Quite often I get calls from business owners who are seeking help in getting more customer referrals. They want their employees to be more proactive when it comes to generating more business from their current customer base.
My first question is … “Do you mind if I ask you some very frank, blunt questions…such as…”
- Why should your employees take time out from their busy schedules to try and generate a referral from one of their customers?
- What’s in it for THEM?
- How will it help THEM?
- Have they been properly trained to know how to do it?
- Why should your customer want to take the time…or the risk…to refer a family member, friend, neighbor, business associate or co-worker to YOU?
- What makes you think your customers ever even think of such a thing?
- What’s in it for THEM if they do?
- Do they know that?
- Really?
- Do you hold your employees accountable for generating a certain number of referrals each month?
- Why not?
- What would happen if you did?
- Are your employees properly incentivized to make the effort?
- Are your customers properly incentivized to make the effort?
- Can you think in terms of creating a “Referral Culture” with in your business?
These are just a few questions to help YOU understand that referrals don’t just happen simply because YOU want them to. Oh, some will of course. You’re going to get referrals to some degree just because somebody somewhere had a problem and asked someone else who they would recommend and they ended up giving them your name because you are a nice person. That’s a gimme.
But…if you really want to maximize the number of referrals you get…if you want to seriously tap into that stream of new business that is lying there sleeping within your current customer base… you need to be proactive. You need to develop and foster a mindset within your company that is focused on referrals. Referrals need to be a part of your daily conversations.
Your current customers are the greatest source of new business you have. And, if you know how to really tap into it, the payoff can be enormous!
More food for thought.
Thanks again for reading my letters, and I hope you have a really great day!
Hal
PS. Find FREE Pest Control Marketing Tips, Secrets, Strategies and Techniques at my website, http://www.PestControlMarketer.com
Subscribe to my FREE Weekly Pest Control Marketing Articles at http://www.PestControlMarketer.com
Or feel FREE to call me at 770-993-0004 or email Hal@HalColeman.com
