Make Customers into Advocates to Multiply Your Business Growth
Here’s a frustrating statistic: roughly 80% of happy customers say they’re willing to refer your business, but only 30% ever make a referral.
That 50% gap represents untapped growth for your business. Imagine the impact if each happy customer brought you just one of their friends or colleagues!
Most business owners believe referrals ‘just happen’. It’s not something they can control. But businesses that generate a steady stream of word-of-mouth referrals aren’t relying on luck or awkward requests. They’ve built a system that turns happy customers into reliable advocates.
Here are four ways to build your own referral engine.
This is a preview of the keynote I’ll be presenting at GrowthCLUB on March 27. If you’re in the GTA, you can save your seat here: /growthclub
1 – Get People Talking
No one is out there talking to their friends about satisfactory customer service or a fair price. If you’re building a word-of-mouth marketing strategy, value and customer service are table stakes. A steady, boring business won’t generate any buzz.
People talk about the things that surprise and delight them, and referrals are a by-product of people talking about you. As Seth Godin puts in, “It’s about being remarkable. Simply put, people gotta remark about you.”
To get people talking, pick a key part of your customer’s journey and find a way to surprise them when they get there with an unexpected, thoughtful touch.
2 – De-risk the Referral
When someone refers your business, they are putting their reputation on the line. If you drop the ball or fail to deliver results, it reflects poorly on them.
The customers who take a social or professional risk on your behalf do so because they trust you. They believe you have good character – that’s why companies that own up when they make a mistake generate more referrals than the ones that try to cover it up. They believe their results matter to you, and you will also deliver that level of care for anyone they refer.
Your displays of character and competence, alongside a track record of consistent results, work together to build trust and de-risk referrals.
3 – Make It Easier
For word of mouth to spread, there’s a chain of events that must take place. Your customer needs to think of you in the moment, remember your contact info, pass it on to someone else, who needs to remember it or hold on to it until they take action to contact you. If any of those steps gets interrupted, the referral will not connect.
It’s in your power to make it easier for both parties. It could be as simple as having your Google Business Profile up to date, so people who hear about you can easily find information and contact you. It could be a physical referral card for your clients to pass along. It could be a video or article you create, that’s easy for people to share with their networks. (Like this one! Who do you know who should read this article?)
At every stage of the process, what can you do to reduce the friction in the referral chain?
4 – You Must Believe
“When you come to believe in – without question – the value you can deliver, then making that value available to as many people as possible becomes the higher purpose of your business.” – John Jantsch, The Referral Engine
This is where the “just ask” advice when it comes to referrals falls apart. The ask must be backed by the belief that every missed referral represents a problem unsolved.
When you’re asking for referrals because you want cheap marketing, people can smell it a mile away. When the ask is driven by a real desire to serve and have a positive impact, that comes across as well.
These four drivers don’t rely on luck. They give those who take action a referrable business and allow them to grow steadily through word-of-mouth, positive reviews, and warm introductions.
This Week’s Takeaway
To increase your word-of-mouth success, you don’t need to go viral or hit the front page. Think about how to create remarkable moments for your customers. De-risk referrals and make them easier. Act with conviction about the value you provide.
What can you do this week to increase the referability of your business?
To build your referral engine over the next 90 days, join us at GrowthCLUB on March 27, where you’ll create a real action plan to build a better business.
The Art of Spending Money: By Morgan Housel
The Art of Spending Money is a reflective take on a topic many of us assume we’ve already figured out. Morgan Housel shifts the focus away from tactics and toward mindset, exploring how our expectations, identity, and definitions of “enough” quietly drive our financial choices. It brings a welcome reminder that spending well often begins with clearer self-awareness and not just better spreadsheets.
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