Selling Referral Process: Part of Referral Marketing

It’s not simply good enough to give a third party the name and contact information of a person and call it a referral.  Doing so, this activity is more like information brokerage or database selling than referral marketing.  What’s the difference?  There’s a “sales pitch” that’s part of making a true referral work.  Furthermore, it’s backed up by a relationship connection and rapport.

Selling Referral: Stats on Referring the Referral

This is a very interesting article, “17 Surprising Referral Marketing Statistics” by Saasquatch.com:

1. People are 4 times more likely to buy when referred by a friend.

2. The Lifetime Value for new referral customers is 16% higher than for non-referrals.

3. 92% of respondents trusted referrals from people they knew.

4. Social media drove 31% of overall traffic to sites.

5. 83% of consumers are willing to refer after a positive experience—yet only 29% do.

6. When marketing manages the referral marketing program, companies were 3x more likely to achieve revenue goals.

8. Offering a reward increases referral likelihood, but the size of the reward does not matter.

9. Non-cash incentives are 24% more effective at boosting performance than cash incentives.

10. 84% of B2B decision makers start the buying process with a referral.

11. 87% of frontlines sales reps, 82% of sales leaders, and 78% of marketers surveyed agree that the best leads come from their referral marketing program.

12. Companies with formalized referral marketing programs experience 86% more revenue growth over the past two years when compared to the rest.

13. Only 30% of companies surveyed have a formalized referral program.

14. When referral marketing tools are used, companies are 3x more likely to accelerate referral generation and conversion.

15. Yet only 22% have a tool in place to effectively scale their programs.

16. Every referring customer makes an average of 2.68 invites.

17. 14% of customers who visit a referral page take action.

Selling Referral Elements: Trust, Relationship & Rapport

Referrals always need the goods or services of someone else.  And, when it’s a good experience, people always talk about the WHY of making a referral.  Indeed, you might hear a customer tell a friend, “This auto mechanic does good work and is reasonably priced.  You should go  there.”  Referrals act on the advice of others based on some sort of strong endorsement.

No doubt, the “WHY” in sending a referral to a third party is the “EVERYTHING” about the reason a referral is made in the first place.  Referrals are based on relationships and TRUST.  Also, it’s important to say WHY you are endorsing another business or person in the first place.  Certainly, referrals don’t make sense without this very important information.

Selling Referral Motivation

Again, it’s all about the WHY.  No doubt, referrals involve the idea of calling or going to a place of business.  Occasionally, the person making the endorsement tells the referral what they need to know and what to do to take immediate action.  The better the referral system, the more likely the referral will take action.

Likewise, Home Sweet Home has a complete referral system on the following document:

“How to Send Referrals so Home Sweet Home to Increase Your Closing Rate”

This system includes a phone script, text message template, as well as a “copy-and-paste” email system a referring party can send to their target referral person.  Using ALL three methods of communication is the best way to get a referral to respond and act.  In other words, the referral is more likely to Sign-Up for the Home Ownership Program when WELL-INFORMED.

To send a referral to Home Sweet Home, just visit the Send Client Referrals page of our website.