Referrals are how 90% of business owners I know have started their business. But, it is a mere 5% that have a plan for continuing to gain referrals. Luckily, referrals still happen, but unfortunately, without a referral plan, they often sparingly and sporadically.
John Janstch, author of Duct Tape Marketing - The Ultimate Guide to Small Business Marketing - had a great post a few days ago about the 7 Stages and logical touch points along this customer referral life cycle. They are:
Know - your ads, articles and referred leads
Like - your web site, reception and email newsletter
Trust- your marketing kit, white papers and sales presentations
Trial- webinars, evaluations and nurturing activities
Core - fulfillment, new customer kit, delivery, and financial arrangements
Repeat- post customer surveys, cross sell presentations, and quarterly events
Refer- results reviews, partner introductions, peer to peer webinars and community building
His final thought is to create a diagram consisting of the stages above and mapping out every touch point you have or should have before you ever start dreaming about a world flooded with referrals.
Leave a Reply