Often the most productive and beneficial marketing techniques are the ones that are obvious, yet easily overlooked and therefore never practiced. Asking your current customers for referrals may just top the list of overlooked and under-practiced great marketing tricks. Many sales professionals have built their entire sales careers strictly on referral business, but the vast majority of retailers never ask their customers for referrals. It’s true. As an Idaho retailer, when was the last time you asked a customer for a referral? Or, as a consumer, when was the last time a retailer asked you for a referral? My guess is the answer in both cases is likely never, simply because the majority of retailers focus on advertising or special promotions to prospect for new Idaho business instead of mining their existing customer base for referrals as a method of gaining new customers and sales as a result. Asking customers for referrals will work for every retailer, regardless of the types of products that are being sold, and best for a fraction of the cost associated with attracting new customers using traditional advertising or special promotional methods.
Incentivize
If you really want to maximize your CDA Business financial results, be sure to offer incentives to customers who refer new Idaho business to you. These incentives can be in the form of product discounts, free product upgrades, gift certificates, or even a nice dinner out at a local restaurant. You decide, but nothing says “thank you” better than a handwritten note with a special gift as a token of appreciation. Here are a few ways to ask your existing customers to refer their friends, family members, and co-workers to your store.
- Get in the habit of telling all customers at the till and before they leave, “Thank you for shopping and please tell your friends about our store and products. We appreciate all new business.”
- Design and print a basic coupon that entitles the holder to a 10 percent discount on in-stock items. Give all your customers a few at the time of purchase and kindly ask that they share the coupons with friends.
- Hold an “out-to-win-your-business sale” and tell all your customers that if they bring a new customer into the store for the event both of them will get a special discount or gift.
- Register and give them a special gift for doing so. Contact
Sample Referral Form your new Idaho business prospects by way of telephone or a din mail campaign and let them know that there is a special gift or discount waiting from them when theft shop at your store.