We All Love Testimonials
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A testimonial is a statement made by a customer that s/he is
delighted with some aspect of your business – product,
service, people, etc.
You love getting testimonials; we all do. They increase the
feel-good factor. People, who feel good, do good. And usually
when performance improves, costs go down and sales go up.
You’ve made profit for free.
You can excite prospective customers by sharing with them the
praise you have received. Customers believe praise from other
customers far more readily than they believe the puff of even the
best and most expensive advertising.
You’ve been more convincing with your customers
for free.
There’s no doubt about it. We all love testimonials.
The Secret Of Referrals
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A referral is, quite simply, when a satisfied customer tells
you about another potential customer. You are
Referred to someone else – someone who is likely to
be interested.
Which is easier - a call to a referred prospect or cold
calling? Yes. It’s obvious. Which prospect is more likely
to buy from you? Yes. That’s obvious too.
In our experience, satisfied customers positively enjoy being
asked to give referrals and are pleased to give them. So much so,
that they usually give two or three names each.
We have also found that satisfied customers are happy for you
to ask for a referral from them three or four times a year. In
general, every time you do, they will give you a couple of new
names.
So, if you’ve got (say) 1500 existing customers giving
you two or three referrals per quarter. You are winning 12,000 to
18,000 prospects each year. And if you convert only one in fifty
of these into customers, you win 240 – 360 new
customers each year. A growth of your customer base of about
20%
Remember too, you’ve done it the easy way - no expensive
advertising, no wasteful cold calling. The profit margin on each
of these new customers will actually be slightly higher than
normal, because the cost of sale was lower.
The Secret Revealed
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So, what is the secret of referrals?
Well like most things, it’s the systematic application
of the blinding obvious concepts of common sense.
Being obvious of course means that it is an easy trick to
miss. This explains why many organisations don’t have an
accurate and systematic process, used by everyone.
The true secret of referrals is To Ask For Them And To
Give Them - Freely And Often.
Establish a system for asking the question, “Do you know
anyone else who you think might be interested in what we have to
offer?” Establish a mechanism for giving them to others
too. People who give referrals tend to get referrals. People, who
don’t give them, soon stop receiving them.
Make It Happen Now
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With just one phone call, or e-mail, or letter, you can start
to make referrals work for you.
Contact a customer for whom you know you did a good job and
ask them for the names of others whom they think may be
interested in what you have to offer. If a supplier does a good
job, say so. Tell your friends and tell the supplier that you
have done so. If you liked this article, tell others who may be
interested.
There’s no magic in referrals. All that is needed is the
personal discipline to do it. So, don’t put it off. Do it
now. It could be the most profitable habit you ever got into.
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