|

New Customer Lead Generation: Why Referrals Must Be Part Of The Mix

Bylori

new customer lead generationIt’s well known across multiple industries that new customer lead generation should be part of any effective marketing plan.

No successful business can prioritize new customer lead generation over nurturing existing customer relationships, or vice versa. However, you can boost the success of your strategy if you use your existing customer base to nurture new customer lead generation.

To succeed, every business must have a fresh supply of incoming leads to flesh out a healthy sales funnel, keeping a steady stream of revenue coming into the business. Using referrals from existing customers can put your marketing program into overdrive, as this key group is a fresh source of satisfied customers with access to an untapped reserve of new ones.

If you’re not sure that your business will benefit from focusing on new customer lead generation from referrals, consider its benefits:

  • It costs less – Developing a relationship with a cold lead takes longer and costs more than it will to nurture a referral. You’ll spend more time on the phone or pay more for ads to get a cold lead, because that lead has no connection with your business. A referral, on the other hand, has an existing connection with your business, generally in the form of positive word-of-mouth testimonials from friends or family.
  • It’ll net you the right kind of customers – Identifying satisfied customers from which to source referrals nets you more satisfied customers. This self-perpetuating cycle of highly satisfied customers boosts your ROI in multiple ways.
  • It will increase revenue – Experts estimate that a lead gained from a referral will close at a rate as high as 60 percent, where as a cold lead, or non-qualified lead will close at a rate as low as 10 percent. It pays to focus on qualified, referred leads.

Need to increase the results of new customer lead generation? Implement a lead generation program that nurtures existing customer relationships and puts them to work for your business, helping you gain a steady stream of revenue.

Image via Shutterstock.com