Use Referrals to Generate More Revenue

Are you actively asking your current customers, clients and other contacts to refer new business to you? If not, why not?

The fact is, referrals can generate much more new business than most companies realize. Yet you can’t just sit back and wait for your current customers or clients to send new business to you. You need a plan. Here’s a simple three-step process for generating more business to increase revenue through referrals.

Step One: Create a Master List of People Who Can Refer New Business to You

Remember, customers are not the only resources who can refer new business to you. You can also ask your suppliers and vendors, your CPA, your attorney, your landlord – and the list goes on and on.

Ask everyone in your organization to help build a master list of all the company outsiders they know. Your goal should be to generate a list of 50, 100 or even more contacts who can each refer you to three or four new potential clients.

Step Two: Ask for Referrals from Everyone on Your Contact List

Contact everyone (via letter or email) you identified in Step One and make the following points:

• We value your business.
• We know that we have been able to provide you with excellent service or savings.
• We hope that you will do us the favor of referring potential new clients or customers to us.
• We are asking you to refer us to three (or four) companies who might become our new clients or customers. Asking for a specific number of referrals makes it more likely that people will respond.

Offer incentives for clients and customers who refer new business to you. Offer a discount, an award – something tangible, with dollar savings attached to it. It’s a way of saying thank you for referrals, and it results in more referrals. Then follow up by phone if you do not get a response.

Step Three: Carefully Cultivate Your New Business

Don’t just turn over your list of potential new clients to your sales team. Instead, make personal phone calls to the contact people whose names you got in Step Two. Or write personal letters to them.

Explain who referred you (“Joan Davis at Allied Container suggested that I contact you...“). Express your eagerness to explain the kind of businesses or services you can provide, explain any special incentives or offers that you are making – and say that you would like to meet personally.

Follow up diligently, but not aggressively. Referred clients should be treated with a special measure of tact and care. Because they are qualified leads, they have extra potential to become long-running clients, just like the companies that referred them.

And remember...

In addition to following this plan, consider making a referral program an integral part of your marketing plan. Include information about it on all your communications (letters, invoices) and on your company Website too. The wider you cast your net, the more revenue you can generate. For more ways on how to increase savings and revenue, contact us at hello@bizunite.com or 1-866-623-5784.

Comments

[Christopher, blog commenting service]

The content of this post makes good reading. The plans outlined in this article are already implemented by some companies - they are really good business decisions that will fetch new clients and customers that businesses need now.