If you're constantly pleading clients to "tell their friends," you're trying too hard. Focus on your product and customer service, and the business referrals will come.
A. Let Your Quality Product or Service Speak for Itself
At Candy Banners, our growth has practically been fully organic. We went after a few key players in the industry at first and made sure to become their most valuable provider. Once that was done, they brought us new clients and more work than we could handle. We've been playing catchup ever since. Don't underestimate the power of a quality product or service. - Tim Grassin, Candy Banners
A. Make Customer Experience a Top Priority
Even if you are the best in your vertical and perform better than your competition behind-the-scenes, it is critical your clients feel like they are a top priority when they interact with you. This means emails get returned the same day -- immediately when possible and never over 24 hours. A customer will dump you because they feel like they are getting neglected, even if you're getting awesome results. - Christopher Rodgers, Colorado SEO Pros
A. Actively Seek Business Development Opportunities
My company Huemor has grown considerably by aligning ourselves with key business development opportunities within our industry. We seek out influential software suites, platform providers, peers and consultants for opportunities where we can collaborate together. This has consistently added value, visibility and inbound leads for the majority of 2015. - Jeff Gapinski, Huemor
A. Highlight Case Studies With Real Results
Nothing speaks louder than actionable case studies. When I show someone how to create a site, blog or ad campaign, I am showing them exactly what I did to get to where I am today. Provide everything possible to make it easy for your audience to get started, while also having a relatable story in the process. This type of content and word-of-mouth marketing will be your best referral system ever. - Zac Johnson, Start a Blog
A. Offer a Promotion
At AlignedSigns.com, we like to offer a promotion to our current clients/customers to show them we appreciate their business and then give another promotion code for them to share with someone they think would enjoy our services as well. When customers are happy with what they have received, it just makes them more excited to spread the word. - Jessica Baker, Aligned Signs
A. Improve Your Google Ranking
Our ranking on Google gets us referrals every day. We used social media, blogging and PR to help with our SEO, and it has paid off in a huge way. We rank high for important search terms and get inbound leads from our website daily. - Courtney Spritzer, SOCIALFLY
These answers are provided by members of FounderSociety, an invitation-only organization comprised of ambitious startup founders and business owners.