Referrals are one of the best ways to increase client base in any industry. When a business or a representative approaches a client with a good referral, the chance of gaining a positive response from the said client is very good. This technique is often employed by salesmen who wanted to seal transactions with their potential client fast. Salesmen can visit any client without any prior knowledge but a sale could be done because a common ground is achieved through referrals.
Referrals could also be used in social networking. In fact, social networking referrals are used for more possibilities since you can connect to as a good number of clients. If you will be able to harness referrals in social networking, you will be able to significantly improve your business or your reputation as a professional.
But using social networking as a referral is not the same as the “salesman’s referral” wherein the referral is used to establish a common ground with the potential client.
How to Use Social Networking as Passive Referral
Using referrals in social networking is not necessarily based on two persons having a common acquaintance. Sometimes, a good referral through social networking is through associations. When a person is part of a group and has been continuously active in the said group, a referral from the group could be expected.
But you do not push yourself to your clients through referral in social networks. You simply introduce yourself to a person with a simple message. More often than not, your data will be sought out and it will yield your acquaintances that could be familiar to your potential client.
Of course, the downside of this strategy is that your potential could just ignore you. Some do not even bother to check the background and discards the request to be acquainted. But that challenge could be easily addressed with the right platform. There are actually websites geared towards businesses and professionals who wanted to establish their reputation and connect to potential clients and employers.
Being Proactive
Finding the right platform or social networking websites where you can use referrals is only the start. After finding the right social network, you need to slowly establish your identity in the said social network.
To save time and effort in establishing your identity, it is important to choose the right social network. Joining a social network wherein no one knows you will is not a good way to start your connections. Ask your current clients on the social networks they prefer so that you can immediately receive recommendations from your clients. Because of the popularity of social networking online, it is hard not to find clients with social networking membership and gain their recommendation.
Once you have the recommendations of your clients, you can now seek out other clients based on their recommendations. These could be done online and you do not have to spend anything except your time and patience to properly introduce yourself to new clients.
Using the Right Associations
The main advantage of social networking is the ability to dig deeper on your potential client’s association. With enough research, you will know how well (or bad) your potential clients are in the past. You will also be able to protect yourself from the repercussions of bad association.
But as much as you can dig deep to your potential clients, your clients can also search for as many information as they can online about you as their potential partner or provider. They will look at every possible transaction your business had and if there is anything that does not look good could possibility yield a negative response.
That is why it is important to review your associations in social networks online. Search yourself online and visit those search results to see if there is anything unfavorable and could cause trouble in the future.
Hybrid and Traditional Referral
Although much could be achieved through social networking in using referrals, it is even better when a business or a professional uses the online technique with the traditional method of gaining business through referral.
When you find someone online that could be beneficial to you as a business or as a professional, combine online and traditional communications so that business relationship could improve fast. By combining traditional referrals with modern, online communications, you can boost your business or professional reputation significantly.
