Referrals are an efficient and cost-effective way to generate new business, but asking for referrals can sometimes feel awkward. How do you ask without sounding too pushy? We have put together some tips on how to best generate referrals for your business:
1. Provide a template
When asking for referrals, it’s essential that you’re mindful of how busy your clients are. Eliminate some of the workload and provide them with a template. For example, you could just include your details in the email such as:
I would like to refer you to my trusted business partner: Your name. His details are:
- Your phone
- Your email
You want to write the email so the client could either copy and paste or even just forward your email. Keeping this in mind makes it much easier for you to develop the template.
2. Give referrals to get referrals
Referrals are great for your client’s businesses as well as your relationship, and they’ll likely return the favour. Try and give the most ideal clients your referrals. Clients that are close to your ideal client are likely to have peers (and friends) that are similar to them and therefore also likely to make ideal clients.
3. Create a referral system.
Create a system to track and follow up with referrals. Ask new clients how they found you and follow up with the person who provided the referral. When the referral becomes a new client, remember to thank the person providing the referral. Showing your appreciation for the referral is excellent for your relationship and will also encourage them to refer you again.
4. Check out your Reviews
Have a look at your Google Reviews, Facebook Reviews or if you have any LinkedIn recommendations. People that have felt strongly enough about your great service to leave an online review or recommendation are generally the perfect clients to ask for referrals. Business Assist can help you with this of course!
And always remember to show your appreciation when someone does leave you a great online review. So jump online now and check out your reviews – if you haven’t thanked them online yet do it now! It doesn’t matter how long ago it was either.
5. Remember, all you have to do is ask
Some of our clients offer incentives for referrals however we have found that most businesses doing a great job just need to simply ask for a referral!
It may not be obvious to your client that you would appreciate the simple act of them sharing their experience with others, so let them know, and they are likely to be very happy to do so. You can ask for a referral in several ways:
- Verbally when you provide them with their service (or any correspondence)
- Include a referral request in your email signature (might not deliver a lot of unprovoked referrals however it does remind you to ask your client for a referral!)
- Use social media, especially LinkedIn
And finally, make sure you do a great job! The better your services are for your existing clients, the more likely they will sing your praises to others. Offering excellent service not only builds a loyal and happy customer base but will build your word-of-mouth referrals.
So get started now on generating some referrals for your business!
