It’s easier to earn a negative review than a referral. And SafeSourcing awards all referrals financially!
Today’s post is by Dave Wenig, Sr. Vice President of Sales and Services at SafeSourcing.
Telling your friends, family, colleagues about some product or service is as common as anything. Online reviews and ratings are everywhere. It’s just human nature. If you need proof, just go to Facebook or Instagram and see how many pictures you see of your friends’ meals. Still, for something so common, we tend to be careful about giving actual referrals. It’s all too easy to share negative experiences as warnings to your network. There is very little personal risk in sharing a negative review. As a consumer, it can even feel somewhat satisfying to vent about a bad experience in this way.
Positive reviews are much harder to earn. Even more difficult to earn are actual referrals. There are probably many reasons for this. One is that unlike sharing a negative experience, giving a referral puts the referrer in a position of perceived risk. Clearly, they were satisfied with their experience, but will the contact in their network also feel satisfied? Worse, if they are not satisfied, will the recipient of the referral hold the referrer accountable?
Yet, this practice of sharing, both positive and negative, thrives today. Our own networks have grown steadily larger and easier to manage. Much of this is as a result of social media and technology in general. We’re able to connect with more people in more meaningful ways now that communicating from any distance is a negligible feat. While conversation about social media can be polarizing, there is no denying the scope of its impact.
Here is a Mark Zuckerberg quote about influence and referral. “People influence people. Nothing influences people more than a recommendation from a trusted friend. A trusted referral influences people more than the best broadcast message.” Given that, Mr. Zuckerberg is the third richest person in the world as of the day I’m writing this, we should at least consider his opinion.
At SafeSourcing, we understand that to give a referral is no small thing. We understand that this is a vote of confidence and that this is a personal investment. We are fortunate enough to have been on the receiving end of many customer referrals and are always incredibly appreciative of this act. We also take this very seriously and we feel the full weight of the responsibility.
SafeSourcing wants to thank our customers who think highly enough of us and the eProcurement service that we provide to stick their necks out for us with a referral. From the date of this posting through September of 2018, we’re offering a discount program for referrals. For our current clients, we’ll offer a 50% discount on your next RFx Event for any new referrals that lead to an RFx Event (contact SafeSourcing for full details).
We appreciate and are honored by each referral we receive, and we will compensate you for them generously.
