A Well Planned Referral Program Can Speed New Business Growth

I often wonder why office coffee service and vending operators, many of whom I have encountered through my training programs, so often fail to tap into one of the best forms of account growth and least costly methods of new customer acquisitions. What sales technique am I referring to? It's simply a referral program.

Let's take a look at a few ways to tap into your current customer base and see how to approach them in order to get qualified referrals for you or your sales team.

While looking at the promotional programs that I will be discussing, keep in mind that you will have to make a small investment in gifts and prizes that will be presented to both your customers and your salespeople.

What does this kind of program look like? Imagine you've just installed a new client, called ABC Law Offices. Your salesperson is present as your serviceperson connects the new coffee brewer to the water system in your account's breakroom. It is now time for your salesperson to demonstrate the features and benefits of the brewing system to all staff members and management.

Jumping ahead: you see that all of the employees are enjoying the hot beverages they are consuming. You hear comments such as, "great coffee, really hot tea, has a nice aroma, love the choices, flavors without making a whole pot, easy to make, no cleanup mess, no pots to clean and no more burnt coffee." Now you strike while the iron is hot.

You tell your happy new customers, orally and in writing, that you would like to offer them one of a selection of gifts: dinner for two at a popular restaurant, a home-style coffee brewer and a starter selection of hot beverages, a Bloomingdale's gift certificate, or an 8-ft. hero sandwich delivered to their office for lunch the following week. All they have to do is recommend someone who you can contact in another office they personally know, to see whether they would like to enjoy the same kind of coffee program that your new patrons are loving. If you land the customer, they will receive the premium of their choice.

As you can see, you are offering both a verbal and written promotional offer for referrals. The promotion is presented in writing so every employee will have a small promotion piece, with a form, to take back to their desks. It is a reminder that they can benefit personally with several gifts, or share the free lunch with their coworkers.

When you create the form, list the gift selections with boxes to check off the one they would like. Also list the information you want, including the name of person referring and the name, title, phone number and company of the person to whom they're referring you. Make sure you have a second referral area, in case your referring person has more than one person to refer.

The More, The Merrier

A few other opportunities to make your client base aware of your referral program occur when your salesperson makes a followup visit, your service department personnel make a service call and your route delivery salespeople make their deliveries. All of them can hand out the referral forms to those with whom they deal. And all they have to do is put their initials on the form as they offer it, so that if a referral is made and sold, they will get the credit for their efforts. Make sure all your employees who deal with your customers are aware of your referral program.

If you have a salesforce, you can institute a contest for your salespeople to see who gets the most referrals that close. You can have a contest for your delivery people, too; they come into contact with office personnel on location at least once a month and have great rapport with them.

Lastly, one of the most powerful parts of a sales presentation to prospective new accounts is showing several letters of recommendation from satisfied customers. Offer an incentive to your accounts for sending you a brief letter telling you what they like about your company. These letters are "gold" during a sales meeting. Keep in mind that the decision-maker's biggest dilemma in looking into anything new is the fear of change: "What if I make a wrong decision and my boss or employees are unhappy?" Recommendations from happy customers help relieve this fear and make change less challenging.

Now, take all of the letters that you receive and copy them, so each salesperson has a portfolio of letters of recommendations to show buyers when presenting. Sort the letters into categories by type of business. (You do this all digitally.) If you are attempting to sell a law office, go to the "Law Offices" folder and show a few of the letters from clients like it who presently do business with you.

A referral program is not difficult to set up, but it takes time to build up momentum and get everyone involved. Once it's instituted, though, you will see many new customers come join your OCS family.

Please let me know if you have any questions about referral programs. You can call me at (516) 241-4883, or send an email to OCSconsultant@aol.com.