When it comes to picking the right referral system, it can be a bit difficult because you don’t know what features you’re looking for in the beginning. However, there are a lot of great services out there that can help you achieve your main objectives. Here are some key tips that will help you in your journey to picking the right referral system for your needs.
Is the Integration with the Software Seamless?
One of the key issues of using a referral program is how it integrates with your website or business. You need to make sure that integrating a referral system with your website is easy. Additionally, the referral system you select should be able to do the following:
- Make it easy for customers to sign up
- Make it easy to track referrals
- Make it easy to promote your business in all the major social platforms
Easy Referral Signup
Getting someone to sign up and refer you shouldn’t be some complex equation that only someone deep-rooted in Calculus can solve. Remember, you need to guide your customers as if they are a fish fresh out of water. This is foreign territory to most and you need to help them navigate your referral program so that they don’t get lost.
Take a look below at an example:
Filthy Clothing has a very simple process to entice their customers to refer them. As you go deeper into their referral program, you’ll find out how to make your first referral. This kind of straight-forward approach shows exactly what you’re about and it leaves less room for questions or confusion. You need to make everything clear for your customers and let them know from the gate what’s expected and how to go about your referral program. When the customer has a sound knowledge of what you’re program is all about, it’s a lot easier for them to refer others.
Remember, convenience is a virtue that too many other businesses don’t follow. The better you get at explaining what you need, the easier it is for your customers to accomplish. Also, you can have better dialogue on how to make things better down the line. It’s a marathon, not a sprint. As your company grows, so should the support system behind it.
How to Follow Up On Your Referrals
First of all, why is it important to follow up on anything? Here are a few reasons:
- You need to see if any of your data changes
- Good to keep tabs on your customer’s behavior
- Gives you some sound insight into what the future holds for your brand
- You can optimize your referral program
One of the best things you can do is have a referral tracking system that gives you and your referrer details and reports on every referral. All of this information should be found in your referral dashboard. Each program has their own way of displaying that data. However, the importance is in knowing what are your leads, your sales, and who’s actually sending them. This will help you break down certain things that we’ll explain a bit below.
Knowing how to keep up with your referrals is important because it lets you know your top referrers. This is valuable because you’ll get a better idea of who can help you grow your business.
Another good thing about following up is that you can keep a close eye to the data. You never know if there are fraudulent users who only refer the same person a number of times or themselves. You can weed those people out early and detect foul play. That’s an additional reason why you need a reliable referral tracking system. You never know how transactions can be hacked or wrongdoers can find a leak in your referral system to work to their benefit.
Easy Promotion via Social Media
Sometimes, getting that nice engagement and referral strictly through your site has its advantages. One, you’re in more control because it’s strictly on your page. You can send mass emails, newsletters, or even just a specific note for your customer. However, the downside is you don’t know if your product touches any other demographics. That’s why making it easy to promote via social media is very important. Let’s take a brief look at what Uber does:
As you can see, this is a great referral system that works for both Uber and the riders. Uber makes it easy for their riders to promote them via social media and email. For social media, they have Facebook and Twitter. Make it easy to promote your brand via social media has much more reach because you get access to more customers with just one message on that particular network. Let’s say you had a person that was relevant on social media and they had the chance to promote a particular deal via Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram. This could multiply your reach exponentially. Here’s an example of how many people can be reached with just one Tweet from a customer who has a big audience in social media:
This doesn’t include how many people tweeted back, the click through rate, or even shares on other forms of social media. The potential is definitely there for bigger growth. It’s all about making it easy for your customer to market your brand to their family and friends.
Rewarding Customers for Referrals
Appreciation is key in all parts of life whether it’s a nice home cooked meal after your spouse’s hard day at work, giving your kid a small gift for getting Straight A’s, or getting a commission at the job because you’ve exceeded the sales projection. Showing appreciation and rewarding enables your supporter to go out there and do more because they are content.
Here’s an example of what someone may offer you as a reward:
The best way to reward someone is by picking something they actually enjoy. Some people like a profit incentive and want to get a piece of the action. The monetary reward is what keeps them coming back for more. The other side might want to get a nice gift. Maybe they would like a trip to Paris or another country overseas. Another supporter may just genuinely enjoy your product and want great discounts forever. You should always give your supporters a choice in the matter.
A good way to do this is a voting system. You can create a contest and let your top notch supporters win a grand prize. If you have enough members on your referral team, you might be able to set a prize for first, second, and third. Create a leaderboard so each person knows where they stand in the top 3. This is a good way to create not only friendly competition, but it keeps a good tab on your data.
With this type of plan in place, it’ll help boost morale in your referral program and give people a chance to really take your brand to another level. It shows that with all of the hard work, there is a pay off at the end. This is one of the best ways you can show appreciation to those that go above and beyond their services.
Creating a referral system is much more than a simple win-win situation. It encourages growth organically, and turns your brand into something tangible for not only you, but your supporters and your customers. It’s all about being trustworthy. Do you stand by your products? Do you stand by your brand mission? What do you have to offer that others don’t? These are all things you should consider when coming up with a referral program for your business.
Each brand has their own take and purpose on why their brand is significant. What’s your approach? Create something that’s not only easy for your supporters to grasp, but it helps them do all of the groundwork for you. This kind of accessibility will help you reach your goals a lot quicker. What are some goals you have for a referral program? Post a note below and show how you would create some key steps to help launch your brand.
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- How to Choose A Referral System - September 7, 2016