Referrals: The Excellent Way to Success
Whatever it is you do—be it writing, editing, ghostwriting, coaching, or platform development—if you want to make monthly income from it, your greatest challenge is keeping new clients and their projects coming in when others are completed. By far, referrals are your best and easiest marketing strategy to create new customers. They’re best because the leads you receive are most likely to actually become clients; they’re easiest because your already-happy clients or trusted colleagues are doing the marketing for you, and usually with robust enthusiasm.
So what exactly are referrals? They are potential new customers for the specific service or services you provide who are able to pay the rates you charge. Something to keep in mind: No matter how interesting the project may be, if the referral is for a service you don’t offer or if the prospective client can’t pay what you charge, it is not a qualified referral. Only referrals already best suited to become future clients are qualified. For my business, I seek referrals for people in need of book editing and ghostwriting, book publishing, platform development, and coaching, and from non-profit organizational leaders who need inspirational content for their donors such as devotionals.
How do you get referrals? By developing and promoting a referral plan that provides an incentive to your past and current clients and to your strategic partners (such as friends, colleagues, and independent contractors or business owners with whom you associate) and rewards them for giving you a referral that becomes a paid client. Partners may also come from any networking groups (in person or online) with whom you are involved. My referral plan for WriteWorks targets clients and splits strategic partners into two groups, colleagues (a vast group that I have cultivated relationally over the years) and my WriteWorks team members (featured on my website) who already work with me on many of my projects for existing clients.
I provided them the choice of two incentives: six hours of free coaching time with me (a $480 value) or a one-time cash reward ranging from $50 to $250 depending on the service referred. A referral for a book ghostwriting client, for example, would receive a larger reward because the contract amount I could sign with that referral has the potential of being greater than, say, a coaching contract. My WriteWorks team members, those who over the years have invested the most time and effort to help me, received higher cash reward options than do colleagues or clients because I want to honor my team’s commitment to and relationship with me. The cash rewards are not paid out until the referred client signs a contract and makes his or her first monthly payment on that contract.
Of course, before you can position yourself to receive referrals from your clients or strategic partners, you must bear in mind this most important rule: Do excellent work for your clients and have excellent relationships with your partners. There is absolutely no substitute for personal excellence in your craft and integrity in your relationships with others. In short, take personal responsibility in delivering excellence: P-R-I-D-E.
I launched my referral program at the start of this year. How has it performed? Thus far, I have received a total of 12 referrals, seven from past or existing clients and five from colleagues. Of the dozen received, three are now paying clients with a fourth scheduled to sign a contract next month. That’s a 25 percent rate of new clients gained from referrals received—an excellent result! I will give out a few hundred dollars in cash rewards in return for what will likely be over $10,000 in income gained within the next calendar year. The only marketing cost for my referral program was the time needed to come up with my plan and to create a flyer to promote it. I sent it to everyone by email.
If you need help developing a referral plan as the cornerstone of your overall marketing strategy for your endeavors as a writer, I can help you do that. If you admit that you need advice and goals to improve your excellence for your clients and partners, I will be honored to help you do that as well. All of us can do a better job with our skill set, our ability to meet deadlines and expectations, and in our capacity to form and maintain relationships. Truth is, we must do a better job if we desire to truly make a living—and make a difference—over the long term.
Here’s to your future success as you adopt a more excellent way!
I want to hear from you!
Share with me your greatest success story from a person referred to you—or how your experience as a referral impacted you.