With any referral program, it’s key to remember that you want this to do one thing, uncommonly well. A referral letter is the “next best thing” to having a personal referral, without that person knowing who will be reading their letter. This can be simple or complex, depending on your needs – as long your broadcast message is clear, then having several is a good strategy.

All high level websites have a page with customer testimonials, or referral letters. Here we have people (in some cases, allegedly) who have written in to compliment the site or product – doesn’t sound like much, does it? Over 60% of consumers have remarked that they 1) read user generated comments and 2) that their decisions have being greatly influenced by these testimonials. This is the main reason that many businesses spend large amounts on customer satisfaction and client follow-up.

With the current economic downturn, it’s no wonder that there is a high demand for these programs. Doing the little things has become so necessary that it’s worth mentioning them again briefly.

Make sure you follow up with your clients and prospects; ensure the sales and delivery process goes smoothly and to their satisfaction; follow up, every step of the way. When you’re assured of their satisfaction, then ask for a referral – or ask for a referral letter, depending on the product or service you are offering.

Where your company’s offerings are not in a wide demand setting, that is where referral letters will shine, and help to convert future customers. Knowing what these testimonials can do for your business, it’s something that should be a company mandate – to always ask for a referral, either direct or as a letter.

Integrating these letters into a sales presentation is not always easy or needed, but having them on hand to allow prospects to review an honest assessment by a previous client of your product or service will go a long way to showing that your company holds its responsibilities highly and backs it up. Taking into consideration the effect the referral letter has on sales is not easy and it’s incredibly hard to find metrics to back it up, but it is a known fact that our opinions do affect others, however trivial they may seem to us at the time, and that this influence has a huge impact on every sales arena.