Word Of Mouth Is The Best Referral Possible
In order to grow a customer referral network, word of mouth advertising cannot be ignored. Responsible for building strong customer referral networks, it’s also the cheapest form of marketing available. In recent years word of mouth has taken a back seat to digital and social media marketing. Most business owners forget it’s one of the most effective marketing strategies for growing a business and creating brand awareness. In fact, the average US citizen mentions about 60 brand names per week so it’s the most influential psychological driver for purchases.
Friends & Family Are Your Best Salesmen
Friends and family are one of the best sources of brand awareness. These consumers referred by a friend are four times more likely to buy your products or services and have a 30% higher conversion rate. Keep in mind that word of mouth marketing can work against you if your customers are not satisfied with your products or services. Therefore, it’s important that you build a strong brand with a high customer satisfaction rate.
Measure Your Customer Satisfaction
To measure your customer satisfaction, you can calculate your NPS (Net Promoter Score). This can be calculated by asking a simple one question survey – using a 0-10 scale: How likely is it that you would recommend your company to a friend or colleague?
- Promoters (score 9-10) are loyal members who will keep using your services or products and will refer others to your gym.
- Passives (score 7-8) are satisfied but unenthusiastic members who could be vulnerable to other competitive gyms.
- Detractors (score 0-6) are unhappy members who could damage your brand.
4 Ways to grow your customer referral network through Word of Mouth
A customer referral network can be enhanced by joining local networking groups, creating referral incentive programs, or by building mutually beneficial partnerships with companies that work within the fitness industry.
- Refer a Friend Incentives
By offering discounts to your members on future membership fees or product purchases, you can incentive your existing members to refer their friends and family to your gym. This will help to increase your current member’s loyalty while also helping to bring in new prospects to your gym. - Customer Appreciation Day – Open Gym
You may also want to consider setting up a monthly customer appreciation day for your existing members. You can offer free classes or workouts for your local community while encouraging your members to invite their friends and family to try out one of your classes. - Set up Referral Partners in your Industry
To help grow your business, you can partner with local companies in the area that are in the fitness industry. This could be a fitness apparel company, supplement store, or a local coffee shop. By building relationships with these companies, you can collaborate on future marketing campaigns and create customer referral incentives for anyone that visits their business and signs up at your gym. - Join a local Business Network
Another way to increase brand awareness is by joining a local business network. By joining a networking group, you will be able to meet other business leaders in your community who may be looking for fitness training services. It’s also a great way to create referral partners within your community.
