If you have a number of loyal customers and are starting to see leads come in through referrals, why not start a referral programme. Referral partnerships, (also called referral programmes), are a proven way to increase leads through word of mouth and existing customer relationships.
There are multiple ways to create a referral programme but all of them essentially reward and incentivise your current customers for bringing in quality leads.
Here are the 8 essential elements you need to keep in mind when creating your referral programme.
1. Make sure your service or product is worth referring
Creating a referral programme to bring in more leads is great, but you also need to make sure you can nurture those leads and live up to the expectations you promise these prospective clients. Make sure your service or product as well as the whole customer experience is of high quality. Your systems and processes need to be automated, your supply chains need to be in-line, and customer onboarding needs to be a smooth experience.
2. Look after your current customers
Referral programmes are an excellent marketing and lead generation tool, but keeping a current customer is a lot easier and cheaper than finding and onboarding new ones. By ensuring your current customers are happy you will not only continue to bring in more business as you bring in more customers; but your current customers will be more likely and more willing to take up referral programme offers that bring you more business.
3. Train partners in how you stand out from your competition
How is your product or service, and even your referral programme standing out from the competition?
Even though your customers might have done some research before coming to you, it’s important to make this differentiation crystal clear. Provide simple and to-the-pont resources that explain how you stand out from the crowd.
4. Give multiple options for easy referral sharing
The more ways your customers have to refer someone to you, the more likely they are to do so. You can utilise social media, email marketing, webinars as well as links, codes and paid ads.
Make sure your partners have multiple options to refer others to you, especially on platforms that they are most likely to use. This will depend on what type of business you are and what you do. All sharing methods need to have a link or code that people can use to be referred.
5. Offer a decent incentive
You can either offer a free product or item, cash incentive or commission as an incentive in your referral programme. Every business is different and it’s up to you to decide which method works best. It’s important to do your research and look at the overall picture for how the programme will work with the rest of your business.
You need to offer an incentive that will interest people to take part in your programme but still allows you to make a profit in the long run.
6. Provide partners with support
Some partners may need more support than others with referrals. Maybe they need more coaching around sales, how to pitch or how to organically reach people. It’s in your best interest to support your partners as best as possible so they can bring in high-quality leads that are interested in what you do and are likely to become long-term customers.
7. Recognise partners and offer praise
Through this programme, your partners are playing a key part in your overall business operations. It’s important to offer praise and make them feel important, and that they are part of something big. Maybe cast a monthly spotlight on social media or in your email newsletters on a particular aspect of your programme or specific partner who has done something worth mentioning.
8. Referral programme agreement
It’s important you have in place a referral partner agreement, like a contract. This ensures you and your partners both understand the in’s and out’s of the relationship and what is expected of you both. A referral partner agreement should include what each party is responsible for, commission terms and conditions, expectations for how partners can and can’t promote your products or services and information around the ideal target audience.
Before beginning your referral programme, it might be a good idea to have a lawyer look over it to ensure everything is in order.
