What is the Best Referral Gift for Your Business?
Deciding on Whether to Give Cash vs Gifts for Referrals is Simple
Austin, TX Referrals are the lifeblood of many businesses. The simple act of asking a satisfied client for a referral can increase sales by 10-20% -- or higher. Referrals also lead to a higher closing ratio-- as you are building upon the success of a familiar person or company that was not only satisfied -- but that recommended you.
Most companies start thinking about strategies to increase referrals-- and many are deciding on a formalized referral plan.
Simply asking for one is fine. This can often be effective...some of the time. But it is not scalable.
Incentivizing the person to put their own reputation on the line is another thing.
When you are ready to start seriously making referrals a priority, the decision usually comes down to cash vs gift. The answer is simple: branded or high end promotional gifts will outperform cash-- and also give you a higher return on the investment.
Pros & Cons:
Cash & Gift Cards:
Pros: Cash:
- Simple to give
- People like cash or their equivalents
Cons: Cash: Cash is quickly forgotten...about as soon as it is put in your wallet, or as soon as the check has been cashed and the money goes to the bank.
Tangible Branded Gifts:
Tangible Gifts: Pros:
- Simple to give
- People love getting gifts
- Remembered and used for years-each time the recipient uses the gift, they think of your business
- Great branding tool- that you can write off for marketing/advertising
- Blind perceived value---if the gift is very nice, the recipient often thinks that you spent more than you did-- it is all about perception
- Branded Gifts can even be personalized with the recipient's own name
Cons: Tangible Gifts:
- You will have to outlay a little bit of money up-front for branded gifts
- Storage: You may have to store the tangible gifts--but we offer drop shipping and fulfilment on many items where applicable.
In my 35+ years in marketing and sales, our clients have tested - and branded gifts out-performs cash by a wide margin. They have also found that they get multiple referrals with branded gifts-- especially if you change up the gift offering from time to time.
Referral gifts should be something physical--and fun to receive and to use--but never cash.
We have even started to offer over 150 branded gifts that can be individually drop shipped with no inventory on your part---even personalized with the person's name. Try doing that with cash.
These are ideal for online referrals or if you can batch your referral list every week or so.
I like to give branded tech kits or a food or snack set inside a branded cooler.
Cash is forgotten too quickly--but with a branded gift, your kindness will be remembered for years.
Isn't it time you developed and implemented and promoted your own referral program?
If you have any issues or questions in developing your own program, reach out to me for help.
Happy Promoting!
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