Every business owner knows the value of a business referral, but maybe not how valuable.
For starters, consumers are four times more likely to buy from your business when referred to by a friend. 92 percent of consumers trusted referrals from people they knew. Businesses with a formal program experience 86 percent more revenue growth than businesses that lack one.
It’s obvious that referrals are the key to driving valuable business to your company. But how you respond to a business referral can be just as important. Read on to learn more.
How To Respond To A Business Referral
The first thing to do with a referral is to track it back to its source.
Ask your customers how they heard about your business. If it was from another of your clients, make sure you go out of your way to thank them for the referral.
This can be done with a simple thank you next time they come in. Or if you want to really make an impact, you can give them a reward like a gift card or coupon to your business.
An easy way to accomplish this is to set up a formal referral process. If you tell clients up front that they will receive a discount on their next purchase, they will be incentivized from the get-go to give your referrals.
Social media is also a vital aspect of referrals these days. Social media drove 31 percent of traffic to websites three years ago, and that number has only grown since.
Many referrals are now made through a simple tweet or Facebook post.
Make sure to track these posts and thank the user who suggested your business. A good way to encourage these kinds of referrals is to set up a method for customers to automatically share their good experience with your business on social media.
The Hidden Benefits of Referrals
Aside from helping to expand your customer base organically through word of mouth, referrals can help improve your business website’s SEO as well.
Garnering good Google reviews is one of the easiest ways to shoot up in the search engine rankings. These kinds of online referrals not only make your business more appealing to interested customers, they help your business’ online visibility as well.
The fastest way to get your business reviewed is to register with Google My Business and provide a link to where a user can rate and review their experience.
Make sure to monitor these reviews. Respond not just to rectify poor reviews but thank users for leaving kind ones as well.
Reviews aren’t the only form of business referral that will help your SEO. Backlinks, which are links found on other websites that link back to your own, give you a boost as well.
The easiest way to gain backlinks is to create and publish compelling content worth linking to on your site.
Business referrals remain one of the best methods for your business to get found, either online or through word of mouth. Make sure you stay on top of your referrals so they continue to come in!
