Maximize Word-of-Mouth Referrals for More Sales
You know that word-of-mouth referrals from satisfied customers is the best way to grow your sales. When customers talk about you, they do the selling for you.
Yet do you have a formal program to get your customers talking about you? If you’re like most sales professionals, you don’t. And even if you do, are you getting the most out of your referrals?
Read on to learn three ways to maximize the value of your word-of-mouth referrals.
A Referral a Day Keeps the Competition Away
While it’s nice to expand your business with referrals, the real power of referrals is in how they keep customers from shopping and going to your competition.
Think about it this way: if you refer your friends to a business you love and trust, you won’t switch because it means that you were wrong. Your customers are no different.
Every time you get a referral, it drives your competitors that much further away from your valuable customers.
Never Waste a Complement
Often when I say, “Thank you…” the response I get is, “No problem!” Yet that creates a problem for the person who I’m thanking because they just wasted a referral opportunity.
Your more powerful response, “You’re welcome! Who can you think of who would find valuable what I did for you? An introduction is the best way to thank me.”
See how you can convert a person’s appreciation into a referral. Use these specific words as they have the highest probability of getting a positive response.
Ask for a Referral the Right Way
Avoid the “R” word. People don’t like giving “referrals” but they do like doing a favor for a friend. Instead of the tired and ineffective “Can you give me six names of people I need to talk with…” say, “Who can you think of who would find a conversation with me valuable? Would you be willing to introduce me, either with a three-way call or an email?” “What will you tell them about us working together?”
When customers call you, it’s five times easier to make the sale. Watch a video event about how to create your word-of-mouth amplification system, which gets customers calling you.
Keep passing on the good word!
Mark S A Smith
P.S. I’ve created for you an on-line training session that goes much deeper into automating the customer acquisition process. Sign up here to take the class as my guest.
If you’d like 15 minutes to talk about how to build your customer acquisition system, contact me at MarksSchedule.com and we’ll set up time to meet.
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