You will LOVE this – if you say so, it must be true!

Referrals and recommendations are a great business tool and come in many forms. During the holiday season when you think you’ve switched off from business, I guarantee you were still at it!

Over Christmas we spent a lot of time visiting family and friends, and I (like many of us I’m sure) overindulged in the fine food and delectable drinks that magically appeared in front of me every hour, on the hour (family and friends recommending what I should sample didn’t help!)

One edible delight that I had eagerly been anticipating was the much talked about homemade ‘turkey vol-au-vents’ by Barb, a family friend on my husbands side.

Family gathering at Christmas

“Oh they are simply AMAZING”

“You MUST try them, you won’t believe how tasty they are!”

So before I had even caught sight of one, I just knew I would love them as my family (who know me so well) had told me this.

At Uncle Wilbur’s, he brought out a vintage bottle of red that he’d been saving for a special occasion. We all inspected the bottle, ‘ummed’ and ‘ahhed’ our approval and nodded in agreement about how fine it was after the first mere sip.

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Quite often if we believe that something is special or that we will enjoy it – especially when we are told we will enjoy it, we most probably will. Recommendations and referrals are very powerful. They are powerful because we do it every day without even realising it; whether we are boasting about our new garden and therefore the wonderful gardener that designed it, or visiting a restaurant that had fabulous food and wonderful service, then telling friends that they have to come with us next time.

Everyone likes nice things, people will share their stories of lovely things and people will shout about extraordinary things. Its human nature to share, talk, laugh and boast, and referrals and recommendations are quite often part of it:

• Personal: “I bought this for you as I knew you would love it”
• Forceful enthusiast: “You must go here / try this as it was sooooo fabulous”
• Networking: “Here are the builder’s details that I use…”
• Boasting: “I had the best day ever at this Spa called …”
• Snob: “Looking for a tailor? Well anyone who is anyone will go here…”
• Influencer: “Now you know I know my stuff in this area – and believe me, this is magnificent!”
• Group work: “Looking for a film to see? Well Gemma and I saw this one… so has Hollie, and Carla, and Becky, and Jane – we all loved it!”

No matter how a referral or recommendation is given to you, they all have one thing in common; it is said directly to you from a person that you trust and that means something. It counts, as it is a message specifically for you.

Apply this to your marketing campaigns and you have success. Take time to get to know your audience and what they want, build a trusted brand, segment and target your audience, and make it personal!