"Paying" for Referrals?

davisautodetail

davisautodetail

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Looking at some different promotional ideas, and I was curious about some of the other pro's referral programs.

I'm talking specifically about paying people for booked referrals, either via in person, phone, facebook, whatever. If I book a new client job as a direct result of you telling them about me, I'll send you $10, or whatever.

I know this works in other industries, but I'm not sure here. I can see the potential for abuse, and the difficulty managing it.

Have any of you guys done this, and was it successful in generating bookings?
 
I'm not a pro detailer, but I would Instead try if you refer someone, you get x amount of dollars off your next service. That way you get a new customer and repeat business.
 
ihaveacamaro said:
Instead try if you refer someone, you get x amount of dollars off your next service. That way you get a new customer and repeat business.
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I was thinking about that as well. How do you track that, some sort of coupon, or just write it in the "book"?
 
I have a few referral systems in place. There are several businesses in the area that I do "New Client" referrals with. For instance the kinnel where I take my dog. She has my business cards for referrals. If one of her customers call me, then they get a 10% off "New Client" discount, and she (the kinnel) gets a $10 credit to her account. It has brought me alot of new business.
 
davisautodetail said:
I was thinking about that as well. How do you track that, some sort of coupon, or just write it in the "book"?
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On the back of your referral card you can have the customer who sent the referred write his name. When the referred person comes in with that card you will know who sent it to you.
 
Most times, people don't like to get paid for referring someone because they don't feel genuine about it. Something that is really good is to do a 25%/25% deal. If you refer someone, both of you will get 25% off of your next detail.

I got this from "Word of Mouth Marketing" the book by Andy Sernovitz. It's a great book, you should give it a read.

Hope that helps.

Mike
 
Wes Calloway said:
Most times, people don't like to get paid for referring someone because they don't feel genuine about it. Something that is really good is to do a 25%/25% deal. If you refer someone, both of you will get 25% off of your next detail.

I got this from "Word of Mouth Marketing" the book by Andy Sernovitz. It's a great book, you should give it a read.

Hope that helps.

Mike
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I will check out the book, thanks. I was just reading about referral card techniques that people use in Salon's, and it talked about the same strategy you're discussing, where the referrer and the refer-ee both benefit.
 
I give my customers 15% their next service when they refer someone. When someone comes in who was referred I wright the customer name who referred them in my customer journal.
 
davisautodetail said:
I will check out the book, thanks. I was just reading about referral card techniques that people use in Salon's, and it talked about the same strategy you're discussing, where the referrer and the refer-ee both benefit.
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It has great power when implemented properly. You can get some high quality cards made from a great site for a low price. PM me if you want the link
 
This is what I was thinking of, having these made in business card size. Thoughts?
 
I don't have a referral program. A lot of my customers come from other happy customers. If I get good service from a business I tell my friends and family about them, I never expect money for it. I want my customers to tell others about me because they were truly happy, not because I am paying them.
 
rustytruck said:
I don't have a referral program. A lot of my customers come from other happy customers. If I get good service from a business I tell my friends and family about them, I never expect money for it. I want my customers to tell others about me because they were truly happy, not because I am paying them.
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Looks like the mods took care of it, which is a good thing (thanks admins!)

This is a "just getting rolling" kind of marketing strategy, to give a little more of a push for referring, plus it's a win-win, I think. If I get a few extra clients, the 10% off doesn't hurt me at all.
 
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