Top referral programs require several critical ingredients. In addition, the old adage, ‘it takes a village’ applies here as well. It will take a business’s entire team to carry out a top-notch and highly functional referral program.
Staff Referral Promotion
If your staff can’t participate in your referral programs and receive rewards that are promotional for their continued employment, they may feel left out and be less likely to show enthusiasm when promoting it to the consumer. Let the benefits your employees receive from participating in your referral programs speak for itself in their excitement as they share your top referral programs rules with others.
Official Top Referral Programs
Make them official. By official, this means professional, easy to understand, easy to participate in, easy to remember. Complicated or referral programs that require in-depth explanations to gain simple understanding are highly likely to lack participants. Be sure to also make it professional by placing great advertising displays in the most prominent and relevant locations available. Make sure you include the two most vital elements of top referral programs, an introductory offer, and then the traditional thank you reward.
Unique and Innovative Products or Services
It goes without saying that in just about any industry or niche, there is going to be some type of competition. In order to stay a step ahead from your closest competitors keep an innovative and creative edge in your advertising and marketing efforts that will keep your brand on the tips of the tongues that it’s important to. Have fun and memorable contests, rewards and other methods of interactivity and your business is sure to flourish in new referrals.
Unforgettable Customer Service
It is what it sounds like. One of your main focuses when it comes to creating top referral programs for your business is to provide the most elite options in customer service, even if you are selling what you consider small fry stuff. Providing real-time, top-notch customer service is supplying a boutique service at wholesale pricing. Be there for your customers; send extras, samples and recognition at every opportunity.
Get Social
As technology continues to change one thing about it certainly doesn’t. Social sharing. Since inception the internet has always had places where folks could gather and discuss or debate those things most meaningful to them. Chat rooms where relatives living at long distances from one another could get together for a catch up session, video meetings so a dozen people can participate in a closer personal business meeting, thousands of miles away from one another. Regardless of the format it takes, social is not going to go away on the web. Be sure your business is participating in the most popular and traveled social networks. Nothing says we are here more than a real-time message scrolling down a possible consumer feed saying hey, here is a discount for you to try our new products!
The key focus in any of the top referral programs is always the consumer. Make sure your consumers are receiving the most elite treatment from you and your business and you will have an endless source of word-of-mouth referrals that are not even on your payroll.
Christian Fea is CEO of Synertegic, Inc. A Joint Venture and Referral Marketing firm. He exemplifies how to profit from Joint Venture and Referral relationships by creating profit centers with minimal risk and maximum profitability.
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