Imagine a world where each of your best clients referred you to their six best clients who referred you to their six best clients and so on and so on to infinity. Ahhh…What marketing bliss that would be!

Unfortunately,a sad fact of life for all of us is that we are not the most important people in our clients lives. Yup. They may love you and only do business with you and would never consider going any place else ever for the service you provide. You may be the bee’s knees, best in class, least expensive or best looking in your field, but the fact remains that at a Sunday Bar B Que most likely your name is not going to come up in conversation for a referral. So the question is…what can we all do to increase our referrals from our best clients? Here are a few ideas, try some out and let me know what you think!

• Tell Your Clients You Love Them- Really. Many times new businesses  tend to want to look bigger than they are. One of the silliest tactics for doing this is by not acknowledging your best customers.  Look your best clients in the eye, or send them a handwritten note that let’s them know how much you appreciate them choosing to spend their hard earned dollar with you. Give your clients a specific example of why thier account means so much to your success. You’ll make your client’s day, and you will help them to feel responsible for your success.
• Business Partners- We all have businesses that are complimentary to our business. One of our great clients owns an auto repair shop in IL. He doesn’t fix brakes, tires or transmissions. Tony “direct refers” to 3 shops in his area that specialize in the things he doesn’t and in turn they refer back to him. Direct referrals are a great source of generating leads in turn for your company. Don’t ask for discounts or referral fees. Your customers will come to you a  source for all things related to your field if you just place them in contact with the companies that can offer them the best service.
• Client Surveys-Ask your clients what you’re doing right and what you can improve on.  Don’t just ask…ACT. When a client gives you a suggestion on how you can improve thank them and impliment the suggestion. Follow up with a small gift right away, something fun and memorable that say’s something about your business. Once you’ve implimented the suggestion and give your client feedback and thank them.
• Customer Referral Programs- One of my favorite ways of promoting our business is through our client referral program. We used to do cash discouts for clients who referred us to their associates. Now we send out a logoed gift with a handwritten thank you note and a gift card. This year we chose green promotional products. The gift cards are numerically sequenced for our bookkeeping and made of the same material as a credit card. Giving the entire program a higher percieved value than offering discounts and rewards alone.
• Ask For Referrals-It’s easy to ask for referrals. Really. I can guarentee that you will generate more referrals you ever thought possible by saying this “(Name of Your Client) I really appreciate your account. My business is prodominetly referral based so I would appreciate you thinking of me when your friends have a need for (your service.) Rest assured they will receve the same level of care I provide for you and your (family/business). Simple. Try it out!

Do you have some fun, effective referral generating ideas to share? If I post your idea I’ll send you a gift!

Have a FANTASTIC week!