I hate being “bought”. I feel both devalued and trivialized when that sort of thing is proposed. It actually turns me off when I am offered $5 to complete a survey. When I read opinion survey results, I often wonder how tainted the results are. How many of the responders were compensated? Do they always tell us that the results are derived via compensation?
Bottom line, true referrers, people that really CARE about your product, don’t want, or need, to be bought. When bought, referrals are neither heartfelt nor meaningful.
When you are seeking B2B Marcom referrals, testimonials, and references for your products and/or services:
- Aim for much less quantity and much higher (meaningful, useable, specific) quality.
- Seek individuals who you’ve really moved.
- Seek people to whom you truly matter.
- Seek people who are ALREADY talking about you.
- Seek referrals with huge amounts of traction.
- Seek sales leads that will be pitched to by a passionate 3rd party (the person recommending you).
Go that route and you will chase fewer leads, score more repeatedly, and proceed more dependably.
BONUS: You'll also learn the TRUTH about yourself.