[Increase Sales] How Active Referral Systems Can Easily Increase Sales
Referrals can help you increase sales for free while reducing the amount of time, money, and energy you spend. There are 4 simple strategies to implement and sustain profitable referral programs for your business - no matter what you sell. Quality referrals convert at an average of 20-30% more than any other form of lead generation techniques. Why? Because they come from trusted sources. With that said, you must follow some key strategies to make sure you are keeping top of mind with your loyal customers so the people they refer contact your company more often. Here are 4 Simple Strategies to Actively Seek Referrals 1. Contact your best customer or clients. You need to thank your customers that you appreciate their business and then ask your happy customers to recommend you to their friends and family. You need to let them know how much you appreciate them and can do so by a personal phone call, more formally by sending out a letter or sending an email requesting 3 to 5 names of people that are a good match for your product or services. Itu2019s important to note that the higher quality your customers, most likely the higher quality their referrals and therefore the items that they buy from you. 2. Develop various referral programs. You need to brainstorm which offer would work best and what type of demographics you want to target and build referral programs based on common interests, age, income, etc. As the saying goes, different strokes for different folks. You may also vary the referral system based on the timing or methodology for your ask (ex: asking upon purchase versus asking quarterly; ask them over the phone or email or providing a special incentive since they have been a long time loyal customer). 3. Offer incentives. Itu2019s important t offer incentive such as future product discounts or free consultations are tokens of appreciation for customers who send you referral business. Keep in mind that these rewards should be gratifying for the customer, but also encourage business from you in some way. Some other examples of quality incentives are a free class in your field of expertise, a gift with purchase, or a bonus service to cash in during a certain timeframe. 4. Capitalize on seasons. You can take advantage of specific holidays as a time to offer your customers special incentives for giving you referrals. People generally feel more cheery and generous during the holiday seasons and spreading the cheer may easily translate into increased referrals. Make sure you are prepared for this. Seasonal offers also work great if you operate within a niche that ebbs and flows. For example, a sporting goods store may offer special incentives or ramp up your volume of incentives during baseball season to increase your customer base during peak periods. When you implement any of the strategies above, you will see how easily referrals can instantly increase sales. But just consider this: If 25% of your past or current customers were so impressed by your service that they each were compelled to send you 3 leads. Now imagine if just 1 of those leads were in turn satisfied and turned into a customer. Because they received valuable service, they shared their experience with another 3 people, and 20% of those referrals also purchased from you. You can easily see how an active referral system will increase sales.
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