Set up a referral scheme customers actually use
Ask any small firm where the best work comes from and they'll say word of mouth. Then ask how they encourage it and the answer is usually nothing at all.
Where it hurts
Your customers would happily recommend you. They tell a neighbour, mention you at the pub, pass your number to a mate. It's your strongest channel and it costs you nothing, so leaving it to chance feels like a waste.
The trouble is people forget, or don't quite know how to hand you on. There's no easy thing for them to pass along, no nudge, no little reward that tips a vague good intention into an actual introduction.
And even when a referral does land, you often don't know it happened. You can't thank the person who sent it or know which customers are quietly your best salespeople, so you can't lean into what's working.
What I'd build
I'd keep the scheme itself simple: a clear offer, refer a friend and you both get something, with an easy way to pass you on, a link, a card, a code, whatever fits your customers, and the ask timed for just after a good job when they mean it. The catch with any scheme is that most real referrals never use the code; they arrive as "Dave gave me your number" buried in an enquiry. So I'd add an AI step that reads each new enquiry as it lands, spots a mention like that, matches it against your customer list and flags it for you to confirm. Once you do, the thank-you or reward goes out on its own, and over time you build a picture of who your best advocates actually are.
What changes
- A simple, clear offer customers will actually act on
- An easy way for them to pass you on to friends
- Referrals get spotted even when nobody used the link or code
- Thank-yous go out on their own, and you see who your advocates are
Related fixes
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