Easy Money: Turn Every Paycheck Into a Referral

Posted on February 20, 2008
Filed Under Water |

Referrals can be some of the best business you will ever get, because there is a built in trust factor. If you get a client that you have actively pursued, they might have chosen you because they like the work in your portfolio, because you were able to convince them in person or over the phone—or heck, you might just have been there when the need arose. If they come to you after finding you online or in a directory somewhere, the same could be true. Either way, even though they like you, the have no reason to trust you until they actually work with you.

A referral, however, is different. They got your name from someone they trust. And you benefit by association, getting a little bit of that trust by default. They are coming in already expecting that this will be a good partnership. Which means they will likely be forthcoming, responsive and perhaps even a litter deferential to you as the expert as far as the direction of the piece is concerned.

A simple way to get referrals from your existing clients is to include a survey with your invoice asking the client to help you improve your services even more by rating you in a few categories…whatever those areas may be: responsiveness, professionalism, meets deadlines, etc. Five to ten should be plenty.

Then, after they’ve been thinking about how easy it is to work with you, thank them for their time and mention you hope to work with them again soon. Then simply add that if they know of any colleagues who could use your services, you’d appreciate their passing your name along and enclose two or three business cards.

You’ll be surprised how many referrals the simple act of asking will end up providing.

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