Even though your pipeline may be bursting at the seams, it’s still important to take care of referrals. Especially in busy seasons, the way you take care of the referrals your network sends have serious implications. Next up in our series on creating consistent experiences is encouraging repeat referrals by creating an easy and rewarding referral process.
The Importance of Repeat Referrals
More and more consumers rely on recommendations to make buying decisions. In fact, 92 percent of all consumers consider a word-of-mouth recommendation the “leading reason they buy a product or service”. In light of this, it’s critical to set up a process that encourages referrals.
Not only is it important to make your referral process easy, it’s critical to deliver every time. Just like with customer service, consistency and reliability is key. It’s incredibly important for service providers to have a well-established process for capturing, following up with, and providing excellent service to referrals.
Your referral system should also have a process that keeps the referring party “in the loop” making sure that they are at ease with the service their referral receives.
Create a Smooth Experience
Referrals can come from anywhere. Whether a partner of some kind, a former customer, a friend, or even a prospect who didn’t end up panning out into a transaction, each person benefits from a smooth referral experience.
Offering an easy and rewarding referral process helps engage anyone who might send you referrals. After focusing on creating a consistent experience like we reviewed in our previous post, it’s time to focus on the referral process. A reliable experience gives the referrer the confidence they need to refer clients to you again and again.
Because it’s so important to build trust with the people sending you business, organization is key. A consistent and reliable referral process not only ensures that lead information is collected but also that leads are followed up with in a timely manner. Additionally, it’s important to keep the person who sent the referral updated with the process. It’s also a great practice to follow up with the referrer to check in on any feedback they received from the referral. This can help you further hone in your sales and customer service processes. Creating this type of consistency also helps you drive repeat referrals.
Let Technology Do the Legwork
Following up in a timely fashion shouldn’t be impressive. However, many service providers fail on this count. This is why having a system that captures lead information is important. Since your referring contacts took the time to send you a lead’s information, it’s important that you keep track of it. Losing track of a lead’s contact information is a quick way to also lose some level of trust.
Fortunately, capturing leads doesn’t need to be a manual or time-consuming process. There are plenty of tools that can help you capture and manage leads. A Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system is likely the first thing that comes to mind. A CRM is a powerful way to not only store lead information but to engage them as well. Because most CRM solutions store things like birthdays, interests, and communication history, it helps salespeople manage their pipeline.
A lead and client engagement tool like CardTapp can also help streamline the referral process. Not only does CardTapp make it easy for people to refer your services, it also captures important information of app users. CardTapp keeps track of the contact information and engagement insights of every person who installs your personal app. It even helps you manage referral partners by storing referral history and providing an easy way to follow up with referral partners. And with a CRM integration, anyone who receives your personal app is automatically added to your CRM.
Ready to streamline and simplify your referral process? Request a demo to see how easy it can be to capture, manage, and engage referrals.