Content Marketing is all the rage, and for good reason. Google is continuously tweaking their algorithms to reward content that is useful for people, rather than over-optimized thin content.
Marketers are catching on, and as a result there are a ton of articles talking about the value of content marketing for attracting new customers.
But you don't hear as much talk about great customer service as a way of getting new customers.
Where do new customers come from?
Ask any business owner what their best source of new customers is, and they will tell you it is word-of-mouth referrals from their existing customers.
Yet - amazingly - 80% of businesses have no process in place for asking their customers for referrals!
Customer service as an inbound marketing technique
Providing top-notch customer service is the best way to get your customers to refer you to their friends or colleagues.
But you have to take it one step further. In addition to providing a fantastic customer experience, you need to ask your customers to refer you!
How to ask for referrals
According to John Jantsch, author of The Referral Engine (an excellent book, btw) one of the best times to ask your customer for a referral is after a support request where you resolved their question or issue. This was counter-intuitive for me at first.
In the book, he suggests you think about all of the customer touch-points in your business. Write down every time you interact with your customer, and look for opportunities to ask for referrals.
Here's an example of how we mapped out all of our customer touch-points for one of our products.
