Increase New Customer Traffic to Your Business

One person tells another, who tells another, who tells another and so on. You get the idea. Let's see how to make that an actuality.

You have a great company and you provide the highest level of customer service. But as the old cliché says: "A happy customer tells a friend, an unhappy customer tells 10 friends." You don't have to worry about the unhappy customer telling 10 friends because you always do a great job and keep your customers happy. But how do you increase the number of friends that your happy customers are sending your way?

Plain and simple: You are going to have to reward them.

The reason that happy customers don't tell many other people about your service is because most customers EXPECT good customer service so the companies that provide it aren't at the front of their mind. They have too many other things to worry about on a daily basis.

By starting a Customer Referral Program you will give your best customers a reason to want to tell other people about you. Offering discounts or special incentives to customers who refer another person or company to your business is a win-win situation.

You may have medical licensing boards or other ethics committees for your profession that restrict you from certain types of rewards and rightly so due to conflicts of interest that may arise. But you can always find something that you can do to reward your customers when they refer someone to you.

Here is an example of a Customer Referral Program for a Direct Mail Company and how it works:

"When you refer someone, and that person places an order, you will receive a $25 credit that can be used toward any of said company's services.

Each time this happens you will receive the $25 credit and there is no limit, so feel free to go crazy referring your friends to us. If you refer enough people who become customers you could end up getting your next order FREE."

When you set up your own referral program you will want to do two things:

First, make sure that the incentive you offer to your customers is in proportion to the price of what you are selling. If your least expensive service is $5000, then a $25 discount is probably not going to be enough to get them interested in spreading the word.

And secondly, you need to promote it. Make sure that your customers know about the new reward program by:

1) Having your sales associates mention it whenever someone places an order.

2) Posting notices in your business if you have customer foot traffic.

and

3) Sending out announcements to your customer address list on a regular basis.

All of these things will help you to increase the number of customers that you receive through word of mouth, and at the same time help keep down your marketing costs. Is this a great idea or what?

Offering discounts or special incentives to customers who refer another person or company to your business is a win-win situation.

Reward the customers that reward you. One of the greatest compliments is when someone refers another or others to your business.

Joy Gendusa founded PostcardMania in 1998; her only assets a computer and a phone. In 2004 the company did close to $9 million in sales and employs over 60 persons. She attributes her explosive growth to her ability to choose incredible staff and her innate marketing savvy. Now she's sharing her marketing secrets with others. For more free marketing advice, visit her website at http://www.postcardmania.com

---

Ten Deadly Proposal Preparation Pitfalls

Let's face it, the name "proposal" is a great misnomer,... Read More

8 BIG Benefits To Selling Big Ticket Items

Ok, before we get down to the benefits of... Read More

Measuring the Return on Your Direct Mail Investment

In direct mail lore, there's a rule stating that you... Read More

Why Your Business Need a Website

Web Presence gives your business a distince edge over your... Read More

Flesh Eating Spiders And Other Marketing Horrors

After a friend was bitten by a spider, I decided... Read More

5 Ways To Entice Your Parallel Market to Trade Links

Lots of people get confounded when attempting to exchange links,... Read More

Differentiate or Die

Sounds pretty harsh, doesn't it? Well, I can tell you... Read More

Developing a Contact List- Part One

One of the most essential things to successful networking is... Read More

11 Ways to Turnaround a Cash-Strapped Business or Practice

This past weekend I received a disturbing message from a... Read More

Website Promotion Strategies For Targeted Web Site Traffic

If you're looking to drive more targeted traffic to your... Read More

Color Part 2: Formats and Systems

There are several color formats and systems available for mixing... Read More

Work Backward And Make More Sales!

It goes against the grain, especially for those of us... Read More

Business Postcard Marketing: 35 Ways to Use It

Postcards are an effective way for many business owners and... Read More

Build Relationships

Personal marketing makes it easier to sell, by building relationships... Read More

The Value of a Customer

The Driver of All Marketing EffortsYou need to determine what... Read More

Shine a Spotlight on Your Professional Service Firm

As a life-long dancer, I know a bit about the... Read More

Let Your Survey Write Your Business Plan

Most entrepreneurs first write their business plan and then develop... Read More

Winning At Business With Your Marketing Game Plan

Stuart from Colorado had talked to a number of marketing... Read More

Keeping your Business Card visible

Famous quotes that keep you thinking.Have you ever listened to... Read More

Attracting Clients With Ease

Whether you are already running your own business, or still... Read More

The YOU Factor

I don't mean you, I mean the YOU that is... Read More

What IS the Difference Between Marketing and Sales?

There seems to be a never ending argument among marketing... Read More

First Steps to Developing a Marketing Plan

Direct Mail . . . Newspaper . . . Radio... Read More

A Look at Color Brochure Printing

Brochures have become vital in today's workplace, serving a wide... Read More

5 Steps to Success: A Surefire Way to Achieve Your Goals

No doubt you started this year with some big ideas... Read More

Top 5 Kick Butt Marketing Requirements

Cinch your success with 8-second leaders! Step into the saddle... Read More

Take a Leap! How To Take Your Business To New Heights

Take a moment to reflect on the current reality of... Read More

Top 9 Strategies To Attract More Clients Now

1. Advertise in trade journals, ezines, and web sites that... Read More

Marketing is More Than a Token Process

"Necessity is the mother of invention!" The first time I... Read More

Writing Business Newsletters: Avoid the ?Me, Me, Me? Mistake

Effective customer newsletters find the right mix of promotional and... Read More

The Five Most Common Joint Venture Marketing Mistakes To Avoid

Joint Venture marketing has become a highly popular way for... Read More

The Secret to 100% Success With Your Marketing

There's a secret to marketing, which is so simple, yet... Read More

Future of Marketing Part 2

In Part 1, I discussed how traditional marketing is no... Read More