If you've been in business for a while, you've learned to appreciate the value of word of mouth advertising. It costs nothing and frequently brings in high quality prospects already sold on your product or service. Ah, if only it could happen more often...

It can. With a little planning and a slightly different focus in your marketing efforts, you can develop a steady stream of predictable referrals, week after week, month after month. But first let's understand the difference between a referral and its often misunderstood twin, a word-of-mouth advertising. Although subtle, the difference is dramatic. You see, word-of-mouth advertising typically just happens. Referrals, on the other hand, are orchestrated!

Let's start with the basics first. Where do referrals come from? From satisfied customers, of course! Yes, but what are they satisfied with? Heck, that is precisely what you have to figure out.

First, you have to realize that every business transaction consists of two parts. One is the product/service. Customers evaluate quality, features, benefits, price, and how this all compares with your competition. The second part is the experience. Customers will evaluate how easy, how fast, how convenient, how satisfying and how pleasurable the total buying experience is.

Do you know any business that delivers an inferior product, yet are able to survive...maybe even do remarkably well? Chances are that what's lost in the quality of the product is somehow compensated in the quality of experience. And I'm sure you know some businesses -- maybe even yours-- which deliver superb quality products or service, but somehow are not able to attract as many customers as they could. Quite possibly, the process of buying needs some work.

Referrals start with a "WOW!" experience for your customer. Imagine what would happen if everyone doing business with you felt compelled to talk to others about your business! To make that happen you'll need a system that delivers... and delivers consistently . For starters, find out how you are doing in the area of quality. Develop a simple survey to measure both your product and customer's experience. Rate different aspects of both your product and service on a scale:

1 - for poor,
2 - for satisfactory,
3 - for great.

To get ongoing referrals you can bank on instead of the occasional worth-of-mouth advertising, you'll need to score a consistent "3" in both product/service and experience. Don't fret if your first surveys come back with lackluster results. They're sure to point to some areas that need improvement. Make the improvements, then ask your customers for their feedback...again. You can try another survey, or better yet a small focus group.

Most likely, your customers will jump at the chance to provide you with feedback and to get you started on Building Your Business Through Referrals.

That is one of those things that makes people feel that you care. From now on you will be on a roll. Good luck!