Here are the top 5:

1.    Immediately after purchase

Ask your customers for referrals as soon as they complete a purchase from you.  At this time, their excitement and enthusiasm are contagious.  They will be gung-ho to get started with your material and will want to share it with everyone.

2.    Immediately after they consume the material

As soon as your client finishes with your content, ask them who they know who might benefit from what you have to offer.

How do you know this?  Ask them!  As part of your sales process, always follow up with your customers to provide advice and guidance on using the information you’ve provided.  Part of that follow-up should be a survey of some sort so you can find out when they’ve finished with the information.

3.    Immediately after they receive the main benefit from the material

This may seem to be the same as #2, but it’s slightly different.  For example, if your customer purchased your book on how to grow roses in Arizona, you might ask them how they enjoyed the book – and that would be immediately after they consumed the material.

A few months later, your follow-up sequence might ask them how they’re doing with their roses.  If they respond that their garden is blooming beautifully and they’re up for an award, they’re now receiving the main benefit of reading your book.  Ask them to tell their friends about your book!

4.    Immediately after they give you a positive testimonial

Your customer follow-up should always ask for testimonials.  When your clients provide you with a positive review, contact them and ask them if they know anyone else just like them who you could help.

5.    A month before their anniversary

When your clients are nearing their one-year anniversary as your customer, contact them and remind them of all the great things you’ve done together over the course of the year.  Ask them if they’ll share your contact details with some of their friends so you can help them, too.

This is particularly powerful if you have a continuity program.  Some companies offer a free year of membership for clients who refer a certain number of new clients.

These methods are not mutually exclusive.  You can ask for referrals whenever you want, and you can do so multiple times, even if someone has already given you referrals.  People who like to help their friends and associates will continue to want to help even more people.

Even so, many information marketers hesitate to ask for referrals.  Part of the reason is they feel uncomfortable, like they don’t know how to ask.

Before we get into that subject, let’s make one thing perfectly clear.  If you’re offering value to your clients, it’s your responsibility to reach out and find other people who need your help.  They’re waiting for you, and if you’re not trying to find them, you’re not doing your job.  If you’re not offering value to your clients…we’re not going to go there.

So, beyond just asking, what are some creative ways to approach your existing clients for referrals?  Here are five ideas to get you started:

1.    Greeting cards

When you send your request for referrals to your client, send it in the form of a greeting card.  Greeting cards, personally addressed, get opened.  Make the message something that will really capture their attention – cute, funny, touching, inspiring – and ask them to call or e-mail you with the names and contact details for other people you might be able to help.

Alternately, you could send a card and enclose several of your specialized business cards.  These business cards need to have printing on both sides.  On the front, the traditional name and contact information should be clearly printed.  On the back, put a call to action like “Get your free consultation!  Call (555) 555-5555 or visit www.GetMyConsultation.com.”  Then simply ask your client to give the business cards to their associates who could benefit from a free consultation with you.

2.    Gift certificates

Send a note of appreciation to existing clients and enclose three gift certificates.  Let them know that one is for them to use with your existing products and services, and the other two are for them to share with their associates.  They will be thrilled that you’re giving them the gift certificate, and when they give the others away, they’ll tell their friends how great you are.

Also keep in mind, that most people will spend more than the face value of the gift certificate.  Make the gift certificates an amount that’s high enough to cover the cost of one of your lower-end products, plus a little bit more.  It’s a very sound strategy that’s been proven to work in pretty much every market.

3.    Teleseminars, webinars, mini-seminars

Host a mini-seminar in a location that’s central to several of your clients.  Make this a “get things done” seminar where you really delve into the material that they’ve already purchased from you.  Send your clients in that area an invitation, and tell them the cost of admission is one friend who is not currently your client.

You can also accomplish this with teleseminars and webinars, but the set-up is slightly different.  Send the invitations to your clients and, again, tell them the cost of admission is one friend who is not currently your client.  But this time, also let them know the all-in or log-in details will be sent to them once their friend registers for the session.

4.    Prepared endorsement postcards

Create an endorsement message for your clients to send out to their associates.  Write a compelling message and have it printed in handwriting font on a package of postcards.  Then place sufficient postage on each postcard so they can simply be signed, addressed and dropped in the mail.

Send a few postcards to your client along with a letter asking them to sign and send the postcards to their associates.  Be absolutely certain your request tells them to only send the postcards if they agree with the message.  And make the message honest.  Something like this is great:

Dear (leave a space for them to write in the name),

I didn’t actually write this postcard.  I’ve been working with a great accountant and he asked me if I knew anyone else who could use help with cutting their taxes, keeping more of their income in their pocket, and maintaining the lifestyle they want to live.  So he wrote this postcard and asked me to send it out to anyone who could benefit from his services.  Check out his website and see if he can help you as much as he helped me.  It’s http://www.TheTaxSavingAccountant.com.  Or call him at (555) 555-5555.

Take care,
(leave space for them to sign their name)

5.    Double bonus delivery

When you ship your product to your client, enclose a second copy of your product bonus and ask them to share it with a friend.  Tell them that you’re expanding your business and would like to find other people just like them.

Place a sticker on the bonus copy and tell the recipient to contact you because you would like to send them a free gift just for taking the time to look at your material.  Include your name, website address, e-mail address and phone number so it’s very easy for them to contact you.  You should also give your existing client a special thank you gift when their associate contacts you for more information.

The key to successful referral marketing is taking care of your clients.  If they love you and what you have to offer, they will be happy to share that with others they come into contact with.  All you have to do is ask.

How does referral marketing work?

Quite simply, referral marketing is nothing more than asking your existing clients if they will introduce you to their associates who you might be able to help.  Most often they do this by giving you the names and contact information of people they know, and you can contact them at your convenience.

Why should I use referral marketing?

One of the key factors in helping people make a purchasing decision is something called “social proof.”  Social proof is other people telling the prospective customer how using a particular product or service helped them.  When your clients recommend you to their friends and associates, it’s an immediate credibility boost.

Why should my customers introduce me to their friends?

If you think about it, you’ll realize that a lot of your purchasing decisions are influenced by the people you know.  When your best friend recommends a movie, that carries more weight than the critic who writes reviews for the newspaper.  And when you find a product that’s an incredible value or hire someone to do a service for you and they do a terrific job, you tell everyone about it.  People like to look out for their friends.

So, how do I get these referrals?

As hard as it may be for you to believe, you just have to ask.  Contact your existing clients who love what you have to offer, and ask them if they know anyone else who needs the same kind of help you provided them.  Ask them for the person’s name and contact information, and get their permission to tell the associate that your client thought you might be able to help them.

Referral marketing is extremely powerful for information marketers.  As you build a business focused on helping others, they will become your raving fans.  Once that happens, your clients will want everyone to know you’re the “go to person” in your field.