Can You Say Referrals?

“In sales, a referral is the key to the door of resistance.” -Bo Bennett


Many moons and former lives ago, my Department Director assigned me the noble task of developing a customer Referral Program.

I was up for the challenge and after several days of brainstorming and strategic planning, we launched what I considered to be a well crafted referral program with a three-fold objective: (1) Get the word out (2) draw a steady number of new customers to our doors and (3) raise the bar on client interactions/relationships.

Several months into the program, it slowly began to lose steam and eventually dropped off our radar.

Unfortunately, customers were having to call about not receiving their gift cards, program tracking was non existent...and so it went.

Since that time, I have observed other well-intentioned referral programs get off to a fast start and then quickly bite the dust!

The moral of this story is: Referrals are a sure fire means for revving up new business, quality leads and customer relationships. However, even the best laid referral initiatives can lose momentum and fizzle out altogether, if not fully embraced and supported by the entire team—not just sales people...but right across the board on all management levels.

Here is a list of ideas/recommendations that will allow your referral process to get off to a strong start and stay on track:

1. Create a referral program that customers can get excited about and spell out 'what's in for them'.
2. Keep rewards/discounts simple (Ex: Best Buy gift cards, etc.) and compensate customers promptly! Customers who participate will not likely continue if they have to wait three months to receive a $20 gift card. Once credibility goes...so goes the program!
3. Make sure every team member is on board and held accountable for doing their part--set clear goals and expectations.
4. See to it that program guidelines are easy to comprehend (by staff and customers) and easy to articulate. Convoluted 'terms and conditions' are the primary reason why referral programs falter.
5. "Inspect what you expect"--make certain the program is being monitored in an efficient, systematic way, so referral numbers can be properly analyzed and measured over time.
6. Allow for an incubation period…momentum will build in stages and success will be contingent on consistency of collective effort.
7. For businesses with Finance and Marketing departments, it behooves you to build strong collaborative partnerships, so there is critical buy-in and commitment to follow through.
8. Discuss referral activity during regularly scheduled one-on-ones and management meetings; keep everyone involved, up-dated and abreast of progress, challenges, success stories, etc.
9. Depending on your sales culture, and if possible, award a cash 'incentive' for the largest number of referrals within a 30 day period for example; and subsequently incorporate it as a standard bonus pay out on a bi-monthly, quarterly, or whatever time frame you deem appropriate.
10. For solo entrepreneurs/small business owners--if you are not collecting referrals to drive growth...start now! Also, take creative steps and leverage your database to reach out to former clients; you'll be surprised at how willing they are to participate.

Asking for referrals should be a natural part of your sales process...so by all means ask!

Let me hear from you...I welcome your comments.