It is no secret that “Word of Mouth”, or , is one of the most effective ways to
bring in new clients while simultaneously strengthening relationships with your existing
customer base. But even though it is extremely powerful and virtually free (or at most costs
very little), very few business owners or coaches use it anywhere near it’s potential!
referral business
Consider this: if you got just one referral from each one of your clients, over the next 60 days
you’d double your client base! What would that mean to your potential income and how many
more people would you be helping in supportive and uplifting ways?
So, how do you maximize word of mouth in your business? Here are 5 Steps you can start to
take right now…
- Really appreciate your clients and let them know consistently that you value the
This is the most important, yet often overlooked, element of creating endless referrals. Many
businesses focus more on profit than on people Focusing on profits alone can be detrimental to success and ‘Word of Mouth’ success comes from looking beyond just profit into how you can enrich your customer’s lives.
Action: At least once a month, take the time to communicate to your clients and show them
you appreciate them. Send them something of value, something unexpected, a bonus report,
a special piece of news you just found. Make it relevant to them and do it regularly
- Create an exceptional experience each time they deal with you or your
company
If you can make doing business with you an exceptional experience, your clients will want to
tell a lot of people. People want amazing experiences!
Here is an example: There is a Life Coach who has a special relationship with a city coffee shop.
Once every 8 weeks he invites his in-person clients to a ‘brain trust’ meeting and the coffee
and cake is on the house. Every client that attends gets a card and a voucher from the coffee
shop owner to say ‘Thank you for joining us today, we would love to see you again soon’. The
voucher is a ‘buy one get one free’ coffee voucher. So they are encouraged to come back
again. And because the coffee shop owner is exposing his business to potential new clients,
the coach pays just the cost price on the coffee and cake his clients eat. Normally about 8
clients attend and the cost is around $30. Just a little extra touch can make dealing with your
business that much more of an exceptional experience!
Action: What can you do now to add little things that make an exceptional experience?
Perhaps you can use the above example or something similar in order to network with other
professionals while simultaneously providing amazing value to your clients. Remember, start
creating exceptional experiences today.
3. Give your customers incentives for giving you referrals
If you’re being passive about referrals then you’re sitting on a gold-mine. Come up with ways
of rewarding your clients for referring business to you. They could receive free gifts, such as a
90 minute coaching session with you, a certificate for a massage or a nice dinner, or perhaps even financial reward. No matter what you choose, the key is making sure that whatever you choose to offer is something that your client will really be attracted to
Action: Reward your clients for referring people to you. Come up with rewards that will be
beneficial to your client