In a majority of businesses, referrals are the least expensive and most effective source of new leads. In fact, in a survey we conducted, over 61% of nearly 1000 small businesses said that referrals are their most effective lead generation source. Asking your customers to tell their friends, family and colleagues about your business is one of the easiest marketing tools you can use to boost your revenue and maintain lasting relationships with your customers.

1. Rollin’ in Referrals:
How to Drive Referrals
Through The Roof
Presented by Tyler Garns
Director of Marketing, Infusionsoft
@tylergarns

2. Get out a blank piece of
paper & a pen
Draw line down middle vertically
On the left you’ll take notes
On the right you’ll write down insights about your OWN
business
On the back, we’ll do an exercise
@tylergarns

3. Do you have a referral
strategy?
“I don’t advertise. All my business come from word-of-
mouth” is NOT a referral strategy
It means you’re doing a good job making customers
happy, but most likely, you can harness referrals in a
more systematic way
@tylergarns

4. Referral Strategy
(write this down)
A good referral strategy involves FOUR important
components
WOWing customers
Systematically requesting referrals
Systematically giving your customers a way to refer
It’s about REPUTATION, not compensation
@tylergarns

5. WOWing Customers
It doesn’t start after the sale
Every interaction before AND after the sale contribute
to the feeling of WOW
Overdeliver on the promise to make them happy
(EVEN IF THEY DON’T BUY)
@tylergarns

6. Silverton, CO - 4th of July
@tylergarns

7. Ice Cream Shop
@tylergarns

8. @tylergarns

9. We were WOWed &
became happy customers
@tylergarns

10. Systematically Requesting
Referrals
Find natural, already existing touch points to request
referrals
Then, make it happen automatically
If you have sales reps/support reps - incentivize them
for collecting referrals
(hint: they do what you pay them to do)
@tylergarns

11. Systematically Give
Customers a Way to Refer
Overcommunicate to your customers how they should
give you referrals
This should be included in just about every
communication where it feels natural
In your email signature, at the bottom of all follow up
emails, on your postcards, on all direct mail, in the
recorded message people hear when they’re waiting
on hold, when you finish a call with a customer, etc.
@tylergarns

12. If you don’t create a system
for generating referrals, it will
never become a sustainable,
dependable source of
revenue in your business.
@tylergarns

13. It’s about reputation, not
compensation
Sure, people like to get a little spiff if they refer, but
they’re much more concerned about what their referral
will think of them after they refer
You want to set them up for an ego-boost after they
refer
The ego-boost creates a desire in them to refer more
People are more altruistic than you might think - give
the referral something as well (it also strokes the
referrers ego - “I can get you a hookup”)
@tylergarns

14. Typical Customer Lifecycle
Generate Interest
Sell, Sell, Sell
Get New Customers
Sigh Of Relief
Go Do It Again
Problem:
3 Holes In Your Funnel
@tylergarns

15. Holes In Your Funnel
Hole #1: Lost Traffic
Hole #2: Lost Leads
Hole #3: Lost
Customers
@tylergarns

16. When this happens, people
make a HUGE mistake
Most people focus
solely on the top of the
funnel (traffic)
Meanwhile, stuff is pouring
out of the holes in the
bucket
Focusing on referrals is
one of the ways to make
effective change
@tylergarns

17. Referrals are your most cost
effective way of driving
qualified traffic
@tylergarns

18. Framework for Strategy:
The Perfect Customer Lifecycle
@tylergarns

19. Let’s create your strategy
Turn your paper over (make a quick sketch of the
customer lifecycle - funnel, $, arrow)
Where is your biggest opportunity
Do you have more traffic, or more leads, or more
customers, or more partners to work with?
Where is your second biggest opportunity?
Write those both down
@tylergarns

20. Let’s see examples in each
of these areas?
Leverage your traffic for referrals
Leverage your leads for referrals
Leverage your customers for referrals
Leverage your partners for referrals
@tylergarns

21. Leverage your traffic
Make it easy to share
Sharethis.com, Addthis.com, GetSocial,
Embed Facebook comments (there are Wordpress
plugins, widgets, etc) - Facebook is the best referral
machine ever invented
Use Google +1 on your site
Offer great stuff - ask people to share it - make it easy
@tylergarns

22. Leverage your leads
After people opt-in, offer them a bonus, require referrals
Example - Master of the Moment
@tylergarns

23. @tylergarns

24. @tylergarns

25. Another example
Initial offer
Create further
engagement
Request referrals for
more bonus material
@tylergarns

26. Leverage your customers
Post-sale bonus
Find the point of climax (referring to the WOW factor)
and ask for referrals then
Ask for referrals in order to get a discount on your next
upsell
Ask for referrals after sending a customer satisfaction
survey (only to people who say they were satisfied)
@tylergarns

27. Example: Heating & A/C
Business
They’ve crafted a
perfect customer
experience that
culminates in a request
for referrals
@tylergarns

28. Heating & Air Conditioning
@tylergarns

29. @tylergarns

30. Leverage Partners
Many people do
partnerships wrong
It shouldn’t be like
playing catch - “I’ll
throw you a lead,
you throw me a
lead”.
@tylergarns

31. Leverage Partners
What if your partner doesn’t build a system? He’ll only
send leads occasionally.
What if you build a great, profitable relationship around
a partner and then that partner goes out of business,
sells, the business, or dies?
@tylergarns

32. Leverage Partners
Find a handful of committed partners that have
complimentary businesses (and their target market is
the same as yours)
Build your referrals offers DEEP into each others
businesses
Make sure the referral engine is part of the standard
operating procedures
Make sure partners are compensated enough to be
motivated to drive business for you
@tylergarns

33. If you do all this right...
....You will build a referral engine that feeds you good
leads every day without you having to do much.
@tylergarns

34. Poll: How much more
revenue?
$1,000
$5,000
$10,000
$25,000 or more
@tylergarns

35. How do you put all these
strategies in place?
One step at a time
Build the system (don’t include yourself in the system
or you won’t be able to implement the next one)
Use web-based automation tools to automate as much
of the work as possible
@tylergarns

36. What is Infusionsoft?
If you combined ACT!, 1ShoppingCart, Aweber,
Salesforce.com, ConstantContact, and Outlook - you
still wouldn’t have Infusionsoft.
Infusionsoft is less expensive than adding all those
thing together, and it has some secret sauce (hint:
automation) that you can’t get anywhere else.
#1 Marketing Automation solution for small business,
used by 6,000+ businesses and many gurus.
@tylergarns

37. The beauty of the all-in-one
system
@tylergarns

38. Who is Infusionsoft for?
Professional Services: Other Services:
Doctors, Lawyers, Landscaping, House
Real Estate, Insurance, Cleaning, A/C
etc. Repair, Pest Control,
Martial Arts, Dance
Online Retailers
Info Marketers &
Widgets, Accessories,
Internet Marketers
Camping Gear, etc.
@tylergarns

39. Questions
Through today only - get a free
consultation on how Infusionsoft can help
you drive more referrals
Call 866.800.0004 ext.1
Or call your Infusionsoft sales rep
@tylergarns