Question:
I'm a food distributor and I would like to know if its appropriate to ask the following to current customers..
Is it appropriate to ask current customers the following:
"If there is anyone that you know that you think can use my services and products, I would love for you to either refer me to them or have you let them know about me and my contact information."
Is this appropriate and professional?
Any suggestions on how to tweak this statement - question?
Answers:
if you don't mind sinking a few cents into each customer, you can send a card to each one saying something like this:
Thank you for your business. Great customers like you are always appreciated. I've enclosed a couple business cards in case you know anyone else who might need my services.
A personal touch is if you hand-write the note or at least hand write, "Dear Jim" or whatever your contact's first name is, and sign it by hand too.
You can have printed buisness cards that say "10% off your first order!" on the back (or have a stamp made that you can stamp the back of your business cards with) and those will make them even more tempting for your customers to hand out. You can even add to the letter, "The cards enclosed are good for a discount (on the back) - please keep one to use yourself!"
To save money, you can buy cards and envelopes from Staples that you can just print on your office printer.
I have seen people print on the back of their business cards "referrals always appreciated". you could try that or print that up on your invoices at the bottom!
Yea its fine. How do you network if you don't ask questions like those in business. As long as its nothing vulgar or sexually explicit then I think you are fine.
Nothing comes for free...remember. Offer an incentive, like send these customers coupons asking them to distribute them to the family. Or, start a referral program. Send a card asking the actual customers to refer a new customer and you will send them a free case of beer or whatever you think its apropriate. I was giving away free tshirts. My cost was $12 postage included and out of 300 cards, 100 came back fully filled up.
Its appropriate, your marketing the product and services, you provide.
When I had my cleaning business I did the same, but I inserted a bribe in the pitch.
I would offer the customer giving me a good lead, a 10% mark down on their next bill (finders fee) and the new customer would receive the same 10% mark down.
This bites into your profit, but that’s reasonable, because the old customer is happy for the break. You also have a potential new customer, to add to your route and a chance for a long term customer.
I'd cozy up to the new customer, by calling them a couple days after I'd did the work and see how satisfied they were. There was also a letter, with my price lists, that I sent the day after I cleaned their place. I generally avoided discussing bringing them on then as new customers, as it comes across as being pushy.
Most times, they received the letter, about the same day I called. They usually had questions about the services and prices. About 3 out of 5 times, I'd secure a new customer, not bad.
Most times I'd pitch for new customers, by inserting professional flyers in with their billings. I'd keep the flyer short and sweet, a paragraph at most. The one thing you want to do is give a time limit for the offer, makes life simpler.
The only time I'd approach them in person, is if during my work schedule, it came out during a conversation about someone they knew needing a service call.
And all my customers knew, I was up for a recommendation from them at any time.
My spiel was something like this.
If you know or hear of anyone needing my services, for a good reference, I'll give you a 10% discount on your next bill and they'll get 10% off as well.
That’s all I’ve got, good luck.
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