Do you actively encourage people to refer your business to others, or do you just wait for a nice referral to come along? Are you doing anything to encourage more people to recommend you, or are you one of those people who doesn’t like to ask?

Referrals are one of the best ways to promote your business and yet too many small business owners don’t make the most of them. Here’s an example of how they work for us at Appletree.

Nearly half of the new clients who come to Appletree come because we have been recommended to them. (Nearly half come from networking. We know this because we measure our marketing – more of that in another blog.)

Last year we made a number of changes to the way we work at Appletree. I’d taken my eye of the ball with a few clients and then found out that they weren’t that happy with the service they were receiving. So I spent a lot of time on the phone and meeting clients, to talk about what they really wanted from us and whether our ‘new look’ service would suit them – or not.

One client I spoke to at this time, told me that actually he didn’t like what we were doing and that he was close to leaving us. I was devastated as I hadn’t realized how bad it had become. It took a number of long (and not particularly easy) phone calls and a meeting to work out the best solution for him. In the end, we agreed to carry on working together, with us providing exactly the service he wanted.

Having a happy client was the result I was looking for, but the benefits were better than that. Not long after sorting out these issues, this client recommended us to another business that needed some marketing help. I went to see them and within a short meeting, they had booked us to do lots of marketing for them. “Do you want to know more about Appletree and our credentials?” I asked them. Their reply was “No, because if Simon has recommended you and is working with you, we know that you’ll do a great job for us too.” How good was it to hear that!?

How can you turn your clients into raving fans who recommend you?

When is the Best Time to ask for a Referral?

Many people are wary of asking for referrals, thinking that it might sound a bit pushy. There is a very comfortable way to ask for referrals. The next time someone thanks you for helping them to solve a problem, ask who else they know who might be looking to solve the same problem.

You can do this with both clients and potential clients. They ask you a question – “How can I encourage more referrals?” You give them the solution – “The next time someone says thank you.” They say “Thank you very much for helping me.” You say “Who else do you know who needs help getting more referrals?”