One of the biggest challenges you may be facing in running a small or medium business is getting new clients.
For the ones who get it right, business is like a pleasurable stroll through a park on a sunny Sunday afternoon. For the ones who get it wrong, business is like an uphill marathon in torrential rain.
Are there ways to increase the number of new clients you get? Yes, let’s take a look at what you can do.
Multiply Your Happy Clients Into Even More Happy Clients
As Richard Branson says it “word of mouth is probably the best and cheapest form of advertising.” If you can leverage that fact, you can enjoy howling success in business.
The first thing to know is how to really WOW your clients. Which in short, consists of simply exceeding the expectations of your customers.
For example: You walk into a restaurant for some food. Not only do you get your food, but you also get exceptionally fast service, real and personal recommendations from your waiter and to top it off – some complimentary freshly sliced fruit just before you leave… Oh and no 10 minute wait for a card machine after you get your bill (that kills me).
Once you’ve exceeded the expectations of your clients, your clients then have the potential to be powerful marketers of your business.
Then the question is “how do you get customers to refer their friends?”. Some will do it naturally, but the other 8/10 need some gentle guidance.
3 Effective Ways to Get Your Clients to Refer Their Friends to You
1. Create a referral program and ask your clients to refer their friends!
The ones who are brave enough to do this, get loads of friends referred to them. Have a look at what Deliveroo do.
Deliveroo’s Referral Program
“Give a friend £2.50 to try Deliveroo and get £2.50 when they order”.
American Express’s Referral Program
“Earn up to 90,000 Membership Rewards points by referring your friends”. At the time of writing this blog, you can buy an Apple iPhone with less than 90,000 Membership Rewards Points!
But you don’t have to run an online business to do this. You can get little cards made which promote a referral program, you can email your clients to let them know about it, or you can ask them face to face. The possibilities are endless.
The best referral programs tend to give something to the client who refers their friend, and something extra to the new client. Bear that in mind when creating your referral scheme.
2. Use automated emails to get more good Google reviews (while minimising bad ones)
Businesses that show up high on the list AND have great reviews on Google searches CRUSH any competition. They get way more business and can charge much higher prices.
Take a look at the screenshot below. I was with a potential new client who owns a beauty salon in Shepherds Bush today. To his disappointment, he doesn’t show up in Googles top three options.
I demonstrated to him that when someone searches for “Beauty in Shepherds Bush” they see the three options listed below.
Which one do you think gets most of the business? It’s clear. The #1 spot (the one that stands out). And it stands out in two ways; Firstly, they have nearly 5 times more reviews than their competition. Plus their rating is great! 4.7 Stars, as opposed to 3.7 and 3.6.
This puts them in a very powerful position to get loads of new clients and they are now seen to be higher value than others – meaning they can charge higher prices and earn better profits than their competition.
But you ask your clients to fill out a google review, and they all tell you they’re more than happy to do it when they get home. But the review never comes… Either your client got lost and never arrived at home (I hope not), or they simply forgot.
What if there was an automated tool that actually got you loads of 5-Star Google reviews, and kept any bad feedback coming directly to you (in a private email)?
If that’s what you’ve been looking for, watch this short video below. It’ll change your business. Forever.
3. Get your clients talking about your business positively on social media
People these days are glued to their social medias and they love showing off. For example; nice places they’ve eaten at, great hotels they’ve stayed at, their new haircut… the list goes on.
When they do that they influence all of their friends. Some of their friends will copy and go and eat at that restaurant, stay at that hotel and even get their haircut at the same hairdresser.
The best advice I can give on the subject is make your products and services so good that your clients can’t resist but tell their friends.
Interact with your customers when they write to or about you on social media. It will make them feel recognized, acknowledged and cherished. Plus it will encourage them to write about you again in the future!
The Summary: Get Clients to Refer Their Friends
So there you have it. Three powerful ways to leverage your happy clients to increase the success of your business.
If you’ve enjoyed this article, you’ll love my book – Simple Changes That Guarantee Success In Business.
Call us on 02382 146115 and we’ll send you a copy of it for free.
