How to Build a Referral Culture

Derived from : John Jantsch, The Referral Engine
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Having a referral system may mean you’ll never have to make cold calls again. And, the even bigger opportunity is to build a great business. To do this design a referral culture that includes systems, processes and your team working towards the same goal. Here’s eight things to consider…

Habits

Build the idea of generating leads and referrals into your daily actions. For instance, create a scoreboard for how many you’ve created today.

Tools

Create the referral tools you need and and train your team in their use. This can range from having a website and electronic brochure through to the authority to directly solve customers problems.

Remarkable

Devote time to make your products and customer interactions worth talking about. This will grease the wheel for generating referrals.

Service

Shift the culture from ‘get’ to ‘give’. Promote and reward service and helping others. Even if it means the loss of an immediate sale by recommending someone else better suited to resolving your customers situation.

Conviction

Set up the expectation of referrals. Drop this into your sales presentations: ‘We expect that you’ll be so thrilled with our result, then you’ll naturally want to recommend us to your colleagues.’ To do this you’ll need to instil a belief in what you do and the value you provide.

Premium

Surveys suggest that businesses that rely on referrals are more likely to be at the premium end of the price spectrum. It’s part of the social proof that you must be good!

Education

Outbound leads generated by advertising rely on interrupting people and selling to them. Instead, build an inbound marketing channel that attracts customers to you. Educate rather than sell.

Specific

To make referrals happen you need a trustworthy person to provide a solution to a specific need or challenge. Be really clear what customer needs you address. If reqruired, talk it over with customers, a coach or mentor.

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