Want to Gain New Clients? Ask for Referrals In Your Message On Hold!

Customer referrals are one of the most powerful selling and marketing tools available. In fact, the best source of new business is a referral from a satisfied customer. Virtually everyone I meet in the business world understands the value of a referral. However, most forget the most important piece in the referral process – asking for referrals!

So you’ve got the right message and music on hold to keep your callers on the line, that’s great, keep up the good work. Your on-hold recording must be that good to convince callers to stay on the line. But just a thought for you to ponder: have you ever thought that maybe on-hold messages are far more useful than what they’re originally designed for? That maybe by using it for the sole purpose of persuading callers not to hang up, you have been missing out on a perfect opportunity to gain new clients?

Yes, your telephone on-hold messaging can help you get more clients. How, you ask? Referrals, my friend! Ask your callers for customer referrals. Tell them how you’d appreciate it if they refer you to their family, friends, neighbors, colleagues, and even to that guy they just met in line at the coffee shop  –  in short, anyone who needs your excellent service.

Ask any business where there new accounts are coming from and they will tell you how referrals from their customers/clients had hugely helped them get to where they are now. Other marketing strategies aiming to reach out to people who had never heard of you are, of course, still essential in the growth of your company. But, maybe it’s time that you start looking into the possibilities and promises a referral system brings.

However, gaining customer referrals is not a simple mathematical equation. You can’t instantly convince someone to refer you to people they know just by asking them to do it. It takes a deeper commitment and knowing what information to tell your callers.

Of course, you should be careful with how you construct the message and how they are delivered. There’s a right way to ask for referrals without sounding desperate and incompetent. All you need to do is to go the right people – The Original On Hold Inc, as we’re always ready to help creatively craft your music on hold message script copy to use the right words in helping to get those valuable referrals.

Given the business potential from garnering customer referrals, being able to build a high percentage of business from customers, and even prospects, through referrals is an enviable characteristic of exceptional sales professionals. There is an art to asking for referrals – and getting them. We know this is, if you do not ask for the referral, you are not likely to get it.

But we have to make it clear: it’s not just all about good first impressions. People referring you to others after the first visit are hardly evident. Most often than not, customers only mention you to friends and acquaintances once they see your company’s consistent quality service and genuine care. So keep “customer satisfaction ”  at the forefront of your company, which influences how customers will speak to friends, family and colleagues about your company.