As a business, you have most likely invested money into marketing your business and the services you provide, to attract new customers, and ultimately increase sales.
But marketing does always mean spending money directly on new customers. A bit of TLC to existing customers can pay dividends, not only in loyalty, but in generating referrals.
Customer referrals are a cost-effective way to promote your business either with spending no money or little money, often with nothing upfront.
How?
Word-of-mouth marketing involves a satisfied customer sharing their positive experience with your business to other potential customers, acting as a promoter for your business.
It is not always as simple as providing a quality service to generate customer referrals and getting your customers talking about your business can be difficult.
In this article, we explore the ways you can generate customer referrals from existing customers to increase business.
We will look at some of the main strategies for generating customer referrals, which include:
- Building relationships
- High-quality customer service
- Rewarding customers
- Just asking
Generating customer referrals
- Build relationships with your customers
Although relationships take time, building relationships with your customers is invaluable, and creating a rapport with existing customers will most likely increase your chances of your business being referred to other potential customers.
Establishing one-on-one relationships with customers will help your customers talk about your business.
Regardless of the size of your business, it is possible to build a relationship with your customers.
For example, this can be achieved by sending personalised emails to your customers about things of interest or interacting with your customers on social media.
With established relationships between your business and existing customers, this will go a long way in increasing customer referrals.
Ultimately, the aim is to keep your business at the forefront of your customers minds.
- Improving your customer service
Delivering quality customer service is just as important as providing a quality service in generating customer referrals.
If customers feel valued, they are more likely to share with others their experiences.
There are things you can do to deliver quality customer service. Things to consider include:
- Fast responses – You should always aim to be responsive, don’t leave customers’ questions and queries left unanswered for too long.
- Your tone – The tone you use can have a positive, and negative, impact on the way your customer perceives your business. Always remain respectful and professional.
- Consistency – Your business should always treat customers equally. Have set practices you implement when interacting with customers to increase consistency
Customer service also refers to not only before an installation or service but after a service has been provided as well.
For specific tips on providing aftercare, we have produced some top tips for providing quality aftercare for those in the fenestration or double glazing industry.
- Reward schemes
Rewarding customers for their loyalty and also for referring your business will greatly increase your customer referrals.
The rewards you offer can vary but should always represent the values of your business.
Rewards may include a discount on a customer’s next service, or in some cases, a kickback based on the sale.
An effective reward scheme not only benefits your customers but it benefits your business, helping to drive additional sales that you otherwise may have missed out on.
- Ask
There is a saying; ‘if you don’t ask, you don’t get.’.
The same rule applies when asking customers for referrals.
Customers are more often than not, happy to recommend a business when they receive a service they are happy with. But many businesses often never ask.
By making customers aware that you appreciate them and their referral, you are much more likely to receive customer referrals.
The importance of customer referrals
Customer referrals are a simple, yet effective, way of raising brand awareness and driving sales.
Delivering quality customer service is an integral part of generating customer referrals.
At TruFrame, we are passionate about helping our customers across the fenestration industry prosper through tactile marketing strategies that deliver results, whether they be in the physical world, or digitally.
You can find out more about what we do to help our customers grow their businesses on our marketing support page, and get in touch with us to see how we can help supply hand-finished windows and doors to your business.
For more information on making the most of the customers you already have, take a look at our guide to customer retention.
