New referral program

[m&mmowing]

I've got a new referral program coming up, and need help on the letter, and what you think the results will be. Here is the letter:

Dear

I am looking to grow my business. In the last ten years, I have figured out that word of mouth referrals is the best advertising. If would please fill out this questionnaire so that I will be able to reward you much better than what I have done in the past.

THERE IS NO POINT SYSTEM. You will be rewarded for each referral. The more referrals, the better the rewards. If you would get me four new clients in your neighborhood, the rest of the year is FREE. If you get me six new clients outside of your neighborhood, then the rest of the year will be free.

Please call or email with any questions.

And yes, there is a questionnaire that i have made up-favorite fast foods, sit down and eat restaurants, and music. I'm thinking $10 to the fast food the first one, cd or $50 to a nice restaurant for the next, and the last either a nice place to eat or concert tickets, depending on the customer.

[tinman]

Sounds like a bit too much in the give away, but it could really motivate someone to get you referrals. What if 2 referrals drop off after a month? Just try to plan for every event that could take place.

[yplllc]

We use to give our customers a free mowing in the past if we were refered to them and it worked alright. But this year we decided that with gas prices the way they have been a gas card might be better, boy were we right. We give a $25 gas card to each customer who refers us. We have emphasized that there is no limit to how many one customer can earn and i have some customers that have refered us to 5 or more new clients. It costs a little more than a free mowing but from what we have seen is way worth it.

[Roger]

You expose yourself to questions when you say it took you ten years to understand word-of-mouth to be the best advertising. This is Marketing 101. Nobody should need ten years to come to understand this idea. To me, the statement raises a red flag about your business.

Your idea of "four customers in the neighborhood", or "six outside the neighborhood" is reversed. It should be much harder for somebody to get the six outside, than four inside. I understand the six gives you exposure to more neighborhoods, but giving the same reward for each program seems unfair.

I would be interested to know if your program works. Something similar worked for yplllc. I've never given anything for referrals, but get them all the time. Nor, have I made any mention to any customer about giving me referrals. Most of my customer base consists of those who came by referral. Cultivate a relationship with your customer base in some form on a consistent basis, do the job expected, and people seem to appreciate you enough to keep passing along the name.