When clients trust (and enjoy) you enough to refer other potential clients to you, you're doing a lot of things right! Client referrals are one of the most important ways to grow your business. When you gain a new property owner's portfolio through a referral, you're able to take advantage of word-of-mouth marketing to boost your overall marketing ROI!
While client reviews are a critical part of your property management marketing plan, referrals go further to bring qualified leads to your door. As often as you make gathering reviews part of your routine marketing tasks, encouraging referrals should be on your list of to-dos.
Have you experienced a new client from a referral? If not, we're here to help you generate more leads that way! If you have enjoyed client referrals, let's find ways to help you get more business! Here's the scoop on creating a successful referral campaign.
When clients send new clients to your door (accompanied by a rave review of your services), you don't have to work as hard to close that business. There's less "funnel" maintenance for you to put into encouraging a lead to grow their interest in your services. This is the essence of how the marketing "flywheel" works! Leads generated by your established fanbase arrive ready to learn more and with a trusted vote of confidence about your services in their back pocket.
There are many benefits to referral campaigns and business that comes from happy clients:
Happy clients bring more happy clients to your business—so, how can property managers take advantage of referrals? Building a successful, ongoing (i.e., automated) referral campaign encourages your best clients to keep a steady flow of referral leads heading right to you.
It's almost the lowest-hanging fruit when it comes to growing your business, but referrals are an oft-overlooked piece of a successful property management marketing strategy. While some referrals leads might simply "happen" because a client loves your work, an intentional strategy can make those "happenings" happen much more frequently.
Not every client is willing to send referrals your way. Whether they aren't happy with your services or they just aren't the referral type, you probably can't count on them to send more business your way—and that's okay! Keep serving your less-enthusiastic clients (and every client) with excellence every day.
So, how do you find your happy clients and encourage referrals? Sending customer satisfaction surveys is an excellent way to check the pulse of your client base and identity your most delighted clients. Surveys help property managers:
The clients who take the time to respond, give honest feedback, and include positive comments about your services are prime candidates to talk to about referrals.
Sarah Peck tells us, "If you don't ask, the answer is already no!" However, knowing how to ask for what you want is just as crucial as taking that step. Asking your best and happiest clients for referrals is a respected part of doing business—but that's why it's essential to identify these happy customers first. Don't ask a client if you're not reasonably sure they love what you do for them.
With your pool of happy clients, you'll gather more referrals by asking! Property managers should develop a series of automated ways to keep referrals top of mind with all of your clients:
It's okay to reward your clients for sending more business your way! When you close a new lead that came from a client, let your client know and offer them a token of your appreciation. This helps encourage them to keep the referrals coming without making it seem like you "bought" the referral
When you provide the best property management services in your area, cultivating referrals becomes an easier part of your automated property management marketing strategy. Geekly Media knows that the work you do to serve your clients is what you do best! Let us help you talk to your happy clients and get referrals that bring more business to your door.
Your referrals are waiting! Geekly Media can help you script requests, automate communications, and collect the referrals you need to grow. Contact us to get started!