Tuesday, June 21, 2016

Working the Referral Machine

In this article from Entrepreneur magazine, while the headline says ways to get referrals, the author spends most of it telling you what not to do. He gets one thing right though.


"Actually surprise and delight." INC magazine has 3 ways to surprise and delight here. Ann Handley has a post about it here, where she mentions the WestJet Christmas Miracle.


Gary Vanderchuk drops anecdotes all the time about how he likes to surprise and delight customers to turn them into Brand Ambassadors. Zappos CEO Tony H has a culture built around astounding customer service.


This company writes about a Delight Hack Week - and how it was fun for the employees too. When the employees are having fun, then the customers are getting great service.


I'm not saying you have to Surprise everyone to get a Referral. I am saying that doing something just outside the expected will result in a remarkable moment that the customer will talk about.


It is about Customer Care and how you make them feel. It is about the little things, not really the big things. Like vacuuming up after an installation or taking off your shoes before coming in the house to do an install. That is a little (and a small pain in the neck) but has a big impact.


Deconstruct your deployments to see where you can add actual White Glove Service to make it extra-ordinary.


You have to turn your Referral Machine into an active system. Not a credit to their account, but something tangible, like a big check or a VISA pre-paid gift card or any of a number of special occasions that can be designed. You want to make a Referral something awesome, especially from the Fiberhoods, where word-of-mouth is the primary way to get pre-sales.


Ice Cream trucks, Avon ladies, BBQ, pizza party, outdoor movies and so many more ideas to use to get attention and have fun with prospects and customers aimed at the fiberood scenario many of you are tackling now.


Three things about social media:
We’re beginning to see the humanization of business.
On social media, don’t act business – act human.
Inspire people with your marketing content. Surprise and delight them.

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