Hi there. Welcome to Hello Referrals and welcome to our blog.
In case you didn’t see the pitch on the way in, Hello Referrals is web application currently in development that hopes to accomplish one simple goal: to help you as a small business owner get the most out of referral marketing.
That’s the high-level description but what does that mean in English? Well, here’s where it came from — Chris and I know that referral marketing is probably the most effective way small businesses can promote themselves. If you look at the amount of money invested vs. the return you get and compare it to traditional advertising and other promotion tactics, hands-down referral marketing can’t be beat.
But it goes deeper than that. Picture yourself as a customer… when somebody offers you a referral it usually comes in the form of an endorsement from somebody you know: “Oh, you need a caterer — talk to my man Mark, he’s the best” or “Tax lawyer? You need to call Theresa — she knows her stuff”. The true power of a referral is in the inherent trust attached to it. Trust is not something a small business can acquire through advertising or traditional marketing. It’s like love. It ain’t for sale… but it can be transferred. Just as easily as the friend who tells you, “If you need to do some renovations, I know a guy who does great work.”
So we all agree referrals are great, but to really — and I mean really — get the most out of referrals, small businesses are discovering that if they align themselves in groups of complimentary services they can refer business to each other in a more structured manner. That’s where we came up with the tagline for Hello Referrals: what goes around comes around. Instead of twiddling your thumbs and waiting for your biggest fans (your satisfied customers) to pass your name onto new customers, you have a nice little network in place that would love nothing more than to scratch your back because you’re looking for opportunities to scratch theirs right back. Now we’re cooking with gas.
That’s where Hello Referrals, the proverbial stove, comes in — running a strong referral marketing campaign when you’re part of a larger group requires structure. Not a mish-mash of Outlook reminders, email folders and to-do lists that just get in your way and ultimately make it harder for you to keep on top of things. Hello Referrals is designed to be a natural extension of your referral marketing state-of-mind. No muss, no fuss — just the bare essential features you need to get the most out of referral marketing.
Chris and I look forward to extolling the virtues of referral marketing and the virtuous existence that awaits those who subscribe to it. We’re also keen to share with you the blow-by-blow account of building a web application from the ground up. It’s a new experience for us and we’re excited to talk about the ups and downs as we go.