Written by Whether you’re working in the lawn care industry, providing HVAC services or offering another service, it’s important to have loyal customers to bring in the money consistently. That’s where referral programs come in handy. Field service referral programs offer several benefits, including increasing your return customer base, building trust among customers and promoting your business. But if you want your referral program to stand out, you have to have a plan.
Luckily, you implement a few best practices that you can apply to make your referral program simple to set up and attractive for your customers. Here’s a quick, step-by-step guide to building an easy referral program for your field service business:
1. Know Your Goals
It’s crucial to understand what you want to achieve with the referral program. This helps you to better target your audience and set parameters for tracking your goals. It’s also important to get specific with your goals. For instance, if you want to increase your customer base for your premier plumbing service, then consider basing your program around this goal. Setting your goals early on in your referral program helps you to stay focused.
2. Pick Your Target Audience
It’s important know which customers to focus on so you can spend your time with the prospective referrers who will likely use your referral program. Start by looking at the customers who spend the most on your services. For instance, if you notice homeowners in the southern part of the county buy more of your HVAC services than other customers, it’s a good idea to start with this customer base. Reach out to these customers strategically. One creative way to get more referrals for your field service business is via email. You can set up an email marketing campaign to introduce the program and send reminder emails. If you have a small customer base of less than 2,000, you may consider using a free email campaign plan from MailChimp or other email marketing automation tools.
3. Choose an Incentive
Research shows that successful referral programs requires incentives. A study by the research company Forrester notes that loyalty customers spend more than customers who are not in a loyalty program. Consider what your customers value. For instance, you may offer a percentage off or $25 off of your mid-tier home cleaning services to referrers who get a customer to sign up for your subscription service. If you want your offer to stand out, consider what your competition is offering and offer a better incentive.
4. Promote Strategically
Focus on getting the word out about your referral program on the platforms your target audiences are most likely to hang out. For instance, if you’re targeting homeowners who enjoy using Instagram or Pinterest, consider sharing your referral program via these social media platforms. You can also use social media tools like Tailwind or Buffer to automate your social media posts and referral offers at the right scheduled time that your audience is likely to view your message. Also, consider tools you may already be paying for or activities you may already perform as a way to promote to your customers. For instances you send a message to your customers reminding them of your referral program via scheduled appointment confirmations using mHelpDesk’s automated SMS alerts feature.
5. Track Referrals
It’s important to determine if your referral program is working, so consider using tools to keep track of the progress of your program. Consider using tracking tools and testing your offers again and again to determine the ones that are working for you and your customers.
Final Thoughts
Boosting your field service business calls for spreading the word so others can know about your services, and referral programs can help you achieve this goal. However, it’s crucial to plan ahead. Just use the tips from this quick, step-by-step guide, and you’ll set up an easy referral program for your field service business in no time.
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Last modified: August 23, 2019
