Series: How to Set Your Massage Referral Program on Fire / Part 7

Following up last week's tip of marketing creatively is how to make it easy for clients to refer people to you.

Referral Fire Starter Tip #7: Make It Easy for Referrers

You can have the best referral program with fantastic rewards, but if it’s difficult for clients to use or understand, they won’t use it. Everyone is overwhelmed enough as it is; the last thing they want to do is to have to wade through piles of information or red tape just to send a client or two your way. Here are some tips for keeping your program simple and user-friendly:

1. Keep the rewards simple. Don’t get too complicated with different levels of rewards or different rewards for different people. Keeping it simple and streamlined will make it easy for your clients to understand, and easy for you to implement.
2. Don’t give too many choices. More choice is not always a good thing. In fact, surveys show that when people are given more choice, it actually increases their confusion and reduces their satisfaction with their final selection. If you must give choices for redeeming referral rewards, keep it simple. Ask them to choose between two types of the same thing ($20 off a future service or a free upgraded service, for example.)
3. Confirm when you receive a referral. Let your client know when you receive a referral from them. A quick email reply, “Thank you for trusting us!” is perfect. You can also make a note in the computer if you have a customer management system so the next time you talk to that client you can let them know you appreciate the referral.
4. Reward promptly. The only thing worse than never receiving the reward you were promised is having to wait months for the reward you were promised. Reward your clients promptly when they’ve earned something from your referral program. Positive reinforcement will increase the likelihood of a repeat performance.

What ways have you made it easy for clients to refer their friends to you?

Series wrap up:
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6

Cindy Iwlew is co-founder of Bodywork Buddy Massage Software, a complete online management solution for independent massage therapists that includes online scheduling. 

She continues to operate her own private massage practice of 13 years.  www.BodyworkBuddy.com

                                                                 easy/hard photo: freedigitalphotos.net