This is the last in the four part series on making sure that you are generating endless rush of quality referrals for your business.
Over the past three weeks we have looked at:
Trust: developing trust with your referral partners
Education: providing education tools that make it easy for them to refer potential clients to you.
Support: making sure that you have systems in place that make it EASY for your referral partners to refer business to you.
The last but certainly not the least important aspect of maintaining strong referral partnerships is recognising, acknowledging and thanking your referral partners for what they do for you.
It is important to recognise that not all referral partners are the same and they each of them may be driven by different values and motives.
It is important that you have a flexible strategy in place to recognise, reward and thank your referral partners for referring business to you, whether or not the lead converts to a sale.
Remember too that, while in an ideal world you may want to refer business back to your referral partners this is not always possible. Referral Partner relationships don’t have to work both ways, in those cases where you cannot refer business back for some reason, look for other ways to thank and recognise your referral partners.
Set aside money in your marketing budget to thank and recognise your referral partners (and the clients who refer business to you). After all they are saving you money on advertising!
What strategies do I have, or can I put in place to recognise, reward and thank my referral partners (and my clients) who refer business to me? Here are some ideas to help you get started:
• Thank you cards or gifts
• Referral payments
• Charity donations on behalf of your referral partners
• Take them out to lunch or dinner
• Recognition in your newsletter, in your place of business, on your website
• Why not have a Referrer of the Month Award?
• Or even nominate them for an external award?
• Throw a special “Referral Partner Recognition” party or other event.
• Bonuses or special complimentary services either that your referral partner can use personally or give to someone that they want to thank specially.
Networking is one of the best ways to find and connect with potential referral partners. To learn more about networking for referral partners and other was to maximize the ROI on your networking go to http://www.smartbusinessnetworking.com.au/ and subscribe to the free e-course “Ten Common Networking Mistakes and how to Avoid Them” While you’re there check out the referral systems we have in place and see how you could apply them in YOUR Business.
