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I had the opportunity to speak with Heather Gallegos today about referrals…expect to hear more of her ideas in the coming weeks.

Heather writes…

“I haven’t met a business owner who doesn’t want more client referrals. Some businesses have such high referral rates and return clients that they don’t need to advertise or do virtually any marketing. What is their secret? Often it is the act of being in business in the same location for years or inheriting clients from a co-worker who retired or moved. [Did you know that everytime you switch locations you delay the building of your clientele by 1 year?] So while time and luck play a role, I’d rather focus on what you can do right now speed up the buzz about you and your business with the clients you have today.”

To get the rest, visit Heather’s blog at http://blog.spaclientele.com/2007/03/no_cost_ways_to.html

Another great comment just found my email box…here it is…

As a career financial planner, many of my new clients come by referral from existing clients as well as through my referral network with BNI.

One of the mistakes I made early in the piece was that I didn’t work hard enough to develop the relationship with the new client - because they were referred, it seemed it would be easier to start the client / adviser rapour. Now, we give every referral extra T.L.C. - because their warm introduction still needs to be “hotted up” to win the business.

We also reward the referring client with a dinner voucher, flowers, wine, etc - so that they know how much we appreciate the introduction. Usually, we send the client and the friends they have referred a reward they can share - dinner voucher; movie tickets; etc so that the reward is enjoyed by all. This works very well.

To track our business and advertising results, we keep a record of the source of every client - how we got them; who do we know that they know and link them together in our data base so that we are always aware of the relationships between our clients. Helps you keep your mouth shut, too, when someone has annoyed you - because you don’t want to upset any other clients with whom they are good friends or colleagues.

Some very smart people have responded. As the answers roll in, we’ll post the best answers with links back your websites here:

“Referrals are everything. If you are a sales person, always ask for referrals, whether you get that one particular sale or not. In my opinion, the value of referrals in a sales process goes up in direct proportion to the risk/cost/complexity of the product or service being sold. The riskier/costlier/more complex the product or service, the more a buyer will rely upon referrals to help them make decisions… and therefore the more you as a sales professional must focus on generating - AND EARNING - these referrals.” - Mark Seghers, CEO, ASK Insurance Consulting, LLC (http://www.askinsuranceconsulting.com)

“Your referrals are the show of your quality. They are the ones that really build your business.”

“I think referrals do work but they work better as part of an official referral program. I like to create a program that is mutually beneficial so it gives more incentive for people to give the referrals. They are much more willing to help you out if they get something in return. It also makes the process a lot smoother. Let’s say, for example, you’re selling technical services and you feel a little awkard asking for a referral from a particular client because things didn’t go 100% according to plan,(as things often do in any industry) - a few glitches in installation or whatever…..even if everything else went well this customer may or may not be willing to give you a referral. BUT if you have a program in place that can he / she can benefit from then that’s a different story. (This is a customer referral program I’m speaking of). There are also agent referral programs, which can REALLY be beneficial, if established and run properly. And depending on how the company wants to set it up, a customer can also be an agent.”

Inexpensive online rewards programs help agents improve CLV

ReferNow.com, the leading web-based customer and referral rewards program, announced a new program that helps insurance agents increase Customer Lifetime Value (CLV).

Customer Lifetime Value (CLV) projects the value of a customer over the entire history of that customer’s relationship with a company. Agents that measure CLV generally place emphasis on long-term customer satisfaction, rather than on maximizing short-term sales.

ReferNow.com helps health, auto and life insurance agents leverage their relationships with existing customers and increase CLV by offering rewards for new customer referrals.

Referrals are my bread and butter, said Bill Levin, co-founder and president of www.HealthInsurancePricing.com an online portal that allows consumers to price various health plans. “I see so many agents spending thousands of dollars on new customer acquisition this approach is becoming less and less effective. The best way to grow your business in the long-term is by mining your existing customer base for referrals.

The cost of acquiring one new customer is staggering, said Nicole Wicks, president of ReferNow.com. “Asking for referrals from your existing customers is one of the easiest things you can do to rapidly increase the value of every customer you worked so hard to acquire.

Wicks says, agents who use ReferNow.com and actively conduct a referral marketing campaign will inprove CLV, lower advertising costs and increase the number of referrals they receive.

“Whether you are an independent agent or a marketing coordinator for a larger agency, asking for referrals from your existing customers can quickly build your business, said Wicks. It is the best way to increase the CLV of every customer. Plus, at $49.95/month, ReferNow.com quickly pays for itself.

About ReferNow.com

ReferNow offers an online referral rewards and marketing tool that motivates your customers to talk about and recommend your business from day one! ReferNow.com has helped business owners and sales people increase their referral business by as much as 500 percent. ReferNow.com is available for a no-risk 30 day trial from the company’s website at http://www.refernow.com.