In the last few years, many business professionals have realized the importance of networking and referrals. It’s worth mentioning that the tremendous power of referral marketing can be used by all kinds of entrepreneurs and business organizations. Both online and offline business can use professional referrals to generate more leads and increase sales. When it comes to professional networking, referrals seem to be the best choice. When a professional doctor or legal expert refers your practice to a customer, it makes sure the customer is more inclined to contact your business.
Bad practices in various industries have brought infamy to the term ‘referrals’. These days, the term generates thoughts about annoying and pesky emails or friends and relatives trying to recruit new people to use a service or product. However, when referral marketing is properly executed, it leads to better business and customer loyalty. Moreover, professional referrals are different from online referral marketing practices. In the former, a professional refers your business to another customer who might be interested in a similar service. For instance, a doctor may refer a pharmacist to a patient.
In simple terms, referral marketing makes use of word-of-mouth advertising, which is a very effective method of promotion and advertising. It’s important to understand that professional networking is a simple process. When a trusted professional refers your business to a customer, it builds more trust and respect in the mind of the customer for your business. This has a major impact on your conversion rate.
It’s important to understand that professional referrals can reduce your sales cycle and sales expenses. With referrals, you don’t have to spend a lot of time calling disinterested and cold prospects. This way, your business can focus on interested customers and their influences.
Referral marketing can build a lot of satisfied customers. In fact, the cycle self perpetuates with satisfied customers referring your business to other interested customers. Thus, the process starts from professionals referring your business to customers, but continues with satisfied customers bringing in more leads. Professional networking via referral marketing can also increase your sales revenue.
In recent years, many business coaches and trainers have emphasized the importance of referral systems. According to most professionals, the closing ration for non-referred leads is just 10 percent as compared to 60% with referred leads.
There’s no doubt that networking via professional referrals allows you to save a lot of money on advertising. This is one of the most important benefits for business organizations. You should use the referral system wisely to establish a huge network, effective business to business interactions and customer loyalty.
Proper communication can benefit all the parties involved. You should set aside a marketing budget to kick start your efforts, including costs of discounts, freebies and many other incentives to encourage your customers to refer the products and services. When a professional refers a customer to your business, it’s better to return back the favor. This allows you to build rapport with other professionals in your industry and get more leads in future.