If you have been reading some B2B referral marketing blogs, you probably have an idea of just how important B2B referrals are. Decision makers in B2B companies turn to people when making a purchase and if a B2B decision maker recommends a product, people listen.
This referral program is a marketing tactic that encourages satisfied customers to recommend your brand to decision-makers at other businesses using a formalized process.
Now, you may already be informally emailing or calling customers asking them to share your brand but that doesn’t count as a referral program. A proper referral program involves a streamlined referral page where clients enter their peer’s information and easily refer them to your business.
These B2B programs allow you to leverage intelligent revenue operation so that getting revenue is sustainable. You can track the referrals your clients make and reward the clients whenever their recommendations lead to a sale.
Intelligent revenue operation ensures that you prioritize revenue-generation methods and channels that are sustainable and that maximize ROI. This is based on the knowledge that not all revenue is good revenue. Sometimes, it can be too costly to grow revenue using a certain method.
Checklist for Launching a B2B Referral Program
Before launching your referral program, tick all these elements off the checklist:
A Great Product Worth Sharing
Customers will only share your product with others if they have had a positive experience with your company. You too wouldn’t recommend a product you didn’t like to your friend – perhaps even your enemy.
An experience that is positive enough for B2B referrals starts with great products and services.
So, how do you tell if customers are satisfied with your product?
- Look at your existing customers and if they are recommending your product or services.
- Look at your customer retention rate.
- Check your customer reviews online.
Once you have identified your best customers who are likely to share your brand with others, reach out to them directly when launching the referral program.
A Strong Customer Base
Any good B2B referral marketing blog will advise you to begin by building a strong customer base – and rightly so.
A loyal customer base is any business’s biggest asset. Your loyal customers simply are your best advocates. As such, committed to building lasting relationships from the beginning. This is especially crucial in the B2B world because relationships are more often than not long-term.
One great way of keeping customers happy is by keeping lines of communication open even after they have made the purchase. This shows that you support them through the entire sales process however long.
Go the extra mile and get to know each of your customer’s businesses. Listen to their needs and concerns. Gather their feedback and take note of what you are doing well and what you could do better.
This will help you deliver customized service for each customer, improve their overall experience, and make all your customers feel very valued. Fostering solid relationships increases customer satisfaction and leads to more B2B referrals.
A Ready Customer Support Team
Before you start any referral program, envision how well you will be able to handle an influx of new customers. After all, the whole point of a referral program is bringing in new customers through your existing customers.
Failing to keep your new customers happy is the textbook definition of counterproductive. All your new customers need to be happy with your product and service so it’s good for business.
Failure to keep new customers happy will lead to the loss of the new customers that you worked so hard to get from the B2B referral programs. Even worse, the new customers could leave you for your competitor.
Make sure your customer support team can deliver high-level, high-quality service to your new customers before launching your referral program.
I am Christine Romeo, a writer and business journalist. I love to write about the latest tech innovations and business trends. I have a background in marketing and communications, so I'm especially interested in how technology is changing the way we do business. When I'm not writing, I enjoy spending time with my family and friends.