Why Your Referral Strategy Is So Important to Building Your Business
The concept of gaining new business through referrals is familiar to all of us, but it’s possible that your referral strategy could use some optimization. After all, referrals will always be among the most promising sources of new leads for businesses of any type. Whether your referrals are coming from individuals in your network or strong online reviews, it’s critical to ensure your referral marketing strategy is optimized for quality lead generation.
3 Reasons to Reevaluate Your Referral Marketing Strategy
Capitalize on Trust
Earning trust is a fundamental building block of developing strong relationships with business partners and clients alike. I think we could all agree that a referral by nature is an interaction made by a client or partner to connect one person (your prospect) that has a need for services to a person who can solve that need (you)...and there’s a transfer of trust which is why they are so successful. If there is no trust between you, your partner, or the prospect, then a true referral can’t happen. For your part, it’s important to build that trust with your clients and your partners so they feel comfortable referring you to their network.
Building a Strong Referral Plan
Having a strong referral plan is imperative to your success in getting more leads from your clients, COI’s, and partners and it means practicing a give-to-get philosophy. In my view, your referral plan should include two key tactics. One is developing strong relationships with clients and going above and beyond your scope of services to help them run a better business. Once you do that, asking becomes much easier. Two, develop strong relationships with your centers of influence and partners so they become advocates for you in the marketplace. How do you do that? Always find ways to give them value. If you don’t have a plan it’s hard to know where you’re going.
Evaluate & Build Customer Satisfaction
A strong referral marketing strategy can effectively serve as a mirror to assess the effectiveness of your business when it comes to making existing customers and partners satisfied. Naturally, your peers will be much more likely to share referrals with their network if they enjoyed a pleasant experience interacting with your business. In addition, building stronger relationships with your clients and partners by better understanding their business and how you can help can go a long way. If you are struggling to get referrals, it could be a symptom of a larger issue persisting in your overall customer experience.
Revitalize Your Referral Strategy with Expert Assistance from Dinkel Business Development, LLC
Dinkel Business Development can help your business grow by creating a business development plan that engages your prospects and partners using a proven system of relationship marketing and outbound lead generation. Let’s start building relationships together today! Please call us at 443.226.0163 or reach us via email at john@dinkelbd.com to get started.
