7 Ways to Turn Compliments and Positive Reviews into Referrals!

If your business is offering good products combined with amazing customer service, then you are frequently receiving compliments and positive reviews from your customers. The question is, how are you making the most of those compliments and positive reviews?

Many times, businesses miss the opportunity to turn a customer compliment or positive review into a referral. The best way to get referrals from good customers is to come out and ask for them.

This is usually best done by trained and outgoing members of your team. Here’s a suggested referral request for your consideration. Anytime a customer says or types something positive about your business, your Team Member response should start with a “thank you” and then go immediately into the referral request. Here’s an example of wording that you might encourage your team to use:

“Thank you, , we are so glad to hear (or read) that you are happy with our company. You know, it helps us so much when you tell other people about us. If you wouldn’t mind, would you give us 1 to 5 referrals of your friends and family members so they can experience the same great service you received from us? It makes such a big difference for you to spread the word about us.” 

You’ll find that these customers are more than willing to help your business by sharing their friends and family members contact information.

7 Ways to get Referrals Using the All-in-One Referral Platform

The more people on your Team you have asking customers for referrals in as many ways as possible, the more likely it is that those referrals will happen more frequently. Which why we (Refererals2Sales) offer the All-in-One Referral Generation and Automation Platform which gives your business 10+ Ways to get referrals.

Here’s the best 7 methods of what to do for each type of compliment or positive review:

1. The Customer Walks into your Office and Pays you a Compliment

        Your Team Member then hands the customer an IPAD or Android tablet with the Team Member’s Referral Entry Page displayed and ready for the customer to enter referrals.

If your business doesn’t have a tablet: use this next Way……

2. During a Phone Call or Office Visit, the Customer Gives you a Compliment

Your Team Member enters the referral information via their Referral Entry shortcut located on their computer desktop. This shortcut opens to the Team Member’s Referral Entry Page.

(Example of Referral Entry Shortcut.)

3. The Customer sends a Compliment via Email

Your Team Member sends a reply email to the customer’s email thanking them for the compliment and then asks the customer to click the Referral Icon located in the Team Member’s reply email. Clicking on the Referral Icon takes the customer to the Team Member’s Referral Entry Page where the customer can enter their friends and family’s information.

(Example of a Referral Icon. There are thousands of icon combinations available.)

4. The Customer pays you a Compliment via a Facebook Review

Your Team Member responds in the Comment area under the Review with a personalized “Thank You” comment.

The message should also include an invitation for the Reviewer to refer their Friends and Family by clicking on the Team Member’s Referral Link. This Referral Link opens to the Team Member’s Referral entry page.

5. The Customer Pays you a Compliment via Twitter

When someone tweets about the great service your business has shown them, your responding Team Member tweets back to thank them for the compliment. The message should also include an invitation for the Customer to refer their Friends and Family by clicking on the Team Member’s Referral Link. This Referral Link opens to the Team Member’s Referral entry page.

Note: As the Team Member’s twitter response and referral ask can only be 280 characters long, using TinyURL.com (shortens a long URL into a short URL) will shrink a Referral Link from https://portal.referrals2sales.com/referrals/?id=8831630d-d264-e711-8108-c4346bacc0f8  to  https://tinyurl.com/y9fa28ay .

(Example of Twitter response)

6. The Customer Pays a Compliment via a Hand Written Thank You Card or Letter

Your team member responds via a variety of ways depending on company’s policy.

The ways include:

1. A hand written letter or card: The Team Member writes the customer back to thank them for the compliment. The message should also include an invitation for the Customer to refer their Friends and Family using the short URL Referral Link described in Way #5 above.
2. Email: The Team Member sends an email to the customer following the email referral process described in Way #3 above.
3. Email: The Team Member sends an email to the customer following the email referral process described in Way #3 above.

7. The Customer Pays You a Compliment via a Text Message

Your responding Team Member texts them back to thank them for the compliment. The message should also include an invitation for the Customer to refer their Friends and Family by clicking on the Team Member’s Referral Link. This Referral Link opens to the Team Member’s Referral entry page.

Note: To make viewing easier the Referral Link on a Smartphone or other SMS text message receiving phone; consider using TinyURL.com (shortens a long URL into a short URL) to shrink a Referral Link. For example: from https://portal.referrals2sales.com/referrals/?id=8831630d-d264-e711-8108-c4346bacc0f8  to  https://tinyurl.com/y9fa28ay .

Summary

When it’s done well, requesting a referral from an appreciative customer will make the customer feel more valued by your business. And, of course, the request will more likely result in an actual referral that leads to new customers. In this age of media and advertising overload, the personal touch of asking for a referral, via whatever way the customer is comfortable, is a win-win for everyone.