Joe Sent Me – The Power of Referrals

Salesmanship is changing or perhaps beginning to evolve into a new dimension. Gone are the days of Willy Loman, the Fuller Brush salesmen, and Lou Costello’s vacuum salesman character in “Little Giant.”

For professionals that learned their trade by pounding the pavement, this transformation may be startling. But with cost and time constraints, multi-tasking demands as well as anxiety caused by one or another virus, referrals may be the way to build your prospects list and then increase sales.

Referrals are undeniably personal, credible and influential. They remain the oldest and most-trusted form of advertising, and the most influential as they’re most likely to lead to some form of action being taken. Someone has spoken for your product and service. This alone demonstrates just how much power referral marketing has, if done well. Just think how many commercials use the tactic of personal opinions in their messages.

David Lipke, business banking relationship manager with Citizens Bank, confirmed the importance and efficacy of referrals. His insights can be helpful to small businesses grow their sales in these challenging times.

“The power of a referral is that it’s a warm introduction – an agreement to have a conversation.  Because the referrer has worked with both parties, there is immediate trust on both sides that these are good people to work with.  A good referral is priceless,” Lipke observed.

Successful referrals begin with you, your company and your reputation. Then comes the quality of your product or service. If everything that is conjured up about you – your brand – is of exemplary quality, then you could be sure to be a good referral source. Your customers, other businesses on your street and supply-chain partners who refer you, your brand, will be confident that they won’t be burned by shoddy quality.

Once you have nurtured clients that trust you, you can begin to convert your most high-value customers into your most valuable ambassadors. Your current customers can be powerful customer acquisition engines if you have a well-designed referral marketing program. They will constitute the front line of your outreach.

Consider the immediate benefits of a sales referral over a cold call. You are instantly in front of the person who matters, rather than battling your way through their people. There is an immediate sense of trust, particularly if the referral came from a person the prospect respects.

Here are nine reasons why the dynamic of referrals are favored by today’s sales pros:

• Low Cost

• More Trustworthy

• Fewer Pricing Objections

• Faster Process

• Easier Closes

• Bigger Sales

• Your Advisor Status

• More Referrals

• Fun

Asking for referrals is one of the simplest ways you can generate new business. Sales referrals work because they help bridge the trust gap between you and the referred prospect. According to Nielsen, people are four times more likely to buy when referred by a friend. Moreover, 92% of people trust referrals from people they know. Without this, you are a stranger to that prospect, they have no basis for trusting you. You and your product are just one in thousands – just one fish in the ocean.

Referral marketing is essentially people purchasing products based on someone else’s opinion or influence and is commonly known as word-of-mouth marketing. As a small business owner, this strategy is an effective way to get existing customers, partners and friends to promote your business for you.

Referral marketing provides razor-sharp targeting as referral-based customers tend to be better matched to your services or products. This is because your existing customers will usually only promote services to their friends and family that they believe would be interested.

Referrals are a proven way to generate high-quality sales leads for your business. If done right, they can become a powerful sales engine and help you improve your close rate. The referral becomes an objective third source of opinions about your product and service. Asking for a sales referral is simply getting your brand, product or service referred to another company or individual.

Your new prospects and clients are more likely to follow your suggestions. Prospects and clients you meet through referrals will follow your suggestions because they know their friend or colleague has had a good experience in following you or buying from you.

Businesses should create several referral programs and offers in each of these four categories.

Direct referrals – A direct referral program is a type of program where you simply state to your existing clients an offer for the act of creating a referral that turns into a client. This is an approach that is both motivating and connected to what the business does.

Implied referrals – This type of referral is underused. In this type of program you want to do things that make it very obvious you are doing work for someone, without necessarily asking for a referral. This sets up a situation where a business, friend or neighbor might simply ask you to refer the person running an implied referral program.

Tangible referrals – With a tangible referral, you put something – a product or sample – in the hands of your customer that has real value which they can give to a referral source – the proof is in the pudding, so to speak.

Community referrals – There are many community organizations and non-profits that need and deserve your support. When you partner with a nonprofit player and support their mission, events, and needs you can also offer promotional support by running the occasional promotion that benefits your partner.

A successful referral cycle results in a virtually never-ending stream of satisfied and engaged clients who give you referrals sometimes without even asking.

But you might still insist, what about person-to-person, human contact with my prospect? That can wait until you’ve made the first sale. Then you can spend time developing this relationship … and turning the new customer into a referral.

• For more tips and insights, visit our websites or contact us for guidance:

https://www.citizensbank.com/HomePage.aspx

http://hrtiebreaker.com/

http://newhopepublishingllp.com/