There are so many ways by which you can market your small business. Perhaps because of this fact, many small business owners tend to overlook one very significant marketing strategy – that is, gaining referrals. In fact, if you ask many small business owners what they do to actively get referrals, they will probably give you a blank look or even scratch their head. If you are thinking along the same lines, I need you to think again and realize that referrals can be one of the most effective ways by which you market your business AND that you need to actively seek them out.
How can you do this? Isn’t providing excellent services or products enough to get you referrals? Theoretically, this is correct. If you provide the best service or product to your customers, then the chances are that they will spread the word among their friends and colleagues about you. Then again, wouldn’t it be better not to simply sit back and take that chance?
One way of actively seeking out referrals is by making it part of your business practice. That is, you voice out your desire for referrals from your customers. For example, you can include a short spiel when conducting your business. At the end of your transaction, you can tell your customer something like this: “Sir/Madam, we are confident that you are going to enjoy our product and that you will get the best experience out of it. As part of your responsibility as our client, we would like to encourage you to provide us with an X number of referrals within X number of months.â€
Why is this effective? Because you have given them a guarantee that they will be happy with your service or product. That means you will do what it takes to provide them satisfaction. In the customer’s mind, referrals are nothing compared to that.
Originally posted on June 23, 2011 @ 9:15 am
