Marketing plays a crucial role in encouraging people to purchase and use a product or service. Word-of-mouth marketing is perhaps the easiest and least expensive yet the most effective form of advertising. Getting more referrals from customers helps the company to not only gather and entice other potential clients but it also aids them in establishing a reputable brand of product for the company.
Generating customer referrals is often a more cost-effective way to get better customers than spending thousands of dollars on expensive ads. A customer’s recommendation is often proof of the company’s excellence in terms of providing quality products and services. Someone buying a product because a friend recommended it will usually have more reason to value the product.
So how do we get more customer referrals? Here are some simple ways on how to get more customers from your existing customers.
First, there should be a conscious effort on the part of the company to provide good customer service at all times. Remember that your customers who would give their referrals to their friends and family are in a way putting a portion of their reputation at risk as well. Giving the customers the best customer care would then help in establishing good customer relationship that could be further enhanced through proper customer relationship management. This would keep the customers shackled to the company in a good way.
By proving good customer service, the company becomes more referable. Doing quality work all the time ensures that the customers would always see the value of the products and services that they are going to refer to their friends and families. Price as always is the most sensitive aspect that more customers tend to keep an eye on. It is therefore important to keep prices at their right value so as to avoid losing customers and potential clients as well. By being honest and reliable, you become more valued and that it follows that you become referable too.
Getting more customer referrals can also be done by asking for it directly from your customers. Satisfied customers will likely agree to this in return for a good business relationship. Making loyal customers a referral partner will be a great marketing strategy that is ideal for both large and small business companies.
These customers can be encouraged by giving incentives for every successful referral that they make. This can be done through gift certificates, commissions or discounts for the services that they purchase. In addition, giving gifts to loyal customers when appropriate like the year-end holidays would make them feel pampered and valued. As a business, though, it is imperative that the cost of these incentives or gifts provided is lower than the revenue that you expect to generate from the additional business.
In closing, if getting customer referrals is not yet part of your marketing plan, consider choosing one of the methods mentioned above and start getting more customers today.
