When it comes to their homes, consumers expect high-quality service from a trusted provider. Think about your own experiences with home services providers. Would you let someone you don’t trust on your property? Of course not. From the business owner’s perspective, gaining that indispensable consumer trust can often be an uphill battle when relying on traditional advertising, as many mediums are viewed as just that: advertising. That’s why positioning your business as a quality, customer-focused provider of lawn care services allows you to capitalize on the powerful word-of-mouth promotion that comes from customer referrals.
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In a fast-paced industry with countless concerns to address on a daily basis, often business owners spend so much time concentrating on the leads produced by expensive advertising, they neglect the leads right in front of them. Customer referrals have some key advantages that can put your business in a position to succeed and continue to thrive long term with significantly less capital investment than most traditional advertising.
In fact, once you start pushing forward with an effective referral program for your customers, your goal should be to develop a network of referring customers. As your customer base builds, lead sources should spider web out from the first few referring customers to the customers they referred and the customers they referred, so on and so on. Your referral network has the potential to become a wide open door for ongoing leads and new potential lead sources.
Another key advantage to developing a base of customers acquired through referrals is loyalty. Referral customers tend to be more loyal to your business, since they feel as though your business has been given a personal seal of approval by someone they know and trust. For that reason, these customers are often less price sensitive, and they may also be more forgiving of minor problems that arise.
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Each week, our industry experts will tackle one of four topics - Business, Legislation, Water Use and Noise & Air Pollution - and discuss how those issues can impact you as a green industry professional. This week, Scott Frith of Lawn Doctor discusses the value of word-of-mouth advertising. Be sure to share your thoughts on the Lawn & Landscape Message Board. Let's get the buzz going! |
If you provide a service that’s in demand and you do an outstanding job at it, you’ve already taken the first step toward building a business that can thrive on customer referrals. The fundamental point you need to remember is, if you provide an outstanding-quality service, some of your customers will inevitably talk about you to their friends and family. This in itself may even afford you a few leads. But, if you provide poor service or neglect your customers’ concerns, you can expect them to be talking about you even more. So, make sure you capitalize on the positive and avoid the negative whenever possible.
The next thing to consider is how to further take advantage of referrals as an incredibly viable lead source. Although providing excellent service is the first step, by offering incentives to customers for referring others to your services, you’ll be in a position to significantly increase the number of leads you receive from customers. Think of it this way: If you provide high-quality service, and are responsive and customer-focused, your customers may talk about you, but they’re not necessarily going to actively cultivate leads for you. Referrals are very similar to public relations, in that PR is invaluable to building a brand and supporting your response-oriented advertising, but it’s not necessarily going to close deals for you. However, by offering your customers an incentive, such as a discount on their service for each lead they send you that turns into a sale, they’ll be much more likely to send you leads.
There’s another peripheral advantage that comes with supporting a positive referral program in your business, as well. That advantage is the opportunity to provide additional value to your existing base of customers. As locally owned and operated businesses, Lawn Doctor’s franchises take advantage of the opportunity to build more personal relationships with their customers, while cultivating referral leads at the same time. This helps build trust and loyalty among the existing customers and supports the growth of the business long term by developing the referral network.
Also, by offering an incentive to customers for referring their friends and family to your services, you’re giving them a reward for their support, and that will provide greater value to the services they receive. And, of course, by becoming an advocate for your business with their friends and family, your customers will feel somewhat responsible for maintaining that positive, ongoing relationship with your business. That goes back to their continued loyalty.
To even get your foot in the door with customer referrals, you must first offer the highest possible quality service, never neglect customers’ problems and always remain customer-focused in your approach. Advertising is expensive, so budget wisely, but don’t allow the leads right in front of you to slip away. With a strong understanding of what your customers want and how to add value to what you offer, you’ll be well-positioned to begin generating leads through your own network of referring customers.
Scott D. Frith, CFE, is the vice president of marketing and franchise development for Lawn Doctor. He has been involved in the green industry for over a decade and serves on the board of directors for Project EverGreen. Frith also sits on the International Franchise Association’s Marketing and Public Relations Committee.