes they achieve using your product or service will make them happy 鈥� and they'll want to spread the word about you. This starts with a successful onboarding process so customers have a clear sense of expectations, timeline, and work required to get to that point.
Then, consider pairing referral requests with positive customer experiences. If you just delivered the news that your product or service helped them increase monthly revenue, ask away.
If you get pushback when you ask for customer referrals, the first step is to back off and give them space. It鈥榮 not important that you know the exact reason why they鈥檙e saying no, and you want to be respectful of your relationship.
But once more time has gone by, consider reaching out to them with a different offer to advocate for your company without having to actually refer someone: by writing a review, serving as a case study, or submitting a testimonial.
These lower-effort actions by your customer will still drive potential new leads to your company -- and won't risk your relationship with your customer. Ask them what they would be comfortable sharing, and see if you can find a place for their positive feedback on your website or social channels. The more varied opportunities you have, the more likely you are to obtain lots of referral business.
Do your research to learn about what your customers truly value before asking them for a referral. Then, you can align your incentive or acknowledgment with those values, and you鈥榣l be able to give them an idea of the impact they鈥檒l have with a referral.
For example, if your customers use your product for nonprofit fundraising, or if you know they're personally or professionally invested in advocacy for a cause, you could reward them for referrals with a donation in their name. Simple gestures like this can go a long way toward proving to customers that your relationship is a partnership, not just a business transaction. When your customers know that you share the same values and interests as them, they鈥檙e more likely to want to submit a referral.
It is important to note that you should be genuine about having these values and not simply using them as an avenue to benefit your business. Customers can tell when your attempts are inauthentic, and they won't hesitate to call you out and talk about it with others.
In order to accumulate more referrals, you have to prove yourself as referral-worthy.
To ensure that you鈥榬e meeting (and exceeding) the needs and expectations of your existing customers, it鈥檚 important that you're regularly collecting and acting on their .
is an online survey software that makes it easy to whip up and distribute client satisfaction surveys to keep tabs on what you're doing right (and where you need to improve).
Additionally, 探花精选 has released as part of our newest product line 鈥� sign up to try it now.
Before you send off a survey, you want to be sure that you鈥榬e positioning it in a way that is going to surface the most honest and accurate results. Make sure you鈥檙e writing effective survey questions and choosing the survey types that will best suit your needs.
47% of buyers view before engaging with a sales rep. This means that before your existing leads closed into customers, they weren鈥榯 being shy about eating up all of those resources you鈥檝e worked hard to put out.
This places a profound emphasis on the importance of strategically distributing that content to ensure that it lands in the hands of . And considering your potential customers are already consuming your goods, adding an easy referral 鈥楽hare This With a Friend鈥� link to your automated offer emails or on your thank you pages could help you achieve just that.
Making it easy for your customers to pass along your resources to their qualified connections before they even close will help you stay one step ahead of the game at all times.
If you鈥榬e asking a customer to refer people to your business, they may expect the same from you. By offering to refer your customers to other companies, you鈥檒l bring valuable bargaining chips to the negotiation table. Your customers will feel like they're getting equal compensation for the information they give up.
But, be careful. Your relationship with your current customers is at stake whenever you refer them elsewhere. Make sure you're sending them to a company as great as yours or they may end up blaming you for their misfortune.
By approaching referrals as a two-way street, you鈥檙e fostering a partnership where everyone wins.
The customer journey isn鈥檛 just a linear path. It鈥檚 a series of interactions and touchpoints where you can build rapport, create positive experiences, and inspire referrals. By strategically identifying and capitalizing on these key moments, you can turn enthusiastic customers into advocates for your brand.
The early stages of the customer journey are for setting the tone and building a strong foundation. According to a , 86% of people report they are more likely to remain loyal to a company that invests in comprehensive onboarding content that not only welcomes them, but also provides valuable education after their purchase.
Celebrate those initial successes, whether it鈥檚 completing an onboarding or achieving a quick win using your product or service. It will reinforce the value you provide and encourages customers to share their positive experience with others.
Maintaining consistent communication throughout the customer journey is key to nurturing strong relationships and staying top-of-mind. It shows your commitment to their success and fosters a sense of partnership that鈥檚 ripe for referrals.
In my experience, when I prioritize ongoing engagement, I see incredible results. For example, if I notice a customer achieving their goals with our product, I make it a point to personally reach out and congratulate them.
The positive reinforcement can encourage them to share their success story, and your brand, with their extended network.
Don鈥檛 let the relationship end after the sale. Follow up with your customers to ensure their satisfaction, address any questions or concerns, and offer additional resources or support. Being proactive demonstrates your dedication to customer success and can spark organic referrals. Here鈥檚 my go-to approach:
A proactive post-purchase approach solidifies loyalty, fosters trust, and ultimately leads to valuable organic referrals.
Pro tip: offers a robust suite of tools to help you streamline and personalize your communication with customers. From automated email sequences to detailed contact records, you can ensure that every interaction is meaningful and contributes to building stronger relationships, making it easier to ask for referrals when the time is right.
Building alliances with other businesses can open up new avenues for referrals. The best partnerships are built on shared values and a genuine desire to help each other succeed.
Customers also love streamlining where they conduct their business as it provides a sense of assurance and convenience.
Here鈥檚 how to leverage strategic partnerships to help you get referrals.
When you鈥檙e looking for potential referral partners, it鈥檚 important to think beyond your immediate industry. Look for businesses that serve a similar target audience but offer non-competing services. These could be businesses in related fields (such as a marketing agency partnering with a web design firm) or they could cater to the same customer pain points (like a dog walking service teaming up with a pet grooming business).
The key is to find synergies where your offerings complement each other, creating a more holistic solution for your shared customer base.
In my experience, researching online, attending industry events, and tapping into your existing network are great ways to identify potential partners. Don鈥檛 hesitate to reach out to businesses you admire or have heard good things about.
Pro tip: Remember that the goal is to create mutually beneficial relationships where both businesses can thrive.
Team up with your partners to develop valuable content that benefits both of your audiences. By collaborating on content, you can tap into each other鈥檚 expertise, expand your reach, and get closer to your customers. Your partner鈥檚 audience will naturally want to work with you and vice versa.
This will also help any of your customers attempting to make referrals by providing them with additional knowledge resources that help promote your businesses.
Here are a few ideas I鈥檝e seen work well:
Ultimately, co-creating content allows you to leverage the power of collaboration to reach new audiences, build stronger relationships, and position yourself as a trusted resource in your field.
It鈥檚 a win-win strategy that can lead to increased brand awareness, engagement, and ultimately, new leads and referrals.
Creating attractive packages that combine your services with those of your partner businesses can be a powerful incentive for customers to try both offerings and increase the likelihood of referrals.
Consider offering limited-time promotions, seasonal packages, or themed bundles that cater to specific customer needs or interests. For instance, a spa might partner with a local restaurant to offer a 鈥渞elax and recharge鈥� package that includes a massage and a healthy meal.
It鈥檚 important to clearly communicate the benefits of the partnership, highlighting the convenience, cost savings, and complementary nature of the offerings. You鈥檒l also want to leverage customer data and insights to personalize your bundled offers and referral recommendations.
By proactively seeking out and nurturing strategic business partnerships, you can tap into new networks, expand your reach, and create a powerful referral ecosystem that benefits everyone involved.
The first step to asking for a client referral is to identify those most likely to have something to say 鈥� your advocates, promoters, and most loyal supporters. Delighted clients know exactly why they鈥檙e satisfied, so they鈥檒l likely know other people with the same needs who will benefit from what you have to offer. And, as mentioned before, happy clients are more likely to talk about you.
Identify who these people are and begin generating a list of people to reach out to. If your business uses NPS surveys, the results are a great way to identify your most satisfied clients.
Pro tip: integrates smoothly with your CRM, centralizing all your NPS, service, and support data. You can easily create and send NPS surveys via email or your website, and benefit from template recommendations designed to gauge customer loyalty.
When you ask for a referral, personalize the request to the client by explaining why you鈥檙e seeking it specifically from them. This tip closely aligns with the advice to get specific with your ask, as it lets the customer know that you鈥檙e reaching out to them specifically.
Use their name in the request you send out as a means of generating a connection, and reference parts of your relationship history that show that you鈥檙e aware of their experience with your business.
However, it is important not to take advantage of your customers. You don鈥檛 want them to feel as though they鈥檙e being used, which is why it can be important to use incentives.
When you ask for a referral, you want to be specific about it. You want to make sure that the customer knows exactly what you鈥檙e asking of them so they can give you what you鈥檙e looking for 鈥� a potential .
Without being specific, customers may not know who to ask or what type of person you鈥檙e looking for, which makes your job harder if you鈥檙e having to spend more time verifying a prospect after a referral has been submitted. Here鈥檚 a basic example of what that could look like for a business selling marketing SaaS.
鈥淚t鈥檚 been great working with you these past few months and watching you achieve success with our social media scheduling tool. We hope to bring those same successes to everyone that uses our tool, which is why I鈥檓 reaching out to you today.
Do you know of anyone in your industry or network looking to upgrade their marketing software and may be interested in using our tool? I鈥檇 love to get a referral from you if you know of anyone that may be interested!鈥�
As someone who thrives on staying ahead of the digital curve, I鈥檓 always fascinated by how technology is reshaping the way we connect, communicate, and do business.
When it comes to referrals, AI is proving to be a noteworthy addition to the process on how to get referrals.
I know what you might be thinking. 鈥淎I and referrals? How does that even work?鈥� Now that we have super-powered chat assistants, they can help analyze massive amounts of information, identify your most loyal customers (especially the unexpected audiences), predict who鈥檚 likely to refer others, and personalize referral requests for maximum impact.
As , VP of IT at , states, 鈥淚t鈥檚 about making connections through the data that you might not have made as a human being. AI has the uncanny ability to tease out things about the consumer you might never think about.鈥�
This resonates with my own experience in building conversational chatbots at , where the AI was able to uncover hidden patterns and insights that helped drive product development of our digital collectibles.
Here are a few ways AI can drive a positive impact in your referral marketing efforts:
Pro tip: 探花精选鈥檚 AI solution, , is designed to help you leverage the power of AI across various aspects of your business, including marketing, sales, and customer service. Breeze can help streamline your workflows, personalize your interactions, and maximize your results. By incorporating Breeze into your referral strategy, you can further enhance its effectiveness and efficiency.
While AI can be a powerful tool, it鈥檚 not about replacing the human touch. It鈥檚 about enhancing it. I鈥檓 a tremendous advocate of this. Building genuine relationships with your customers remains the cornerstone of any successful referral strategy. AI simply provides the insights and tools to make those relationships even stronger and more rewarding.
A referral agreement is a contract between a company and an external party. The business agrees to reward the other party in exchange for the successful referral of new leads. Both parties agree on mutual terms for compensation, then sign a referral agreement to solidify the deal. This creates an ongoing relationship that benefits both the company and their new partner.
It鈥檚 worth noting that a referral agreement is not the same as an . The key difference is that in a referral agreement, the external party gets paid a one-time reward or commission when the referral leads to a successful transaction. These oftentimes focus on high-value transactions or services and tend to involve more personal, trust-based recommendations.
Affiliate partner programs are more marketing-driven and involve digital channels to drive sales using tracking links. These are typically commission-based on performance. Affiliate programs are commonly used in ecommerce and focus on broader, scalable promotion.
When drafting a referral agreement, you'll want to include the following items in your template:
In my experience, referral agreements are best used when you鈥檙e looking to build relationships and drive high-quality leads through trusted connections.
These agreements come into play when you want to tap into someone else鈥檚 network, relying on the strength of personal recommendations to bring in customers who are more likely to convert.
From a professional standpoint, referral agreements are ideal in industries where trust and expertise drive the decision-making process. This makes it worth ensuring that the parties making the referrals are confident in each other鈥檚 abilities to deliver, as their reputations will be on the line.
If your goal is to build a pipeline of high-value leads based on trusted relationships and word-of-mouth marketing, a referral agreement allows both sides to set clear terms on compensation, lead quality, and follow-up.
I鈥檝e learned there鈥檚 no single 鈥渂est way鈥� to get referrals. Just like every business is unique, so is the ideal referral strategy. What works wonders for one company might fall flat for another.
For example, during a product launch, I might prioritize generating buzz and maximizing the number of referrals. In this scenario, I鈥檇 likely lean on strategies like incentivized referral programs and social media contests to create excitement and encourage sharing.
However, when the focus shifts to filling the sales pipeline with high-quality leads, I鈥檇 adopt a more targeted approach, leveraging LinkedIn connections, referral agreements, and personalized outreach to identify and nurture promising referral prospects.
The key is to approach referrals with a flexible and adaptable mindset. Continuously assess your business needs, goals, and target audience, and tailor your strategies accordingly. It鈥檚 important to build a diversified referral engine that consistently delivers results.
Mastering how to get referrals is an ongoing process. It requires a combination of exceptional customer service, strategic planning, and genuine commitment to building strong relationships.
Whether you鈥檙e leveraging social proof, nurturing strategic partnerships, or tapping into the power of AI, remember that the most successful referral strategies are those that are authentic, personalized, and aligned with your unique business goals.
Take the insights you鈥檝e gained from this guide, experiment with different approaches, and don鈥檛 be afraid to think outside the box. With dedication and a customer-centric mindset, you can unlock the full potential of referrals and propel your business to new heights.
Editor's note: This post was originally published in April 2018 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.