Technical marketing referrals are essential to growth
Generally, the classic sales funnel stops with the sale. However, this ending ignores a vital area of sales growth, technical marketing referrals. Remember it’s not a safe bet that you will always get referrals from satisfied clients. It takes effort to develop an active referral network.
The referral network program
If you think of your referral network as an extension of the sales funnel, you’ll see why you need to add it to your sales program. In a perfect world, happy clients would always refer your services. Unfortunately, not even a satisfied client might not make a good referral source because they don’t think about it. Keep in mind, referring you isn’t at the top of their mind. Your clients need to know you want referrals. That’s where the program comes in.
If you feel you aren’t getting the number of referrals you’d like from clients, begin by training employees to ask for referrals. When starting a proactive technical marketing referrals program, begin by determining which channels you’ll use to reach out to clients. I would begin with a quarterly campaign that could include digital, mail, or in-person contacts. Then, you need to decide if you will offer a benefit to clients for a referral. If the majority are happy clients, a reward might not be necessary. If you feel a reward is needed, it could be any incentive from a gift card to a discount on services. Another essential part of receiving referrals in technical marketing is asking clients to be part of a referral list. Also, it’s a good idea to ask for a testimonial from these clients to use in your sales and marketing efforts. When you receive a referral, contact the client to thank them and gather some information on the prospect. Finally, be patient if the referral isn’t ready to move forward immediately. After all, you could lose the sale while alienating a current client.
Technical marketing referrals are worth the effort
While receiving regular referrals requires work, don’t forget a referral is easier to close because of the preliminary trust established by the referring client. But creating a referral program won’t work if you don’t have happy clients. Delivering your services as promised is just the beginning of true customer satisfaction. The client relationship needs to be maintained after the service is complete. Part of the technical marketing referrals program should include regular contact with current clients beyond asking for referrals. After all, an unhappy customer or one that doesn’t hear from you, isn’t likely to refer you.
About the Author
Paul Kowalski (or Pappy as he is called around the office) spent over two decades working at other agencies before opening Conach Marketing Group in 2008. The early part of his career was working with Fortune 500 clients at different agencies. However, working with smaller clients was his preference. This choice was because of the impact on a client’s business growth and the forming closer, personal relationships.
About the Conach
When he was creating Conach, his goal was to bring those Fortune 500 strategies along with years of B2B marketing experience to small business marketing clients. As a result of focusing on business to business marketing, Conach specializes in construction marketing, financial marketing, and industrial marketing. Even though we are in Mid-Michigan, Conach provides marketing services to clients across the country.
For more information visit conachmarketing.com or contact us or call 989.401.3202.