Duct Tape Marketing - Latest Comments in The Highly Engaged Referral

Re: The Highly Engaged Referral

Sweaty palms — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 13:30:12 -0000

Another great post.

The effective referal process usually comes down to a simple catalyst. Value.

If your business really brings value to the table you'll have it spread like wild fire. People want to share good products/services they used.

Andy

Re: The Highly Engaged Referral

Business Protection — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 17:56:15 -0000

I have one referrer who not only does such a great job but he will actually bring the new customer/friend of his to my offices and introduce us.

Re: The Highly Engaged Referral

Classifieds — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 20:58:41 -0000

Referrals are very important for any business and if they think you are good you will get referrals

Re: The Highly Engaged Referral

Kate — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 14:24:37 -0000

They are an under used tool, but you really need to keep them engaged for the long term. Brands like Apple are really good at this. I personally have converted 3 people to Mac, but they do a good job of keeping your engaged. I get well written and relevant communications every month. For those of us without large PR budgets there are other options. I use IM's to contact some of the people who tend to spread the word and give them real time updates. Its a great way to get feedback as well.

Re: The Highly Engaged Referral

web content — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 03:01:43 -0000

Trusted referrals are always going to be the best.. but it's not always that easy to earn such referrals other than through providing a great business..

Re: The Highly Engaged Referral

Serviced Offices — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 14:50:08 -0000

We rely heavily on referrals, they are our lifeblood!

Re: The Highly Engaged Referral

Serviced Offices — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 14:48:07 -0000

Our business relies heavily on referrals - they are our lifeblood!

Re: The Highly Engaged Referral

businessesforsale — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 09:29:30 -0000

Good post. An illustration of how important it is to engage your partners, is by looking at the 'cheap' end of the referral scale - affiliates. On the whole, affiliates cannot be bothered to get to know your business and its associated services and products. The number of converted affiliate sales compared to conversions from true referrals bears this out.

Re: The Highly Engaged Referral

SEO Tips South Africa — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 08:45:44 -0000

We had a successful car audio and security installation centre in the mid 1990's, and loads of our business came from referrals. The youngsters were getting commission on bringing their friends in to have sound systems fitted, so that truly motivated them to drag their friends into the shop, which wasn't a difficult task as they already had really nice goods to show off and impress their friends with.

Re: The Highly Engaged Referral

JoyfulC — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 20:08:37 -0000

You might rethink one of your questions, how much business comes from referrals. That should be how much NEW business comes from referrals. Repeat business is another very valuable vector to cultivate.

Re: The Highly Engaged Referral

SEO Software — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 16:21:21 -0000

Great points John. I have definitely seen the difference in conversion across the spectrum of referrals. I still need to do a better job of "build[ing] engagement into [my] referral process".

Re: The Highly Engaged Referral

zoyd — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 15:58:29 -0000

Referrals may be the most underused of all marketing tactics...although they aren't new and shiny, they have a proven track record....and can be easily applied to the Web 2.0 world.

Re: The Highly Engaged Referral

Click and Inc — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 15:42:51 -0000

Nice post. Referrals are important and hopefully the company leader is willing to distribute good ones. I also agree that it reflects a lot on a company leader. Thanks.

Re: The Highly Engaged Referral

Jack Zufelt — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 11:57:53 -0000

You make good points on the importance of referrals, especially, when you point about truly believing in your business, product/service and that you are doing a favor to potential clients. This mind set is the key to developing strong referrals. Demonstrated strong belief and support generates the same in others who will feel confident to buy from you.

Re: The Highly Engaged Referral

Janice Cartier — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 10:39:38 -0000

"you’ve got to believe in you heart that you are actually doing them a favor by allowing them to introduce your valuable products and services to others who will benefit."

That's a very interesting shift. Going to have to spend some time with it because it has the feel of an important piece of the puzzle.

Re: The Highly Engaged Referral

Donny Gamble — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 10:26:59 -0000

I feel that I good referral depends on whether or not the leader is a great leader or not. If you are a good leader, than you will create many more good referrals.

Re: The Highly Engaged Referral

Paul Simister — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 09:14:10 -0000

I agree with you.

Wherever possible I like the person who is referring me to contact the person and at least explain why they have passed their name on. Even better if they can convince the person to call me.

I have just blogged and Twittered about your referral survey John as I am also very interested in referral techniques.

It was possibly my favourite chapter of your book.