If you ask people how to drive more referrals, most will tell you to "make sure you have a great product/excellent customer service". Ok, we all knew that was a prerequisite. If you're looking for something a little more tactical beyond increasing your referral incentive - I'm here to let you in on a strategy (that's right under your nose) and will provide you with a predictable source of warm referral leads every month.
Sometimes the most effective strategies, are the simple ones.
People inherently trust those within their social circles. By the time a referral lead enters your sales pipeline, the groundwork has been laid. This is why referral win rates tend to be so much higher. The challenging work of establishing trust and showcasing value has already been taken care of by the referrer.
So how can you get more referrals?
First, let's delve into some statistics (bear with me):
On average people change jobs every 2-3 years but over the last few years, the frequency of job changes has increased drastically. 37% of the US workforce changed or lost their job in 2020. Another 40% of workers that changed jobs in last year are already looking for a new job. With the evolving landscape of remote and in-office work policies, it's likely that job transition numbers will continue to rise.
But what relevance does this hold for referrals?
If you're in the B2B world, these stats mean a significant portion of your clients are no longer working at your customer accounts. That means these contacts that have used and loved your product are now at a net new companies and they can refer you to their new employer.
Past Customer's New Employer = Your New Referral Lead
Best of all, it's actually possible to track every time one of your customers goes to a new company so your sales team never misses a beat (see our job change tracking program here).
The outreach from your sales team can go something like:
"Hey [First Name], Congrats on the new job! 🎉
I know you used to use [Your Company] at [Past Customer Account] and based on my conversation with [Past Account Owner], you were able to achieve [XYZ KPI]!
Given your success with us in the past, I was wondering if bringing us on at [New Employer] would make sense? We're actually offering a $1,000 referral fee for any previous users of [Your Company] if you do know any companies (including [New Employer]) that would be a fit.
Let me know if connecting for a quick call next week makes sense, would love to catch-up either way!
Best,
[Sender]"
Sound like the kind of referral tactic you'd like to implement? Here's your options:
1. Learn more here
2. Reach out to me on LinkedIn if you have questions or want a more informal chat marketer-to-marketer!
3. Schedule a demo
