Make it easy for others to make referrals
In Referral Engine Part 2, we talked about your value proposition, an important element to fuel your business’s referral engine. But how do you get people to understand and share your value in the marketplace and send referrals your way?
It’s all in the education. Make sure people in your business network—whether they are customers, colleagues, or vendors—understand what your company is all about. Here’s how:
— Describe your ideal client in detail so others understand with whom you’re looking to connect.
— Provide an accessible, easy-to-understand description of what your company does or offers to make it easy for your referral sources to share with their people.
Some places to have this available are your website, as a downloadable sales
sheet, and on your LinkedIn company page.
— Let referral sources know what you’ll do with the leads they send to you.
This could include inviting prospects to a webinar, sending a free report,
sharing valuable information about their industry, or sharing ways you can help
them. The idea here is to give first to receive later.
— Gather social proof such as online reviews and testimonials, or news releases
in which you are quoted or are the subject. These are excellent third-party
endorsements of your business.
— Don’t forget your strategic partners. Show them appreciation and encourage them to continue referring business to you with a value-add they can share with their network, such as an invitation to a webinar or a white paper they can co-brand and distribute to their customer base.
Need help developing the marketing activities and assets to keep your referral engine going? From sales scripts to marketing collateral to website content and more, Advantage Marketing is here to help. Complete the form here or call us at (908) 233-6265.
Don’t miss the other articles in the Building Your Referral Engine series:
Part 1: 3 Important Building Blocks
Part 2: Warm up your pipeline
Part 3: Make it easy for others to make referrals
Part 4: Move prospects through your sales funnel
Special Offer! The Referral Engine Workbook
