6 Proven Ways To Get Referrals
If you want to know how to get new customers easily, the answer is sitting right under your nose and you probably just don’t realize it.
You could grow your business exponentially without spending any additional money to do it.
How do you get new customers? You get new customers via referrals.
Why Referrals Matter
Now before you roll your eyes or click out because getting referrals is a tale as old as time, the truth is that statistically, 84% of B2B decision-makers say that the B2B buying process starts with a referral, while only 30% of B2B companies have a formal referral program in place.
Meaning most of you reading are not fully capitalizing on referrals when you could be and should be.
Also, whether you’re B2B or B2C, customers are 90% more likely to trust and buy from a brand recommended by a friend, AND those referred customers have a 59% higher lifetime value.
Meaning not only are they easier to close, but they tend to buy more than a cold customer.
Maybe some of you have a referral program in place but it’s dusty. You haven’t thought about it in a long time. You’re definitely not depending on it for business.
You’re going to want to read to the end of this blog because we’re sharing 5 new ways to think about referrals and how to gain them.
Think of everything you’re currently doing: all the money and time you’re spending to acquire new customers right now either via social media advertising or Google advertising or what have you.
Now think if all of your existing customers referred 2 people.
For example’s sake let’s say you get 200 referrals from doing that. And you close 10% of them (which is a conservative rate for referrals), that’s 20 new customers or clients that you didn’t have to pay anything extra for.
Your existing clients just gave them to you. And think of it this way- as long as your referral rate is always higher than you’re turnover rate, you’ll always be growing.
If your turnover or churn rate is 10% and your referral rate is 20%, you’ll still be growing 2 to 1.
So the tactics we’re covering are going to help you actually get real referrals from clients.
How Do I Increase My Referrals?
You increase your referrals by following these 5 referral methods:
- Ask And Ask The Right Way
- Reward Your Clients For Sending You Referrals
- When People Ask For A Discount
- Give A Free Plus 2 To Your Events
- The Gift Card Method
- Offer The Best Product Or Service In Your Niche
Referral Method #1: Ask And Ask The Right Way
A lot of you reading are probably like, “Yeah I know I need to ask for referrals,” …but you don’t. Or you have a sales team that doesn’t.
It’s one of those things that can easily and quietly kind of fall off the bandwagon.
Most people don’t ask because they don’t want to scare the sale away, so we’ll tell you two times that are the best times to ask. The first is right when you close them.
They sign the contract, they buy the product whatever it is, you’re having your “shake hands” moment with them.
They’re all excited, and you say, “Awesome well hey we’re really excited to start working with you, real quick before you go, who else do you know that could benefit from working with us?”
Not “do you know someone” because that’s a yes / no answer and their brain is going to go for the easiest route which is “No, I don’t know anybody.”
When you say who do you know, not do you know, it makes them think for a second and you can usually get 1 or 2 names from doing that.
The other best time to ask is when they are happy with your product or service.
When you’ve groomed their dog for the first time and they love the cut, or you’ve done work on their house and they love the job you did, or after seeing you for facials for 6 months, you’ve cleared away their face acne- whenever they are happiest with your product or service is the other best time to ask.
Referral Method #2: Reward Your Clients For Sending You Referrals
This can work a few different ways. You can say, “Hey for every 5 referrals you send my way, I’ll give you a discount.”
You can take that a step further and do what we’re doing and give them a discount when their referrals ACTUALLY convert into sales for you.
You can see we give our clients 10% recurring commission for the life of the clients they refer. So their referrals actually have to become clients in order for them to get the discount.
This helps ensure you’re getting quality referrals from your clients. You can set up a referral rewards program, where for every 10 friends that they refer, they get tiered rewards.
I’ve seen a lot of ecommerce companies do this, like if you refer 10 email addresses, you get a free gift, and if any of those friends make a purchase with us, you’ll get a $10 coupon.
Some companies take those referral programs a step further and offer stackable credit, which is where the customer has the option to save up those tiered rewards until they hit a high value reward that they want to cash in on.
The biggest thing here is to keep whatever incentive you’re offering the same amount you would offer in a lead magnet to acquire a new cold customer anyway.
At the beginning of this blog, we said this method would not cost any additional money to execute and this is what we meant by that.
You would spend at least that much on the lead magnet alone plus way more on advertising to reach a cold customer.
So, this method still pays for itself when you offer whatever discount you would give for a cold customer anyway.
Referral Method #3: When People Ask For A Discount
We all have gotten those right? A customer wants what you’re offering, you’re this close to closing the deal when they say, “Hey man, any way you could give me a discount?”
When people ask for a discount, tell them, “Sure, give me 3 referrals and I’ll give you a discount.” It’s very similar to the previous method but it’s just a different way to frame it.
Instead of you pursuing them and saying, “Hey I’ll give you a discount for referring business to me!” you’re letting them come to you.
If they ask you for a discount, tell them, “Yeah absolutely, just refer 3 clients to me first.”
Referral Method #4: Give A Free Plus 2 To Your Events
This method is for businesses that throw workshops or events for existing clients.
We’re assuming these workshops or events include food, drinks value of some sort, so give your existing customers or members a free plus two for them to bring 2 new leads to your events.
Don’t sell to these new people at the event, just get their name and number and get an appointment scheduled. Keep it casual.
“Great to meet you! I’d love to talk more. When’s a good time next week for us to chat?”
Once you’ve got follow up information, leave them alone. Let them enjoy the event and get free value from it. Then the following week on, implement your sales process like normal to close them.
If hosting events is something that you already do and it’s already a part of your process for your customers, this is a super easy way to get new customers.
Referral Method #5: The Gift Card Method
Here’s how it works. You look at your existing customer base and say “Hey, we’re giving up to 2 gift cards per customer to give away to your friends.”
So, your existing customers can’t use it on themselves. They have to give them to friends.
Make the gift card equal to your lowest-tier product or service. Because remember, statistically referrals are most likely to agree to an upsell or to purchase more.
So you’re just getting their foot in the door with these gift cards, but the idea is that these will eventually pay for themselves.
Put a 30-day expiration date on the gift card to create a little urgency and light a fire under them so that they purchase from you sooner rather than later.
You can combine this with the referral method #2 where you reward the initial existing customer if either of the gift cards they give out convert into customers or clients.
This method has the highest success rate around Christmas time, but it can be used anytime in the year so long as you justify it with a holiday.
Whether it’s your business’s anniversary, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Summertime sale, Teacher appreciation week or what have you, give your existing customers a reason to gift cards to your business to their friends and family.
An extra tip to really make this method work is when you’re giving the gift card to your customer for them to give to their friends, say, “Okay great, who do we make the gift card out to?”
This allows you to go ahead and get the referral’s information so that you can follow up with them after their friend gives them the gift card.
Referral Method #6: Offer The Best Product Or Service In Your Niche
Ultimately, the best way to get referrals is to offer a product or service that’s so good, your customers want to refer you.
If your offerings solve your customer’s problem or helps them achieve their goal faster, easier more affordably and/or better than your competitors’, you’re bound to get organic referrals from your existing customers.
You’re not going to receive referrals from existing customers if they themselves feel dissatisfied with their experience with your business, so work to be the best in your industry, and the referrals will follow.
All of these referral methods will help you work smarter, not harder, using the marketing method that statistically has one of the highest success rates of all time: referrals.
FAQs On How To Get Referrals
How can I get quick referrals?
You can get quick referrals by giving your existing clients an incentive or rewards for referring customers to you and by giving them an even bigger reward if the referral converts into a paying customer.
How do you find people referrals?
You find referrals by providing an excellent product or service to your existing customers so that they feel inspired and motivated to refer your business to their friends and family. You can quicken this process by offering an incentive to existing customers for each referral they give you.
How to attract referrals online?
The best way to attract referrals online is to offer a valuable lead magnet that they want and care about as well as an incentive to the person who’s bringing you the referral. This gives your existing customer a reason to refer you and it gives the referral a reason to reach out to you.
