Referral program in your business?

[Steve]

Do you run a referral program in your business? How has it worked out for you? If you don't why have you chosen not to? The Referral Advantage - When it comes to their homes, consumers expect high-quality service from a trusted provider. Think about your own experiences with home services providers. Would you let someone you don’t trust on your property? Of course not. From the business owner’s perspective, gaining that indispensable consumer trust can often be an uphill battle when relying on traditional advertising, as many mediums are viewed as just that: advertising. That’s why positioning your business as a quality, customer-focused provider of lawn care services allows you to capitalize on the powerful word-of-mouth promotion that comes from customer referrals. In a fast-paced industry with countless concerns to address on a daily basis, often business owners spend so much time concentrating on the leads produced by expensive advertising, they neglect the leads right in front of them. Customer referrals have some key advantages that can put your business in a position to succeed and continue to thrive long term with significantly less capital investment than most traditional advertising.

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I use a $20 referral system for customers. This year I only had 3 people take advantage of it. One customer in particular earned $80 in referrals.

[Steve]

Do you think some industries work better with referral systems than others? Or is it just that it takes time to promote them?

When it comes to our service industry I don't think that it works as good compared to...cable tv, or cell phones, etc. Something that is a solid product, compared to a service

[MJK]

so you gave them a $20 credit kind of thing off there next bill for refering someone to you company?

yup, customers can only earn credit, no cash back if they refer a customer, and that customer uses our services

[Steve]

This makes me wonder what other kind companys an lco could partner up with to provide a gift card for new referrals.

Perhaps if they are a chamber member, offer customers chamber cash. This can be used at any one of the local chambers member businesses

[Steve]

Oh I have never heard of that kind of promotion. Have you heard anything about how that works? Does it work well?