{"id":18655,"date":"2020-07-28T10:55:03","date_gmt":"2020-07-28T14:55:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wordpress-715453-3009179.cloudwaysapps.com\/?p=18655"},"modified":"2023-04-27T23:33:59","modified_gmt":"2023-04-28T03:33:59","slug":"customer-referrals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wordpress-715453-3009179.cloudwaysapps.com\/blog\/customer-referrals\/","title":{"rendered":"Spread the Word! How to Effectively Get Customer Referrals"},"content":{"rendered":"
Every customer you engage with makes an impact on your business. For small businesses<\/a>, finding new ways to expand your reach can make a significant difference in your ability to hit your goals. One of the most effective ways of generating new business is by leveraging the influence of your existing customers.<\/p>\n Word of mouth has long been a key resource in business growth, but sometimes it just doesn\u2019t occur to customers to go out of their way to promote your brand. This doesn\u2019t mean they don\u2019t value your services! But adding a little incentive to talk about you can give a prod in the right direction. For many businesses, this means setting up a formal referrals program.<\/p>\n We\u2019ve put together a short guide exploring some important areas that can help get those referrals flowing in no time!<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Before setting out to build any customer referral program, it\u2019s vital that you plan ahead. First, you need to get a grasp of what your goals are. Obviously, the general goal is going to be \u201cfinding more customers\u201d\u00a0 but you\u2019ll need to get a little bit more specific than that. You\u2019ll want to put in place goals that are data-driven that you can measure your success against.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Understanding how your customers make purchasing decisions is key to building a successful referral program. By researching this, you\u2019ll learn what factors are important to your customers<\/a> and also what psychological obstacles they face in making purchases.<\/p>\n One of the important parts of the buying journey is advocacy \u2014 the stage at which customers are happy with the brand and making referrals. Survey and talk to your customers about their journey. Make note of the roadblocks and incentives that help get them to the advocacy stage. Then, build your rewards around this.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n People are 90% more likely to buy<\/a> from a brand that\u2019s been personally recommended to them. This means encouraging customers to talk about their experiences or leave reviews is definitely a form of promotion you want to invest in!<\/p>\n The way you talk about your referral program matters. After all, nobody\u2019s going to engage with your program if they don\u2019t know about it, don\u2019t understand it, and can\u2019t see how they fit into the picture.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Finally, you can\u2019t just let a referrals program loose on the world, and hope it\u2019ll bring in customers. You have to schedule regular assessments of success, and see where improvements can be made.<\/p>\n In order to evaluate how effective your program is, you\u2019ve got to track data along the way, including:<\/p>\nSet your referral goals<\/h2>\n
Here are some examples of small business referrals goals:<\/h3>\n
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\nLearn how to incentivize<\/h2>\n
Here are a couple of ideas on how to incentivize customer referrals:<\/h3>\n
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\nTalk about your referral program<\/h2>\n
Here are some communication tips when developing your customer referral program:<\/h3>\n
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\nTrack and adjust<\/h2>\n
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