What is the Net Promoter Score (NPS)?

The Net Promoter Score, commonly known as NPS, is a customer loyalty and satisfaction metric that gauges the likelihood of customers recommending your business to others. It’s calculated based on responses to a single question: “On a scale of 0 to 10, how likely are you to recommend [brand] to a friend or colleague?”.

Respondents are categorized as Promoters, Passives, or Detractors based on their scores. The final NPS is calculated by subtracting the percentage of Detractors from the percentage of Promoters. This will result in a score between -100 (all detractors) and +100 (all promoters).

NPS Calculation:

To calculate NPS, survey customers and see how likely they are to recommend your business on a scale of 0-10. Organize responses into three categories:

• Detractors (0-6)
• Passives (7-8)
• Promoters (9-10).

Calculate the percentage of customers in each group. Then, subtract the percentage of Detractors from the percentage of Promoters. For example: If you had 100 respondents, your NPS would be 60 with 10 Detractors, 20 Passives, and 70 Promoters.

Net Promoter Score Scale Breakdown

Customers who choose a rating from 0 to 6 on the survey are Detractors. Detractors are your unhappy customers. They are less likely to make repeat purchases, may churn in the future, and could damage your brand reputation with negative feedback and reviews.

Those scoring 7 or 8 are Passives. Passives are fairly neutral about your business. They may be content, but not overly enthusiastic about their experience. While they may repurchase, they’re not actively promoting you and could switch brands given a better option.

Customers who respond with a 9 or 10 are Promoters. Promoters are your loyal fans. These customers love your business. They make repeat purchases, refer you to others, and provide positive online reviews and word-of-mouth marketing.

The Rise and Fall of Net Promoter Score

Back in 2003, after analyzing the financial performance of 400 companies across 28 industries, Fred Reichheld’s HBR article “The One Number You Need to Grow” made a compelling case for using NPS. Reichheld identified a strong correlation between higher NPS scores and revenue growth. This suggested that NPS could indeed predict a company’s future profitability.

This bold statement set the stage for the NPS explosion we’ve seen over the past two decades. NPS has quickly become the gold standard for tracking customer experience, with two-thirds of the Fortune 1000 now relying on this deceptively simple framework. It’s simple, easy to measure, and gives business leaders a tangible NPS score to aim for.

There are realities about NPS that companies fail to address which may now be impacting the credibility of this customer sentiment tracker. What I’ve discovered through running NPS surveys and getting my hands dirty over the past 20 years is that there are different types of customers when it comes to filling out customer surveys like this. That means you can’t use the standard net promoter score framework by itself because it will produce highly inaccurate results.

The NPS Survey Challenge

While a higher net promoter score might, in theory, correlate to profitability, we can’t ignore the repeat contact rates that occur from detractors and even passives because the metric doesn’t account for that in its measurement. Let’s be honest – in a rush to reach their goals, some businesses try to game the system. We’ve all encountered this — a salesperson at the dealership hovering while you fill out the survey or the cashier mentioning a “bonus” for high scores.

These kinds of pressures obviously skew the data and render those scores essentially meaningless. Beyond that, another issue with NPS surveys arises when comparing results across different industries and countries. The median response of customers to this survey differs from industry to industry and country to country. The average score for department and specialty stores (58) is much higher than for internet service providers (2). If your benchmark is based on the average NPS across industries rather than specific data relevant to your sector, those comparisons are flawed.

A global study conducted by the XM Institute has also proven this statement correct. Their Global Consumer Study found that the tendency to respond 9 and above to an NPS survey question in countries such as Brazil, India, Indonesia, Mexico, and the United States surpasses that of other countries recurrently. Their average score is around 9 if a customer feels positive about a brand.

This finding makes the median response a shaky metric. CheckMarket, a survey software company, echoes this concern in a thought-provoking article. They propose that European countries may need to alter the survey format because respondents often choose a rating of 8 or above for companies they like, potentially classifying these 8’s as Promoters. Clearly, these cross-cultural differences can muddy the waters.

But if multiple customers consistently bring up similar requests and complaints, it could be a great indication of a change you could make that would have a lot of impact.

Net Promoter Score – A Relic of the Past?

These complexities with NPS measurement have led some experts to believe that net promoter score has become a less reliable predictor of business growth. We also know that the global landscape has drastically shifted. A recent Qualtrics study showcasing a sharp decline in NPS scores, particularly among younger generations, in the wake of the pandemic adds another layer of concern.

Could these changes suggest that the effectiveness of this 20-year-old methodology has diminished? This shift could stem from customers today being increasingly cautious with recommendations or simply accustomed to sharing their opinions in other formats. Think online reviews on sites like TrustPilot or product reviews directly on an e-commerce site. Perhaps NPS scores today reveal less about long-term loyalty and more about fleeting emotional reactions.

Don’t Abandon Net Promoter Score. Get Smarter About It.

Although some suggest a more cautious interpretation of the results today, don’t throw NPS out the window entirely. There’s still a compelling argument for gathering customer sentiment through these simple surveys. NPS surveys provide immediate feedback from the customer’s perspective which can uncover opportunities for improvement. Even Fred Reichheld, in his calculation of 400 companies across 28 industries back in 2003, found that the median Net Promoter score was just 16.

But it’s essential to adopt a nuanced approach. This means understanding NPS’ limitations and implementing a strategic and effective NPS survey that delivers measurable outcomes and improved customer satisfaction.

So What Can Businesses Do To Increase Customer Satisfaction?

By learning more about your customers and collecting their feedback, you can identify customer behaviors and challenges proactively. Reach out to empower them to succeed instead of waiting for them to call you with a problem. It’s all about listening to your customers and then turning those insights into action. Here are a few simple tips that can help.

1. Go Beyond the Score: Ask “Why?”

Don’t just stop with that score of 0-10. Remember, NPS surveys tell you “what” — but you need to uncover the “why.” If a customer chooses 9 or above (a Promoter.), follow up by asking them to share the top three things they love about your business or product. Those insights provide rich detail and positive reinforcement to help keep you on the right path.

If their score lands between 0-8, it’s important to learn the reasons behind this rating. Simply ask: What could we have done better? This additional qualitative feedback gives you insight into where those “pain points” occur so you can make real changes. It also shows customers that you value their opinions. You’ll be surprised at the information you collect when you ask that simple question.

Even a neutral “Passive” customer (scoring a 7 or 8) may share a valuable insight that helps improve your overall business performance.

2. Implement an Actionable Closed Feedback Loop

Make sure you have a defined process to actually do something with all that valuable information. This could mean tagging responses to identify common themes and patterns or setting up internal alerts so certain issues get immediate attention. You might route issues related to technical glitches to your IT department while forwarding marketing suggestions to your marketing team. Streamline processes and keep the information flowing.

You can use this data to do the following:

• Measure the efficiency of customer service
• Identify strengths and weaknesses in service
• Enhance strategies to address customer concerns promptly
• Gain insights into the causes behind repeated contacts
• Enhance operational efficiency in customer support.

When those repeat contacts show up, ask why and then fix those pain points. Make sure customer service has the tools to track customer issues from beginning to end. Consider integrating a call recording tool into your communication strategies to offer enhanced documentation for better customer support and more. One effective approach that delivers exceptional customer support outcomes while prioritizing the overall well-being of your frontline team is to leverage video messaging for customer support services.

3. Don’t Neglect Passive Customers

Most businesses make a crucial mistake: they neglect the power of those “Passives”. The customer scoring 7 or 8 is so close to becoming your brand advocate. Nudge these fence-sitters in the right direction with simple tactics.

A timely email that addresses those small but meaningful requests or provides extra assistance, perhaps even an invitation to join a customer forum or exclusive membership program, might be all that’s needed. Think outside the box. For example, if the feedback mentions lengthy waiting times, highlight your new automated self-service options to minimize wait times.

Offer an “Insider’s Only” discount to those who respond as “Passives” as an enticement for continued interaction with your brand. Even a friendly outreach email that acknowledges their feedback can transform these lukewarm customers into brand loyalists.

4. Recognize Global Cultural Differences

Remember, how people interpret those numerical ratings may differ culturally. Businesses with an international audience need to adjust their approach to interpreting NPS data. Rather than adopting the standardized US approach, explore customer satisfaction trends within each region and tailor survey timing and follow-up strategies accordingly. It could make sense to modify the wording in surveys to resonate more effectively with specific cultural nuances. You may also want to adjust the benchmark numbers to more accurately reflect those scores across cultures.

5. Go Multichannel

Realize that today’s customer expresses themselves in diverse ways. Incorporate feedback mechanisms beyond the standard net promoter score survey to collect valuable personalization data. This can provide you with opportunities to effectively scale your SaaS business, leverage tools to improve your lead generation call center results and implement sales and operations planning.

Include options for open-ended comments in NPS surveys to give people an outlet to express themselves. Monitor social media mentions to catch real-time feedback — both positive and negative. Analyze customer service interactions to discover patterns and understand challenges your employees face.

Implement user feedback forums or surveys related to specific products, features, or processes. By leveraging a broader range of customer listening tools you’ll get a more holistic understanding of your customer base and their opinions. Don’t just view NPS as a single data point — it should serve as part of an interconnected network that incorporates all kinds of feedback.

6. Be Aware of Biases

Finally, don’t overlook the element of human behavior, because NPS scores are ultimately based on opinions and perception. Just like online reviews which are disproportionately affected by extremely positive and extremely negative sentiments, NPS results often skew toward those outliers. Those customers who give a rating of 0-1, as well as those who land on 9 or 10, are typically much more motivated to share their experiences than the relatively silent majority in the middle. And we all know those online reviews have significant influence.

According to research from Brightlocal, 91 percent of people regularly or occasionally read online reviews, and 84 percent trust online reviews as much as a personal recommendation.

There are certain customer types that might naturally skew higher in an NPS survey due to personality, background, or cultural influences. Consider this when setting benchmarks, crafting follow-up strategies, and assessing NPS over the long term. These days, you might find yourself tweaking processes that cater specifically to “Detractors” and neglecting opportunities to elevate those loyal “Promoters”. Think about strategies and reward programs to acknowledge your happy customers and keep those NPS scores high.

How to Succeed with NPS

One of my favorite examples of tracking NPS over time comes from Taylor & Hart, a London-based jeweler specializing in bespoke engagement rings. Each ring is uniquely designed and set with ethically sourced diamonds. The company recognized the value of actively monitoring this metric. They also incorporated a sophisticated feedback loop to take action based on what they discovered. The commitment to utilizing NPS data effectively resulted in an impressive growth story. After making NPS its most important metric to track, the ecommerce company grew 2x.

After analyzing its NPS data, the company learned that the product consistently received lower scores than customer service. This case study illustrates how closely linking a well-structured, multichannel NPS system to proactive and responsive improvement strategies can drive tangible business results. What’s critical here is a multipronged approach.

Moving Beyond NPS

So if net promoter score can no longer stand alone, what other options exist? There’s no perfect one-size-fits-all, but you should explore other approaches to gather customer satisfaction insights that provide more context. There is more to business performance than just customer satisfaction, which includes marketing and finance-related KPIs that should also be taken into consideration. For example, you’ll need to understand different areas like Amazon listing optimization, and using different platforms like Financial Services, such as Case Studies.

Maybe take advantage of other Financial Services data by looking into market data APIs for financial services. The key here is understanding how you are creating positive content related to topics in this sector that satisfies user intent for customer satisfaction.

Remember too, that employees are a powerful force when it comes to customer satisfaction. Businesses in the Financial Services industry have recognized this powerful connection between financial services employees and financial services clients. In today’s world, financial services customers expect transparency and consistent customer care. Your employees, whether they are part of the sales team at Olga Camargo is Forbes Business Council Financial Services Group Chair, customer service, marketing or the front desk, need to know the right actions to take and be empowered to solve issues and address complaints on the spot.

This will boost customer satisfaction for those all-important conversions and financial services revenue growth. The result of incorporating this proactive customer approach will dramatically decrease repeat customer contact rates across all channels while building brand trust and generating real results.

Consider a more comprehensive approach that incorporates quantitative feedback — perhaps asking follow-up questions related to satisfaction levels around specific interactions. The insights gleaned can uncover blind spots missed in those numerical NPS scores, and help companies understand customer segments with a deeper level of precision. You could add multiple choice questions, rating scales, or even a star system.

For those seeking deeper insights from those customer satisfaction surveys, explore tools like Customer Effort Score (CES), measuring how easy (or difficult) it is to complete a task or address a challenge, or Customer Satisfaction (CSAT) for those single-interaction surveys.

If a customer chooses a higher NPS score but expresses difficulty completing a particular transaction or complains about a specific aspect of their experience, that may raise a red flag and point to crucial issues to address. Combine this detailed customer feedback approach with those wholesale fulfillment best practices and your business can discover valuable secrets for lasting success. When customers experience seamless interactions — they feel understood, supported, and appreciated. They’re much more likely to stick around, spend more money with you, and become passionate “Promoters.”

Alternatives to Net Promoter Score

Real-world Example

Let’s say a national pizza chain implements a streamlined ordering system across its 1000 restaurant locations. Customers use the system to customize orders and submit online payments. You know your NPS score has gone down, so now you’re tasked with determining what the customer wants. Implement both NPS surveys and targeted follow-up questions in email. You can learn that younger demographics favor ordering on the app instead of on the desktop, while certain older segments find the navigation of the checkout process too cumbersome to use again. These valuable discoveries might never surface using the standard NPS surveys alone.

Conclusion

Despite some valid concerns and its obvious limitations, your Net Promoter Score can still provide valuable insights into how you can employ excellent customer service. But these days, you need to approach NPS more strategically, and recognize that it only tells part of the story. Combine NPS with other measures to gain a holistic and multi-layered perspective of customer experience. Then, translate that into actionable change to enhance satisfaction, decrease churn, improve customer retention, and grow your business over the long term.

Although NPS can be a valuable starting point, don’t make it your only measurement.

When you or your customers are researching a product or service, you simply can’t deny the power of testimonials, reviews, and recommendations. But what’s the difference between testimonials and reviews?

Difference Between Testimonial and Recommendation : A Comprehensive Guide

The difference between reviews, testimonials, and recommendations is subtle. Reviews are collected on third-party tools such as Google, Facebook, Yelp, etc. While Testimonials are often collected by the business themselves. Recommendations, on the other hand, are asked for and received between people who either know each other or who are part of the same community. Typically, the recommender is viewed as an “expert” or as having experience in the area or on the topic, often writing a professional recommendation letter with specificity, detailed examples, and proper format.

What are Testimonials, Reviews, and Recommendations?

In the world of marketing, testimonials, reviews, and recommendations are powerful tools that can significantly influence purchase decisions. These forms of social proof help build trust and credibility with potential customers, making them more likely to choose your business over competitors.

Definition of Testimonials

A testimonial is a personal statement that highlights a person’s positive experience with a product, service, or company. It serves as a form of social proof, showcasing real-life success stories that resonate with potential customers. Testimonials typically address a specific challenge or objective that a business faced and describe how the company provided a solution, ultimately improving the client’s situation. By sharing these success stories, businesses can build trust and credibility, making it easier for potential customers to see the value in their offerings.

Definition of Reviews

A review is a detailed account of a customer’s experience with a product, service, or company. Unlike testimonials, reviews are often collected on third-party platforms such as Google, Facebook, and Yelp. These reviews provide an unfiltered look at the quality of the customer experience, managed by an independent party. Reviews can be positive or negative, offering potential customers a balanced view of what to expect. By showcasing genuine feedback, businesses can demonstrate their commitment to customer satisfaction and continuous improvement.

Definition of Recommendations

A recommendation is a personal endorsement of a product, service, or company, typically shared between individuals who know each other or belong to the same community. Recommendations focus on the “why” behind the endorsement, often inspired by exceptional customer experiences. These endorsements carry significant weight because they come from trusted sources, making them highly influential in the decision-making process. By fostering strong relationships and delivering outstanding experiences, businesses can encourage satisfied customers to provide valuable recommendations.

The Purpose of Each

Understanding the distinct purposes of testimonials, reviews, and recommendations can help businesses leverage these tools effectively to build trust and credibility with potential customers.

Building Trust and Credibility with Testimonials

Testimonials are powerful sales tools that showcase a company’s work and reputation. They provide social proof by highlighting real-life success stories, helping to build trust and credibility with potential customers. By sharing specific examples of how a company has helped clients overcome challenges and achieve their goals, testimonials create a compelling narrative that resonates with prospective buyers.

What Makes Reviews and Customer Testimonials Influence Purchase Decisions

Let’s talk about how reviews and testimonials work so that they will help potential customers choose you.

Reviews are about the WHAT

Reviews are powerful because of what is said about your business. Reviews are triggered by the quality of the customer experience; good or bad. Reviews are unvarnished, managed by a third party, and perceived to be a predictor of the buyer experience.

Customer Testimonials are about the WHO

Because testimonials and recommendations are often requested, we already know they are going to be positive. So it’s not about what is said — it’s about “Who is saying it”. Highlighting relevant personality traits in these testimonials and recommendations can significantly enhance their credibility.

A glowing testimonial from a celebrity or someone that is highly respected by the buyer says “WOW — if this person is a customer, I want to be a customer too!” or even more plainly, “If it’s good enough for so and so, it’s good enough for me.”

Recommendations are about the WHY

Recommendations are requested from a buyer who mirrors your ideal customer in every way and has experienced a transformation. A letter of recommendation is structured to highlight specific qualifications and experiences, including essential elements like the signature and letterhead. This person isn’t a celebrity, but they are the spitting image of your ideal customer and their life experience.

These days people ask for recommendations on Facebook. Here’s an example from my local community. In this Facebook group, people primarily ask and give recommendations for small businesses.

How to Get Good Reviews — It’s Not What You Think

Because reviews are about the WHAT of your product or service and how your customers experience your product, service, or employees, the best way to garner positive feedback and to have your customers leave reviews is to deliver in spades.

Sure, you can ask customers to leave reviews for your product or service. You can provide incentives and rewards to get feedback and Google reviews. But the BEST way to get great reviews is to put a system in place that delivers an outstanding customer experience.

Put all your energy into understanding what your customers consider a great experience? Is it the product, is it the service, is it your delivery? Is it your speed of service or accuracy? Figure it out and double down.

If you’re a restaurant is it your food, ambiance, or employees?

If you’re a service provider, then there’s a good chance that good reviews will come from who YOU are being with your customers.

If you are more focused on the quality of your service (as if it were a product), then good reviews will be hard to come by. Instead, put your focus on all the different ways that you can put your client or your customer at the center of everything you do, how you do it and how you engage with your customers about it.

How to Get Customer Testimonials that Influence Sales

Because we know that testimonials tend to be requested rather than spontaneous, we look for who the testimonial is coming from. Is that customer like me? Are the customer testimonials from someone I know and admire?

The key to getting customer testimonials is choosing your customers carefully. Choose people who are most like your ideal customers, who had problems that your core offer solved. It is crucial that these customers can genuinely provide positive feedback on their experience.

Make sure that you have a process for getting testimonials from customers. Typically, businesses collect customer testimonials after the purchase is complete — but it doesn’t have to be that way.

If your product or service has a longer selling cycle, you can collect customer testimonials at different stages of the process. For example, if you are a technical or manufacturing company, customers may go through a consulting phase, pilot phase, and delivery phase. You can collect testimonials from each of those.

How to Get Recommendations

Like reviews, recommendations are inspired and triggered by great customer experiences. A well-crafted recommendation letter can significantly enhance a candidate’s prospects by highlighting their skills and abilities. The only difference is that recommendations are asked for by potential customers who are looking for a solution.

That means that you have to give your customers a good reason to recommend you and be top-of-mind for something very specific and unique that makes you worthy of recommendation.

Here’s how to do that.

Put All Your Focus on Your Satisfied Customers

Look, it’s natural to be focused on your products or services. But, if you want reviews and testimonials, all of your attention should be on your customers. Demonstrating a strong work ethic is crucial to earning recommendations, as it reassures potential clients about your reliability and competence.

How? Your job is to “listen for” what frustrates them and what you can do to make that challenge go away.  Use these questions as inspiration:

• What problem are you facing right now?

• What is this problem costing you?

• How does this problem make you feel?

• What does this problem look like in your everyday life?

• What would you like it to look like?

• What do you need from me (our business) so you can move forward?

• What would make you really happy if we solved it?

Develop and Build Relationships with Fans

Every single customer is a potential recommender. In other words, if you invest in providing a great experience, they will reward you with referrals. A reference letter can serve as a general endorsement from satisfied customers.

Recommendations are actually referrals. And referrals should not be a surprise, they should be part of a lead-generating system.

Run a Referral System

A solid referral system will naturally drive reviews and testimonials about your business.

A referral system is a systematic process inside your business that delivers great customer relationships and provides a simple, easy way for satisfied customers to recommend your business to their family and friends and rewards them for the referral

How to Get Testimonials

Asking for a customer testimonial falls right under asking for a sale as the most dreaded part of the sales process. If this is how you feel, then that’s your sign that your focus is more on your business than it is on your customer and helping them.

To get testimonials you have to have systems to ask for and collect testimonials. Testimonials are typically written by satisfied customers who have experienced stellar results with your product or service. Keep track of customers who have experienced stellar results with your product or service. Make giving a testimonial another step in the process.

Tag happy customers and schedule an appointment for getting a testimonial

Remember, the way testimonials contribute to your marketing is all about who is leaving the testimonial. Testimonials can also help in securing a new job by showcasing positive experiences. Look for customers who are influential in your community and who love your business.

Identify ideal customers; those customers who are not good at what you do and value what you do so highly, that they will be happy to share and promote their experience with you.

Ask for video testimonials

Video testimonials are a terrific solution to getting online testimonials.  If you have a Facebook Page or Yelp page, or if you are listed on any review sites, make leaving a video testimonial FUN.

Inspire your customers to tell positive stories and experiences with your product or service.

Every week or so, run an “online challenge” for your clients. Ask them to tell you a story of how their life was before, during, and after engaging with you. What were some unexpected benefits, a-ha moments, what challenges did they face and how did you help them overcome those challenges.

How to Get Customer Reviews

One way to get customer reviews is to ask for customer reviews. Positive reviews can also enhance a job application by showcasing credibility. You’ve probably had this experience at your local bank or chain store. While I do believe in asking for customer reviews, I’m not a fan of pushing customers to review your business and telling them how to rate your business.

There are better ways to get customer reviews.

Deliver an experience that inspires customers to leave a review.

Happy and satisfied customers are enthusiastic referrers and recommenders of your business. Your best marketing investment is inside your own business and your own employees so that they can deliver outstanding experiences.

Print a simple “how to leave a review” card for your customers

Leaving customer reviews, especially Google reviews can be difficult for customers who aren’t familiar with online reviews or maybe don’t have a Google account. These customers want to leave positive reviews, but don’t know how.

Here are just a few examples of feedback cards that you can use to ask for reviews.

You can make these cards to ask for feedback for every customer review and testimonial site.

Here’s one for Yelp:

And one for Facebook:

How to Use Testimonials, Reviews, and Recommendations in Your Marketing

Let’s pull this all together and leverage reviews, testimonials, and recommendations as part of your marketing strategy.

In addition to these, reference letters can also be used to validate a candidate’s qualifications, providing general endorsements that highlight their versatility and skills across different fields.

How to Use Positive Feedback from Review Sites

• Feature your 4 and 5-star reviews from review sites as screen shots on your website.

• Reward and acknowledge customers and clients who left a positive review with discounts, free stuff, or other VIP rewards. Collect a “response video” from them and post it on your social media.

• Embrace negative reviews and respond to them, take on the feedback and improve that element of your business — then post this on your social media or via email.  Then reward that customer that opened your eyes with that review or feedback.

How to Use Testimonials

• Embrace your happy ideal customers, love on them, feature them and share their success stories on your website, and on your marketing materials.

• Take pictures of your happiest customers, print out their testimonials and hang up their pictures in your office.

• Collect all your testimonials, thank you cards and letters of appreciation and make a happy customer scrapbook.

How to Use Recommendations

• Create a VIP client or customer group and enroll them in helping you develop new products or services to help even more customers.

• Use recommendations and testimonials in your Facebook ads.

• Label “highly recommended”  or “most popular” products on your website.

Now that you know the difference between testimonials reviews and recommendations, you’ll get even more from your marketing and attract your ideal customers without spending more money on marketing.

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Struggling to get consistent clients? In just 7 days, you'll unlock a simple, proven system to attract high-quality referrals—without begging or chasing.

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Why are Referrals Important?

Every business referral you get saves you thousands of marketing dollars. However, not all referral programs offer the same value or benefits, so it’s crucial to choose high-quality programs. Referrals are important to your business because they become loyal, profitable customers. Customers who are referred to you by someone else are not just more loyal, but more profitable. According to an AMA study, referrals are 82% more likely to stay loyal to your business and have 25% higher customer lifetime values.

How Can I Get Referrals Fast?

The way to get referrals fast and consistently is to get into the referral business. Instead of focusing solely on your product or service, recognize that you are in the business of generating referrals.

Structure your business in a way that inspires and makes it easy for both potential customers and your existing customers to provide client referrals.

There are two ways to do this:

1. Make sure that every part of your business is designed to delight your customers so that they provide a client referral.

2. Create multiple customer referral programs that make it easy for your customers to provide online reviews, and that remind clients to refer you to their friends and family.

Keep reading for unique referral marketing ideas and tools that will help you develop a customer referral program that is seamlessly and naturally integrated into your business.

Design Your Business to Get Referrals

Believe it or not, your best referral program is providing a killer customer experience. This starts with everything from the sales process to customer service and support. Utilizing a unique referral link can incentivize new customers and reward existing ones, enhancing your referral rates.

Instead of putting all your attention on your products and services, focus on your current clients and look for every opportunity to generate referrals.

Here are a few easy ideas that will cost you absolutely NOTHING and drive more than 80% of your customer’s experience.

Feature your contact info prominently: Post your phone, website, email, and social channels everywhere! Make it easy for customers to contact you no matter where they are.

Create and keep updating your Google My Business information: Google is your home page! your current clients are more likely to mention your name and city and referral prospects will Google your business. So make sure that your listing has your work ours, images, and any other important information a new client might need.

Focus on friendliness: Every person who contacts and comes into your business wants to give you money! And, the quality of their first experience will determine whether they complete a transaction or not. Neither you nor your team has the luxury of wearing your frustrations on your sleeve.

Deliver the very best on time, every time: Customers are willing to overlook cosmetics and pay more if they consistently get outstanding product and service quality.

Build a Customer Referral System

I took a class on building a referral system a few years ago and had a major epiphany: Referrals are not supposed to be a surprise! They are not something you hope for. Referrals are not some magical benefit that falls from the sky – at least they are not supposed to be.

If you had a magical marketing tool that means possibly hundreds of free salespeople evangelizing your company, product, and or service — you don’t just leave that up to chance, do you?

Of course, you don’t. You treat it as a customer-generating process that will consistently yield all the wonderful, ideal customers you could ever want. It’s important to calculate how many referrals you can generate based on your network and the specifics of the referral program, including any limits on how many referrals can be made.

So where do you begin?

1. Decide to treat referrals like a systemic process that you follow every day.

2. Develop a Referral Guideline – it’s basically a selling sheet for your company that you share with the people who refer you.

3. Set goals around the system.

4. Work it every day.

Photo by Seemi Samuel on Unsplash

The Power of Referral Marketing

One of the most important and powerful ways to grow any business is through the recommendations of existing customers. When current clients tell their friends and loved ones about your business, their referrals are more meaningful and powerful than other forms of advertising, and it doesn’t cost you a thing.

While word-of-mouth advertising tends to happen organically, influenced by your products and services, but out of your direct control, referral marketing is a targeted system that improves word of mouth marketing and generates referrals. Referral marketing:

• Generates word of mouth

• Reaches your target market

• Generates more brand engagement

• Increases customer loyalty

• Provides great marketing ROI

Referral marketing is a formalized process that generates high-quality referrals, rewards loyal customers, and grows a business. It’s one of the most effective direct marketing strategies. 

Photo by krakenimages on Unsplash

Tips for Getting Customer Referrals

There are many methods of formalizing a referral process to generate more referrals and more positive word of mouth for your business. Here are some of the tools that successful DIY referral marketers use.

• Referral requests. In many cases, simply asking for a referral is all you need to do to generate positive word of mouth. Requesting positive reviews on social media, Google or Amazon, or LinkedIn and TrustPilot helps to generate good word of mouth and social proof.

• Referral rewards. Offering a reward to loyal customers is a great way to generate referrals. Many marketers offer rewards like discounts or credits, or brand swag in return for high quality referrals.

• Exclusive offers. One very effective strategy is to create exclusive offers for both the referrer and the referred customer. For example, “share this promo code and earn a 5% discount every time it’s used” or “you and a friend can both get $10 off with this exclusive offer.”

• Referral links. Referral links are the best way to find out who your most loyal, influential referrers are. Giving your best customers exclusive referral links allows you to track each purchase back to the source, providing powerful metrics for your referral marketing strategies and ensuring that rewards are distributed accurately.

Ask For and Make it Easy to Leave Online Reviews

The best customer loyalty program is providing existing customers and new customers an amazing experience. And if you do that, you won’t need to ask for online reviews. Your satisfied customers will rush to leave a review and share their experience with their friends and neighbors.

But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t ask your most loyal customers to leave an online review.

How to Choose an Online Review and Reputation Management Tool

There are a ton of online review and reputation management tools for small businesses. But how do you know which one to choose?

Here’s what we recommend:

• Choose a tool that allows customers to leave a review on multiple platforms with just one click.

• Make sure that it has a feature to hold reviews in moderation and not publish them directly to the platform

• Use a tool that sends you a notification whenever anyone leaves a poor review so that you can fix the problem before the review goes live.

The Customer Referral Program I use to Provide Referrals Consistently

In this section, I’m going to show you how a few simple tasks each day can start generating powerful referrals without taking time away from providing exceptional service to your loyal clients. Having your own referral program is a strategic tool for generating referrals and can significantly boost your business growth.

Many business owners either forget to ask for referrals or feel uncomfortable “bothering” current customers to get new referrals.

But, if you create a routine that easily fits inside your day, the only thing you’ll notice is an increase of new clients.

1. Pull a List of 250 of Your Closest Friends

Like most marketing activities, it all starts with a list. I started mine by looking through my address book. You can just go through your LinkedIn and Facebook contacts and easily come up with a list of 250 people and put them on a spreadsheet. Your only criteria are that they might know someone who is your ideal customer.

2. Tag People on Your List as Friend, Partner or Influencer

Next, you want to put these people into one of three categories; friend, partner, or influencer.

• Friends are people who know you well enough to give you constructive feedback. If you ask them to do something, they won’t hesitate.

• Partners are people who sell a different product or service from you, but to the same customer.

• Influencers are your ideal customers’ trusted advisors. If they ask a customer to do something, they will.

Of course, people will most likely fit into more than one category, but you’ll have to choose which category they fit into the most.

3. Create a Referral Guideline and Share it Everywhere With Everyone

Now that you have a list of people and they are grouped into categories, you want to figure out what you are going to tell them about your business. This is where the referral guideline comes in.

The referral guideline is a 1-page sales sheet on who you are, what you do, the kinds of clients you serve. It’s easy to read and easy enough to understand so that when you review this with your referrers they get it.

There are 3 basic sections to a referral guideline:

1. What sets you apart. In this section you give us your Unique Selling Proposition. Tell the referrer in as few words as possible what you do and what sets you apart from others that do similar things.

2. Your Ideal Customer. This is a descriptive profile. It needs to be clear and vivid enough so that I would recognize your prospect in less than 30 seconds. “Men over 40 who wear glasses” for example.

3. Referral Triggers. Things that a potential referral might say that would make me think of you. “I’m going to get new glasses”

4. How to refer me. Educate and train your referrers on what to ask or what to say to potential clients.”Those are terrific glasses – where did you get them?”

5. Thank your referrer. Some people have a referral fee, some people simply refer because it’s a service they provide. Be clear on where you stand – but be sure to have the conversation of how your referrer wants to be thanked.

Building referrals is just as important now as it was in the past. In fact, I think it’s much easier and more cost-effective now to develop and build those relationships than it had been in the past. What I think is more difficult is keeping those referral conversations alive and focused.

Social media tools make it infinitely easier to find and connect with people, but because so many social media tools use a timeline format you can see and start a conversation one minute and forget about it the next simply because the screen has been refreshed with new conversations and posts. This makes it difficult to move referral and opportunity conversations forward.

4. Set a Task Goal

This is the most powerful step of them all. Instead of setting an OUTCOME goal such as getting three new customers, you’re going to set a task goal. This is a task that you are going to do — a behavior. The result of the behavior is irrelevant – it’s the DOING of the behavior that defines success.

Here are some examples:

• Schedule 10 referral conversations with friends for next week.

• Meet with 2 influencers this week.

• Ask for a referral who can benefit from my product or service 8 times this week.

Notice that these are BEHAVIORS, you either did them or you didn’t. There is nothing stopping you from completing any of these tasks. There’s no pressure other than to complete the task.

When I first started this process, my tasks were similar to what I shared. My goal was to have 10 conversations each day and schedule 3 meetings each week. When I stuck to this schedule of tasks, I was getting one OUTSTANDING new client each month. If I skipped any of these tasks I got NOTHING.

5. Conduct Your Referral Meetings

Remember how I told you to categorize the people on your list into friends, partners, and influencers? It’s time to look at that list and focus on your friends.

The purpose of these calls is to call each friend and review your referral guideline. Think of this as a practice run. Here is a proposed agenda for this meeting:

• Tell your friend that you are building a referral system and that you’ve come up with an outline you’d like to review and ask for their feedback.

• Review the guideline from top to bottom.

• Ask if there’s anything they didn’t understand or weren’t clear on.

• Listen and make notes.

• Thank them for their time

• Ask if they know of anyone who might benefit from your product or service.

• End the meeting.

6. Update Your Referral Guidelines and Contact List

After meeting with your friends, you will have achieved two things; first, you’ll improve your referral guideline and update anything that wasn’t clear. And second, you may have actually received a few qualified leads in the process.

Go through your “friends” category first before you reach out to any partners or influencers. This will not only help you get more qualified leads, but it will also make asking for referrals a habit.

Use your referral guideline like one of your . It’s always a good idea to send this to potential business referrals and ask them to have it in front of them.

7. Schedule Calls With Partners and Influencers

Now, you’re ready to schedule calls with partners and influencers. Your agenda for these conversations should look like this.

• Thank them for taking the time to meet. Tell them that you’re running a referral strattegy that’s focused on getting new business by referral and that you’re looking forward to learning about their business and potentially providing referrals to them as well.

• They won’t have a referral guiideline, but you can ask them questions based on your referral guideline. Find out what their business needs are and how you can help.

• Now it’s your turn. Hand them your referral guideline and review it word for word. This will feel uncomfortable, but it’s critical to the process.

• Ask them who they know that might benefit from your product or service. Help them come up with new leads by asking leading questions such as “Do you know anyone who has recently….” for example.

8. Repeat Daily and Measure Results

Now, you might think all this will take an entire day’s worth of work. Well, I won’t lie to you the set-up probably will. In reality, you can spend a day planning and strategizing your referral system but once it’s done and you’ve focused your efforts, all it will take is about 15 to 30 minutes a day of working your system to keep those relationships and sales opportunities flowing your way.

9. Write and Send a Handwritten Note

If you really want to stand out, especially with influencers, send a handwritten note thanking your potential referrer. Most businesses don’t thank their referral sources, but if you consistently stay in touch with your referral sources, you will be top of mind when they are referral ready.

Why This Lead Generation System is Your Fastest Path to Cash

Not only are referrals the most popular direct marketing strategy for most businesses, but a referral program is also the one marketing strategy that you control 100% because it’s driven by your doing those simple tasks of scheduling meetings and generating referrals.

When you run a referral business, you aren’t dependent on marketing agencies, fancy websites, or social media campaigns to send you a potential client. All you need is to leverage Linkedin contacts with your spreadsheet of potential referrers and a dedication to completing your daily tasks. BOOM. You are referral ready.

• What are the average email open and click-through rates? (HINT: the open rate number isn’t as important as it once was).
• Does email marketing even work anymore?
• Do people actually like getting emails?
• And what about personalization – yay or nay?

Get Response just issued a no-nonsense rundown of email marketing statistics in 2024 and I’m going to break them down so you can create effective email campaigns without all the stress (and guesswork.).

Buckle up, this is going to be good…

Does Email Marketing Really Work? (Spoiler Alert: YES.)

First, let’s acknowledge the elephant in the room: Does email marketing still deliver?

With so many new marketing tactics popping up, it’s tempting to dismiss email as “outdated.” But, the stats paint a different picture. A whopping 30% of marketers worldwide ranked email marketing as the top dog for return on investment (ROI) – higher than any other digital channel.

And it gets better. Email is 108% more effective than both banner ads and SMS marketing when it comes to grabbing consumer attention, according to a 2023 study by CM Group.

Is YOUR email getting these kinds of results? If not, you need to take a step back from your email marketing and make sure that you do a solid audit of your existing email marketing strategy to see what needs to change.

How to Audit and Review Your Email Marketing

If you’ve been sending emails and your email engagement is low (people aren’t opening, replying, or clicking) then you want to see what’s happening under the hood.

Are emails being delivered? Email deliverability is really important. And, in 2024, what used to be “nice to have” is now a requirement.  Go into your email marketing software and check your deliverability numbers.  They should be above 90%.  In fact, they should be around 99%.

Clean your email list. If your deliverability numbers are low, that means that your email list has a lot of invalid email addresses, emails that bounce, a lot of spam reports, or general issues with compliance of email laws.  And that means that you need to clean your email list.  Here is a very short checklist of basic email list cleaning tasks:

• Run your email list through a list cleaning and validation software. This will remove any invalid emails.
• Revisit and confirm that you’ve set up CAN-SPAM, GDPR, DKIM, and SPF compliance. This will validate your business domain and IP address as a safe sender.
• Run a re-engagement email sequence to any emails that have not opened emails in the last 60 days.
  
• Clean out (export and delete) any email addresses that have NOT opened your emails after you’ve run the re-engagement sequence.

Segment your email list. A lot of small businesses tend to send or broadcast the same email to their entire list. You might thing that they find value in a mass marketing campaign, but if you’re open rate is low, if people are not clicking or engaging with your email, you can improve your email marketing statistics by creating smaller, more focused segments such as:

• By engagement level:  Your email marketing software can segment your list by level of engagement.  You can select people who are opening specific emails, clicking on specific links, etc.
• Areas of interest: If you’ve gathered emails from a specific lead magnet such as a lead magnet or webinar, you can create a segment that includes just those people who are interested in that topic.
• Geography: If you do business by geographic area, you can segment your list by location and geography.
• Purchase history: You can create lists and segments with email users who have purchased specific products or groups of products.  This is a great way to segment because you can then send them emails on similar products or topics related to what they purchased.

Why Email Marketing is STILL Killing It:

So, why is everyone so obsessed with email marketing? A few key reasons:

People prefer email

You’re not alone in thinking that inbox zero is a myth. Your customers actually like hearing from you in their inbox – but only if it’s relevant and valuable. Around 60% of consumers prefer email as their go-to for brand communication.

But let’s be clear, people prefer to get helpful emails.  Typically these are email marketing campaigns that help them save money with discounts, help provide them information they are always looking for.

Direct access = better engagement

Unlike fleeting social media posts, email allows strategic communication and provides a longer shelf life for your message. No more hoping your target audience scrolled at just the right moment.

Build long-term relationships

Forget fickle algorithms, email helps you build lasting relationships with customers based on trust and consistency – which leads to more conversions.

Email Marketing Statistics Every Business Needs To Know

Ready to really get your hands dirty with cold, hard data? Here’s a by-the-numbers look at current email marketing trends:

Key Takeaways From These Email Marketing Statistics

Even with all of these email marketing statistics, these three stand out:

1. People Do Actually Like Email

It’s easy to think everyone prefers a text or a DM. However, email offers a way to build a different kind of connection. Consumers are seeking a more personal approach, and these statistics confirm this:

• A full 60% of people prefer email as their main point of contact from their favorite brands. That means if you aren’t actively growing (and regularly pruning.) your email list, you could be missing out on valuable customer relationships (and revenue).

2. Personalization Matters

You wouldn’t walk into a room full of strangers and launch into a sales pitch without a quick “hello.” The same logic applies to email marketing: Consumers expect emails tailored to them, whether that’s their interests, past purchases, or favorite cat memes. Here’s what happens when you personalize your email content:

• Personalized emails can increase your click-through rates by 29%. That’s HUGE.

Think beyond just using their first name in your subject line. Go deeper with segmenting based on customer behavior, offering relevant product recommendations, and personalizing your messaging.

3. Don’t Just Hit “Send” and Ghost

Your job isn’t finished once that email is sent. To really make your emails excel, use these strategies:

• A/B Test Everything. There’s no “one-size fits all” in email marketing. Experiment with subject lines, calls to action, email design, and send times. Then, use the results from your email marketing statistics to fine-tune your approach.
• Automate Your Emails. Free up your time and wow your customers by setting up email sequences for welcome emails and abandoned carts. According to email research, automated emails can generate up to 320% more revenue than non-automated ones.
• Segment, Segment, Segment. Remember how much people love personalized experiences? A HubSpot survey found that segmenting your email lists leads to significantly better open rates (65% higher.). Use customer data to your advantage by sending hyper-targeted messages to smaller, highly-engaged groups.

Recommendations Based on Key Email Marketing Statistics

Open Rate (39.64%):

• Improve subject lines and preview text to increase curiosity.
• Segment your audience for more targeted messaging.
• Send emails at optimal times based on audience behavior.

Click-Through Rate (3.25%):

• Use clear and compelling calls to action.
• Include visually appealing and relevant content.
• Test different email designs and layouts to see what resonates best.

Click-to-Open Rate (8.62%):

• Ensure content aligns with the subject line promise.
• Personalize email content based on user data.
• Keep the email concise and focused on a single goal.

Unsubscribe Rate (0.15%):

• Offer email frequency options.
• Regularly clean your email list to remove inactive subscribers.
• Ensure content is relevant and valuable to your audience.

Spam Complaint Rate (below 0.01%):

• Use a recognized sender name and address.
• Avoid spammy language and excessive punctuation.
• Make the unsubscribe process easy and clear.

Bounce Rate (2.33%):

• Regularly update and verify email lists.
• Use double opt-in to ensure email accuracy.
• Monitor and remove hard bounces promptly.

Granted, email marketing statistics vary by industry. And, as they say, your mileage will vary. But these latest numbers make it clear that you can’t afford to simply set it and forget it.

Conclusion

Email marketing statistics don’t lie: Email marketing in 2024 remains one of the most effective marketing tactics, generating ROI for savvy businesses that nurture relationships. The key to unlocking these results lies in crafting a personalized email experience. This requires A/B testing, using analytics, and embracing automation.

FAQs About Email Marketing Statistics

What Is the Effective Rate Of Email Marketing?

The effectiveness of your email campaigns varies depending on a variety of factors (your specific niche, list health, whether you’ve actually been following these tips…) but generally speaking a 3.5% click-through rate for marketing emails is a good starting point, especially in a post-Apple MPP world. However, anything under 2% is an opportunity for improvement.

How Effective Is Email Marketing?

Out of all the digital marketing channels available, 30% of marketers in 2024 report that email delivers the absolute highest ROI for their efforts – more than even social media. Pretty amazing right?

What Is The Average ROI for Email Marketing?

Globally, email marketing produces an incredible $36 return for every $1 invested. This highlights just how powerful a well-executed strategy can be.

What is the Average Rate for Email Marketing?

Although, once again, results depend on the industry, there are definitely some solid email marketing statistics you should be paying attention to when it comes to email:

• Open rate: This refers to how many recipients open your email (ideally within the first 24 hours of sending it). On average, aim for 20%. That said, a healthy open rate in this day and age is closer to 30-40%. I do want to say one more thing about your open rate. New privacy standards have swapped data sharing from an “opt-out” to an “opt-In” and that means that 75% of people are no longer sharing their email “activities” and that the open rate number is no longer something that’s as accurate as it once was. The best way to use your open rate statistic is to simply aim to make it bigger than it’s been in the past.
• Click-through rate (CTR): CTR refers to the number of people who click a link in your email. You should be striving for a CTR of around 2% – anything less, and you might need to work on the relevance and persuasiveness of your content or your segmentation.

These are just general guidelines, and remember to take your unique goals and audience into consideration. For some marketers, driving traffic to their site might be the primary focus, while others are hyper-focused on sales and conversions. Your email marketing metrics can give you invaluable information – so pay attention and use those insights wisely.

These days, it doesn’t take much to say or do something you think is authentic, that ends up pissing off a bunch of people (like profitable customers). You’re need to be ready.

That’s where these 10 marketing strategies come in. They’re not about exploiting the situation or pushing your agenda. They’re about genuinely connecting with your audience, offering value, and building relationships that will last long after the crisis is over. So, are you ready to learn how to not just weather the storm, but come out stronger on the other side?

Photo by Jelleke Vanooteghem on Unsplash

Photo by Jason Goodman on Unsplash

Transparency, empathy, and authenticity – these are the pillars of effective crisis communication. Your customers want to see that you’re not taking the situation lightly and that their concerns are your concerns.

That means being proactive in your communication efforts. Don’t wait for a crisis to happen before you start reaching out to your audience. Build those relationships now so that when tough times hit, they know they can trust you. Having a crisis management team in place can help anticipate problems, make key decisions, and ensure you are thoroughly prepared for various types of crises.

The Unseen Value of High-Maintenance Customers

Picture this: It’s a typical Tuesday, and I’m sifting through emails when I see a message from what many would label a “high-maintenance” customer. As soon as I see the “From” field I get this little lurch in the pit of my stomach.  It’s like my subconscious knows that I’m going to see something that is going to have me rework something that’s already been approved, do something that I’m not going to get paid for, or just be generally annoyed by whatever is in the email.

I know you have this too.  And, over the years, I’ve learned to pay attention to those feelings because they are a wealth of information and opportunities.

What’s Behind the “Uuugh”?

When you have that halting feeling, know that your intuition is trying to tell you something.  That feeling is a whisper.  And if you ignore it, it’s going to turn into a scream, and if you ignore that, it’s going to turn into a major disruption in your business and your life. 

So you might as well start exploring it and dealing with it. 

Here’s my short list that I’ve developed over time.  Yours might be different, but the process should be about the same. 

Let’s just take it from seeing this high maintenance client’s name on your caller ID or email.

Rrrrring – you see their name. You have this “uugh feeling” — WHY? Your subconscious knows something that you’re not acknowledging.  And the way to get to the bottom of it is to start tracking what the little voice inside your head is thinking in the moment

• I’m going to get criticized for something
• They’re going to ask me to do something that’s not in the contract, but that I don’t feel comfortable saying no to
• This is going to take forever, I didn’t plan for this

Let’s stop there.  Now, let’s look for what’s underneath that:

How this customer likes to work and how you like to work are very different.  

Like all things in life, it’s the little things that turn into a big deal.  And work preferences and work styles are so much more important than you might think. 

If you high maintenance customer prefers to communicate via phone or zoom and you prefer email – this is going to be a problem.

If your client prefers to brainstorm at meetings and you prefer a more structured agenda for meetings, that’s going to be a problem.

Here’s the fix:

• Make a “workstyle” review or discussion part of your selling process.  Talk about how you will communicate, when you will communicate and how much communication there’s going to be. 
• Have a process that you follow and make sure your client knows and understands how it’s going to go. 
• Create policies around the key workstyle preferences that you have.  If you prefer email and your client prefers phone or Zoom, you can charge extra for that, for example. 

You didn’t cost out the project properly and you’re not charging enough

This is usually behind 80% of high maintenance issues. If you have a client who is constantly reaching out, micromanaging, interrupting, making changes, and taking up much more time than you budgeted for, you are going to see them as high maintenance. Your job is to make sure that you’re pricing properly and charging for all the things that will make the job worthwhile.

Here’s the fix:

• Make sure that you have a policy for how you work and follow it. 
• List out specific requirements such as how many changes or revisions are covered at your price point and how additional changes will be billed.  I usually say something like “This change is going to cost you $500 – are you ok with that?”  You’d be amazed at how this behavior will change. 
• I don’t like to say no, so I will also say something like, I’d be happy to do this, it’s going to cost $X – is that ok with you?

Overall, the key here is to have a solid knowledge and understanding of how you work, what accommodations you are willing to make and how much those accommodations will cost?

Are You Really Making Money on High-Maintenance Customers?

The short answer is yes, but it’s complicated. High-maintenance customers demand more resources, time, and patience. However, they also push your business to elevate its game, refine processes, and improve service quality. By addressing their concerns, you’re indirectly enhancing your operations for all customers, leading to increased satisfaction and loyalty across the board.

Can High-Maintenance Customers Improve Your Operations?

Absolutely. Think of high-maintenance customers as your most rigorous quality control inspectors. Their demands for prompt service, perfection, and personal attention force you to scrutinize and optimize your business processes. This relentless pursuit of excellence can lead to operational efficiencies, innovative problem-solving techniques, and a stronger, more adaptable business model.

Identifying High-Maintenance Customers: The Early Birds Catch the Worms

Identifying high-maintenance customers early on can save you a significant amount of time and resources. Look for signs like constant demands for discounts, frequent and detailed complaints, or an expectation for immediate responses at all hours. Recognizing these traits allows you to proactively manage their expectations and tailor your approach to their specific needs.

Transforming Challenges into Opportunities: Strategies That Work

Turning high-maintenance customers into advocates might seem like a Herculean task, but with the right strategies, it’s entirely achievable. Here are seven proven tactics to not only manage but also leverage high-maintenance customers to your advantage:

1. Empathy is Your Superpower

Start by acknowledging their concerns and showing genuine empathy. A simple “I understand why that’s frustrating for you” can go a long way in building a rapport.

2. Set Clear Boundaries

High-maintenance customers often have unrealistic expectations. Setting clear boundaries and communicating what you can and cannot do helps manage these expectations from the outset.

3. Personalize Your Approach

Customizing your service to meet their specific needs shows that you value their business and are willing to go the extra mile for their satisfaction.

4. Seek Feedback Actively

Encourage them to share their feedback, both positive and negative. This not only provides valuable insights for improvement but also makes them feel heard and appreciated.

5. Turn Complaints into Solutions

View every complaint as an opportunity to improve. Demonstrating a commitment to resolving issues can turn a dissatisfied customer into a loyal advocate.

6. Educate Your Customers

Sometimes, high maintenance stems from a lack of understanding. Educating your customers about your processes, limitations, and how things work can alleviate many concerns.

7. Celebrate Successes Together

When you’ve successfully met their demands or exceeded expectations, celebrate these successes. A simple acknowledgment of a positive outcome can reinforce their decision to advocate for your business.

High-Maintenance to High Praise: The Journey of Advocacy

The transformation from high-maintenance customer to advocate doesn’t happen overnight. It requires patience, strategy, and a consistent effort to exceed expectations. However, when a high-maintenance customer becomes an advocate, they’re likely to be more vocal and influential than your average satisfied client. Their journey from dissatisfaction to advocacy can become a powerful testament to the quality and resilience of your business.

Common Reasons Why High-Maintenance Customers Become Advocates

• Personalized Solutions: Tailoring your services to address their unique concerns can create a deep sense of loyalty and appreciation.
• Exceptional Service: Consistently going above and beyond for these customers can transform their perception of your business.
• Feeling Valued: High-maintenance customers who feel genuinely valued and understood are more likely to sing your praises to others.
• Problem Resolution: Successfully solving their issues can lead to a strong emotional attachment to your brand.

Wrapping It Up

In the grand scheme of things, high-maintenance customers hold the potential to be your most vocal and influential advocates. By embracing their challenges as opportunities for growth, you can unlock a level of loyalty and advocacy that far outweighs the initial investment of time and resources. Remember, in the world of business, every customer interaction is a stepping stone towards excellence. Let’s turn those stones into milestones together.

Picture this: you’re at your favorite coffee shop, and the barista, with a beaming smile, hands you a free cup of your favorite brew. How do you feel? Surprised, happy, valued? That’s gratitude in action. Now, let’s translate this feeling into the business world. Believe it or not, gratitude isn’t just about manners; it’s a catalyst for success.

Research from the fields of psychology and neuroscience is increasingly highlighting how gratitude can positively transform workplace dynamics. It’s more than just saying ‘thank you.’ Gratitude in the business realm fosters a culture of appreciation, which in turn boosts morale, enhances collaboration, and even improves overall health and well-being. Studies have shown that when employees feel valued and appreciated, they’re more productive, engaged, and loyal. This is not just good for the soul; it’s great for the bottom line.

From the Boardroom to the Break Room: How Gratitude Marketing Strategies Work

Let’s move beyond theory and dive into some real-life examples. Across industries, from startups to conglomerates, leaders who have embraced gratitude as a core business strategy are reaping remarkable rewards.

Consider a tech startup where the CEO starts each day with a personal email acknowledging an employee’s contribution, no matter how small. Or a retail giant that implemented a peer-to-peer recognition program, allowing employees to award points to colleagues for their hard work and achievements. These points can be exchanged for gifts, creating a tangible expression of thanks. The results? Improved employee satisfaction, decreased turnover, and a positive, thriving workplace culture.

These stories aren’t anomalies; they’re evidence of a growing trend. Businesses that prioritize gratitude marketing strategies are setting themselves apart, creating environments where innovation flourishes, and loyalty runs deep.

Leading with Thanks: How Leaders Can Foster a Culture of Gratitude

So, how can you, as a leader, cultivate this environment of gratitude in your business? It starts at the top. Gratitude is contagious, and it must begin with you. Here are some gratitude marketing strategies to consider:

1. Personalized Acknowledgment: Go beyond generic thank-you emails. Personalize your appreciation. Acknowledge specific actions and their impact on the team and the business.
2. Public Recognition: Create platforms for public recognition. This could be during team meetings, on company social media channels, or even on a dedicated ‘Wall of Thanks’ in the office.
3. Encourage Peer-to-Peer Gratitude: Foster an environment where team members feel comfortable and encouraged to express gratitude to one another. This could be through informal channels or structured programs.
4. Integrate Gratitude into Company Values: Make gratitude a core part of your company’s values and culture. This should reflect in your mission statement, performance reviews, and daily operations.
5. Lead by Example: As a leader, your actions set the tone. Regularly express your gratitude and appreciation – not just for big wins but for the everyday efforts that keep the wheels turning.

The Ripple Effect: Gratitude Extending Beyond the Office

The impact of gratitude doesn’t stop at the office door. It spills over into customer relationships, supplier interactions, and even into the broader community. Customers feel the difference when they engage with a business that operates from a place of genuine appreciation and respect. This translates into brand loyalty, positive word-of-mouth, and a competitive edge in the market.

Gratitude, the Business Superpower

In essence, gratitude in business isn’t just about creating a pleasant work environment. It’s a strategic tool, a hidden superpower that can transform challenges into opportunities, turn average teams into exceptional ones and elevate a business from ordinary to extraordinary.

It’s about creating a positive feedback loop where appreciation begets more success, which in turn fosters further gratitude. This cycle propels businesses towards sustainable growth and a deeply ingrained sense of community and purpose.

Incorporating gratitude marketing strategies into your business model may seem like a small step, but its effects are profound and far-reaching. It’s a journey that begins with a simple ‘thank you’ and evolves into a powerful force that shapes company culture, drives employee engagement, and captivates customers.

A Final Thought: Gratitude as a Way of Life

As we wrap up this exploration into the transformative power of gratitude in business, remember that this isn’t just a strategy or a temporary campaign; it’s a mindset, a way of life. When gratitude becomes ingrained in the DNA of your business, the boundaries between work and joy start to blur. Workplaces become happier, teams become more cohesive, and businesses become more resilient and successful.

So, start today. Find a moment to express gratitude in your business. It could be a note, a gesture, or a simple word of thanks. Watch as this small seed of appreciation grows into a mighty tree, sheltering and nurturing your business through the seasons of change and challenge. The power of gratitude is immense, and it’s right at your fingertips.

Gratitude is the glue that binds business relationships. It’s a simple concept, yet it’s often lost in the noise of our digital age. In an era where a ‘thank you’ often arrives as an automated email or a fleeting social media comment, there’s a refreshing charm in resurrecting an old favorite: the thank you note. But hold your horses – we’re not talking about your grandma’s thank you cards. We’re diving into creative and unexpected ways to use thank you notes in your business, turning a simple act into a strategic tool.

Choosing a unique handwriting style for your thank you notes can add a personal touch that makes them stand out in our digital age, ensuring your message of gratitude resonates more deeply.

Why Traditional Thank You Notes Feel Like a Missed Opportunity

I remember receiving a thank you postcard from my oil change service and thinking, “Well, that’s nice, but… meh.” It felt as generic as a pre-recorded birthday greeting from my dentist. Don’t get me wrong; it’s not about being ungrateful. It’s about the impact, or the lack thereof, of a gesture that feels more like an obligation than a sincere act of appreciation. This contrasts sharply with the personal touch and memorable impact of a handwritten note, which elevates a simple message into a meaningful connection.

The New Wave of Thank You Notes: Making Every Word Count

It’s time to rethink our approach to thank you notes in business. Let’s make them count, shall we?

• Timing is Everything: Instead of the predictable thank you note post-purchase, how about surprising your client with a note thanking them for a year of loyalty? Or, even better, a note celebrating their business anniversary with you?
• Personalization is Key: A thank you note that says, “Hey [First Name], remember when you first tried our service a year ago? We do! Thanks for sticking with us!” shows that you notice and value the individual relationship.
• Beyond Business Transactions: Send a thank you note for things that aren’t directly tied to a purchase. Did a client give you a shoutout on social media? Send a note! Did they refer a friend? That’s note-worthy!
• Add a Little Extra: Pair your note with something of value – a discount code, a free e-book, or access to an exclusive webinar. It’s a thank you and a gift, all in one.
• Celebrate the Small Wins: Did your client recently achieve something significant in their business? Send a congratulatory note. It shows you’re paying attention and that you care about more than just their wallet.
• Turn Negatives into Positives: Received a complaint or a negative review? Address it, fix it, and send a thank you note for the feedback. It’s a powerful way to turn a critic into a loyal fan.
• Random Acts of Thanks: Why wait for an occasion? Send out random thank you notes throughout the year. It’s the unexpectedness that makes it special.

Utilizing a pen to create handwritten notes adds a personal touch and authenticity that digital messages can’t match, making your gratitude even more memorable.

Real-World Examples: Bringing the Concept to Life

Picture this: A local café sends a thank you note to its customers for just being a part of the neighborhood. The note includes a small packet of seeds with a message, “Help us grow our community garden.” Now, that’s a thank you note that plants a seed, literally and figuratively!

Or imagine a SaaS company sending handwritten notes to its long-term software subscribers, thanking them for their feedback over the years and detailing how it helped shape the product. That’s a thank you note that acknowledges and celebrates collaboration.

The Bottom Line: Gratitude as a Strategy

In the end, it’s about making gratitude more than just a courtesy; it’s about turning it into a strategy. Thank you notes, especially those that are unexpected and creatively crafted, can be a powerful tool in your business arsenal. They can deepen relationships, build loyalty, and even open up new avenues for growth and collaboration.

Let’s sum it up with a checklist for you write your next thank you note:

• Make it timely and personal: Tie it to specific interactions or milestones.
• Go beyond transactions: Show appreciation for actions that contribute to your business, like referrals or social media mentions.
• Add value: Include a little something extra to show your gratitude.
• Celebrate their achievements: Show that you care about their success, not just your own.
• Turn negatives into opportunities: Use thank you notes to transform challenges into chances for growth.
• Embrace randomness: Sometimes, a note ‘just because’ can be the most impactful.

5 Easy Tools to Send Handwritten Note Thank You Cards

Great so sending handwritten notes and cards is awesome, but who has time to send hundreds of these. Or, how can you outsource this simple task so that it gets done?

There are options! There are companies that do everything from actually writing them out by hand, to recreating your own handwriting as a font and automatically sending them out.

Here are some thank you note services that offer unique features for businesses:

Handwrytten

• Description: Handwrytten uses cutting-edge technology to scale your handwritten outreach, creating personalized messages with a genuine touch. This service allows you to type your message, which is then written out by custom-designed handwriting robots using real pens, in a style of your choice. Additionally, all cards are printed on high-quality stock, ensuring that each message not only feels personal but also looks premium.
• Special Features: Offers a wide selection of cards, AI-assisted message crafting, delivery confirmations, and integration with Salesforce for sending notes.
• Website: Handwrytten

Simply Noted

Description: Simply Noted uses automated handwriting machines with real ballpoint pens to create an authentic handwriting feel. They offer personalized cards with the option to replicate your handwriting for ultimate personalization.

Special Features: Provides extensive business automation integrations, gift card and business card inserts, and a user-friendly interface for bulk mailings.

This Custom Thanks

Description: This Custom Thanks offers 100% handwritten notes and envelopes, without using any handwriting fonts or robots. Their service includes a variety of note packages with options for custom stationery and additional items.

Special Features: Custom pricing for large orders, quality control for handwriting and grammar, and a user-friendly dashboard for easy note sending.

Felt App

Description: Felt is a user-friendly app for iOS and Android that lets you create and design cards that are hand-stamped and mailed. It allows you to handwrite the message yourself directly on your phone or tablet.

Special Features: Offers the ability to use your actual handwriting on the card and envelope, a wide selection of designs, and easy mailing service.

Punkpost

Description: Punkpost employs lettering artists to create custom, handmade cards based on your message and intent. It is known for its artistic approach to thank you cards.

Special Features: Provides a batch option for large events, custom artwork, and the option to include gift cards or extra touches like confetti.

Each of these services offers a unique way to personalize and automate the process of sending thank you notes, making it easier for businesses to maintain a personal touch with clients and customers.

Ready – Set – Send

Each of these services offers a unique way to personalize and automate the process of sending thank you notes, making it easier for businesses to maintain a personal touch with clients and customers. These services use similar technologies to enhance user experience on their site.

Don’t Be THAT Guy!

SMS text messaging is the one sacred space where you can still get your customers’ attention. So when you’re looking for SMS text marketing ideas, you want to be sure to choose wisely.

More consumers are using their mobile devices to shop than ever before. Currently, 64% of adults in America own a smartphone and that number will only increase every year. As a business owner, you must embrace mobile marketing (sometimes called SMS marketing) if you want to thrive.

SMS marketing (marketing via text message) is a cost-effective way to start your mobile marketing efforts. However, there are a few tips for doing it right.

Try These Text Message Ideas

Text your customers the way you want to be texted.  There is a rule about text messages — they are private. Texts are a very personal form of contact and they relate to things you take personally such as appointments and deliveries.

For crying out loud – the text message is the last haven for actually relevant contact about things you really care about!!!!

So, it’s time to get real with yourself and your business – does your customer really need to know that you’re giving them 10% off?  REALLY?

No.

Now, if your customer was looking for something and needed it and you didn’t have it and then you got it  and they asked you to text them — then YES.

In other words — please, please, please — don’t spam your customers.

Do this instead.

Get Permission First

Follow the golden rule — if YOU wouldn’t want to get a text message from you – your customers probably don’t either.  

Just because you have a customer’s mobile information does not mean they want you to market to them in that way. Always get their permission before you send out any SMS marketing message. Do this by having them opt-in to receive mobile marketing messages from you.

Be Consistent with How You Text Message

Once you start an SMS marketing campaign you must be consistent with your messages. If you are sending appointment reminders, once a while, don’t suddenly start sending promotional messages every week.

Integrate Social Media into Your SMS Marketing

Your SMS marketing should offer a way for your audience to connect with you on your social media properties. Send them a link to your Facebook page or Pinterest board. The more connections you have with a customer the stronger their loyalty will be to your company.

Measure Results from Your Text Message Marketing

You must have in place a way to measure the results you are getting from your mobile marketing efforts. How many sales are coming directly from the text messages you are sending out? By practicing good analytics you will easily know what is working and what is not.

And yes, simply asking your customers about your text message marketing is a form of measurement.  Here are a few questions you can ask:

• Are you currently receiving text messages from us?
• Do you like receiving text messages from us?
• What types of text messages do you want to receive from us?

Personalize Your Text Messages

Everyone wants to feel special and acknowledged. You can do this by sending out a simple Happy Birthday message to your subscribers or a quick Thank You message after they place an order.  Just remember to include something of value in your message!

If you’re sending a Happy Birthday message – give them a reason to come in.  

Integrate SMS with Your Email Marketing

One easy way to start pairing your email marketing and SMS text messaging is to add a mobile phone field to your email opt-in forms — but don’t make it a required field.  Another tip is to tell people that you will only use their mobile phone number for important and timely notifications.

Use email for coupons, newsletters, and promotions that are “ordinary”.  Save the SMS text message marketing for extra-ordinary communication. Something timely and important that requires your customers’ immediate attention.

Don’t send a text when an email is good enough.

12 SMS Texts Your Customers Want to Get

1. Last Minute Deals

Got a service business and an appointment that opened up?  SMS text message your customers and prospects and see if anyone can take it.

2. Appointment Reminders and Changes

If you are a hair stylist, doctor, dentist, lawyer or any other professional that works off of appointments sending out reminders via text will drastically cut down on missed appointments.

3. Private Events

If you have a brick and mortar shop invite your SMS subscriber to a special event or sale that is set up just for them. Send out an invitation to a flash sale that you are having on your website.

4. Gather Feedback After a Purchase

Mobile marketing is a great way to find out what your customers really think about you and your company. Set up a quick survey (two or three questions) and send out a text asking your audience to participate.

5. Exclusive Offers

One way to keep subscribers to your SMS messages happy is to offer them mobile-only offers. Offer your mobile subscribers the ability to pre-order new products or get in early on an upcoming sale. Make these offers IRRESISTIBLE and text worthy.

6. Alerts and Notifications

If your office were flooded or had some type of emergency, you might send a message to all of your appointment for the week to let them know the office is closed.  Schools sending out “snow day” alerts is another great example.

7. Loyalty Rewards they Can Redeem

If you have a loyalty program with a benefit they can use right away – then tell them with a text message.  

8. Helpful Tips

You don’t want to overdo it with this one – make them seasonal or timely tips that your customers will appreciate.

9. Follow-Up Messages

These are the kind of marketing text messages your customers want to get. If you have an opportunity that opened up for a specific customer or group of customers, a text message is an ideal way to communicate it.

10. Contests

This is a really fun way to engage your customer community.  If you have a product or service that you’d like to promote, a contest gives you the opportunity to share it with your customer community.

11. Event Info and Updates

If you have event registrations, don’t forget to collect mobile numbers for text message updates. This is an ideal way to keep people updated on meeting times and places for the event.

12. Pre-Meeting or Appointment Preparation

This is a terrific way to use text messaging if you are a professional such as a doctor, lawyer or accountant.  If your customers need to bring something or prepare for a meeting that they are going to have with you, send them a text message (or a series of text messages) to make sure they come prepared.

A Few Text Message Marketing Tools to Think About

OK, so now you’re a bit excited about using text messaging in your marketing. To simplify your marketing, I’m going to give you some simple tools that I’m currently using with a client.

I recently ran into SimpleTexting. There are so many things I like about this tool.  But I’m going to stick to a few points.

First, it does what it says.  It’s simple to get started.  The free trial is truly free and I was able to send a few test text messages as well as one real one.

Second, it’s affordable.  $25 per month gives you the ability to send up to 500 messages.  And this is a really affordable way to get started with one of the text message marketing ideas I mentioned here.

Third, they make setting these messages up to an absolute breeze.  You can send scheduled messages (like appointment reminders), you can send a series of messages in case you want to help your customers prepare for an appointment.  You can collect feedback and so many more features than I have space to mention here.  Check them out.

I’m also really excited about Zoho One’s MarketingHub SMS text messages. (I’ve linked to a free ebook you can read without giving away your email — you’re welcome)

Not gonna lie, this is for the slightly more advanced small business marketer or online marketer who has a clearly defined marketing funnel.  If you’re looking for a way to integrate your sales and marketing AND do some SMS text message marketing – this is awesome.  It’s just that it will take some patience and time to get yourself set up.  But seriously, for $35 per month per license, it’s worth it.

I’m working on it right now, and when I get smarter on the details, I’ll let you know.

Final Thoughts on SMS Text Messaging for Marketing

While there are many opportunities to use SMS text messaging for marketing your business, you don’t have to use all of them.  Use texting judiciously and in a way that will support your existing marketing strategies and brand promise.

Remember, texting is a one-to-one type of communication.  Use it primarily to communicate personally with your customers.

The last thing you want is to sully this very personal, very intimate form of communication with garbage messages.  This will upset your customers.

That said — the attention span numbers have changed. I ran into this infographic from qSample that lays out the updated data for the average attention span devoted to all kinds of activities.

Tips on How to Leverage Shorter Attention Spans

So, let’s take a closer look at each of these elements that qSample reported on and see how you can tweak your marketing to fit the amount of attention your customer is willing to give you.

You have 10 seconds to keep them on your website: If you haven’t noticed, cluttered websites are OUT — and this is why. But you don’t have to go through a major re-design to grab their attention, all you have to do is tighten up your copy and reduce the amount of irrelevant content.

• Identify and speak to a single customer: I can’t say this enough, you can’t sell anything to everyone. Pick a specific customer and write your website to them. Imagine a single individual and write to that person. It will pull in your ideal customers and keep them there.
• Have the core purpose, benefit and description of your site in BIG BOLD words at the top. This is your headline and the ideal length of a headline is no more than six words. Yes, this takes time and brainstorming, but the effort is worth it. Here are a few examples that you can learn from – and why not just go ahead and swipe (adapt) what they’ve done for yourself. Mint.com has always been a favorite — notice that their top headline is only 5 words “Be Good With Your Money”. I also like KISS Metrics blog description: A blog about analytics, marketing and testing. MailChimp got it down to three words “Send better email”. Here’s one of my clients, AFV Natural Gas Fuel Systems. Right under the logo it says “We Make NGV Fuel Line Assemblies Happen”. They are a manufacturer and even they could describe their business in about six words.
• Focus on the top three things you do for people:?Immediately after your headline – be sure to identify the top three things that people will get or be able to do. Ideally, these are the top three things that they are always looking for. My favorite site for this is Digital Marketer Labs – No one does this as well as they do.

40% of your visitors will leave your site if it doesn’t load in 3 seconds. This, my friends is a FACT. Speed is so very important and I encourage all of you to test your site speed. Here are a few quick and dirty tools and tips to do just that:

• Pingdom: This is a quick and dirty test. Just enter your website url and click on the button. I’d recommend you do it a few times because you’ll get all different kinds of numbers – run it about 5 times and take the average.
• Use a CDN (Content Delivery Network). A CDN will take copies of your website and store it on servers all over the world. So when people enter your URL, they will get a super fast cache version of your site that’s stored closest to them. You have several choices. DIYMarketers runs on a FREE CloudFlare account. You can also use Amazon’s CloudFront. Also ask your website host if they offer an optimized WordPress hosting package or CDN that you can take advantage of.
• Reduce the size of your images with Kraken.io: ?This is a super easy trick and will really help your web speed. Images take forever to load, but Kraken has this amazing (free) ability to compress your images without significantly impacting the quality. Every image you see here has been compressed using Kraken.

95% of web visitors don’t fill out forms and less than 20% open your emails – here’s what to do about it.? Wanna know why? ?The next time you hit your email, take a moment and pay attention to which emails you deleted and make a list of why you deleted them. Then make a list of each email you ope and exactly what you opened it. There is your answer.

My list of rejected email reasons looks something like this:

• I’m not interested
• They are trying to sell me something
• I don’t have time to read this
• What is this person talking about
• They are asking me to do something and I don’t want to

Here’s my list of reasons for emails I opened:

• Oh, there’s something good in here – there always is.
• What trends are hot – I can’t wait to see
• I think this tool can save me money
• My peeps will be interested in this

Here’s the secret to getting people to sign up for something and getting them to open your email — Make it about THEM and not you. Focus on a specific customer with a specific need and give them an offer that will fill that need. Give them something super fun, useful and entertaining to download in exchange for their email.

The best people to follow or copy — Hubspot wins almost every time followed again, by the folks at Digital Marketer. Again, these are people who create such stellar content, that I almost always open their stuff. It’s like a stocking stuffer every time. Oh — and did you notice Hubspot‘s headline (Inbound Marketing and Sales Software) – yup – I know what that is.

Your’ve got 90 seconds to get your message out in a video: You’ve heard that video is HOT – but it’s not all video, just good video. And you’ve only got 90 seconds to get it done. Before you just throw a bunch of stuff in a video or video a presentation, check out some great explainer videos for inspiration.

Here are 10 awesome explainer videos to look at. I’d recommend Groupon’s, Crazy Egg’s, Litmus Email. All do the trick in about 90 seconds.

Want a quick outline of how to create a great explainer video here it is, crafted for 90 seconds: Problem, Solution, How it Works, and Conclusion (call to action).

What do we have in common with goldfish?

You’ll notice in this infographic that attention spans are getting shorter and shorter. The average attention span of a person is about five minutes, down from 12 minutes! ?Then there’s the elevator pitch which has dropped from 118 seconds down to 30! And then there’s my favorite — the average attention span of an internet user is 8 seconds. The attention span of a goldfish is 9. This is where we are going.

I’m sure that there is some point where this will level out, but for the time being, you have to assume that your customer is spending less and less time thinking about YOU and you need to spend more and more time thinking about them.

Be Ruthless and Rigorous With Your Messaging

Don’t think that because you have a marketing message today, it’s going to work tomorrow. When I say be ruthless, I mean tweak and craft and look for the best, most emotional connecting words. Keep targeting and focusing on a specific ideal customer and keep honing your marketing materials to match their inner voice as much as possible.

Yes – I know it’s hard. But I’ve given you lots of examples of people who are doing it and doing it well. This isn’t stuff reserved for big brands and smart marketers – grabbing your customers’ attention (and business) is reserved for those who take the time to get it right.