7 Simple Steps To Grow Your Repeat and Referral Business.

Business owners dream about the day where they no longer have to try to figure out the next hot marketing and social media trend and sustain their growth with repeat and referral business. The elusive and highly talked about repeat and referral business is all the rage in business and entrepreneurial magazines with good reason: Growing your repeat and referral business makes a huge difference in your bottom line and is a product of having a great connection with your client and customer base.

Clients turning into friends and inevitably turning into family that sends everyone on their contact list over to your business is the stuff of fiction, but not completely out of our realm. It happens all the time. Think about a conversation where you insisted that your friend or colleague speak with your “go-to person” for service or product. See?

And while the pursuit to grow your repeat and referral business may leave you scratching your head, we’ve put together a simple 7 step method to get the snowball going.

---

1. Grab a Pen

• Oh, and paper. Be prepared to start taking notes. Got it?

• Okay, Step 1: Complete. (phew!)

2. Audit Your Online Reviews

• The trick here is being completely honest with yourself. Are your 5-star reviews justified? 5 stars means 100%. Perfect. Immaculate. Is there no room for improvement?
• Write down the things you’re being praised for most. Are they truly unique characteristics your competitors do not possess? Or are they traits any professional should exhibit in their job (eg. good communication, punctuality, and organization)?

3. Become the Consumer

• Now imagine yourself in the shoes of your client. Would you yourself give yourself a perfect 5 stars?
• What traits would your review commend? What specific elements of the experience would you call out as being unique? Write them down.
• Think about the entire process of working together and note all meaningful moments that you created from the first moment you met the client through today.

4. Brainstorm Five Impactful Acts

• Try to uncover 5 things you can do throughout your process that would positively impact your clients. What would impress you?
• Write down impactful experiences you have had as a consumer. Maybe that’s checking into a hotel, dining at a fancy restaurant, or making a high-end purchase.
• What specific moments made you feel special? What unique touches can you inject into your process that would make your client feel this way? Come up with 5 things.

5. Show Five Peers

• Send your 5 Acts to 5 Peers you respect and trust who will give you honest feedback.
• Let them poke holes in your ideas and even elaborate on what you have thought of. Six brains are better than one. Don’t be defensive.

6. Optimize From Feedback

• Compile the blended feedback from your peers from the root of your 5 ideas and write them down as executable bullet points.
• You are past the ideas phase and now these sentences should be specific and actionable.

7. Execute

• Execute your new plan. Every single time. With every single client. this is now a part of your process and will continue to be as you measure the results of the new strategy.
• Watch your repeat and referral business grow!

---

The aim is to have this new process become a part of your client experience, allowing you to cut through the noise and create conversation about the experience and your business. To see and hear examples of how our Co-Founder, Jay O’Brien, created an experience for his clients and created an army of repeat and referral business, you can watch this free webinar.

For more articles on elevating yourself, your business, and those around you, head to our articles page.