the idea that referral marketing is as simple as..... 'do a good job at a fair price and people will recommend you'[/i.......] is in my opinion is wrong, its not as simple as that.
you first need to consider the 3 types of people that you will get recommended to.
1) family,
2) friends ( inc' work colleagues)
3) business contacts & associates
you cannot try to harvest referrals from each group in the same way. You must put yourself in the shoes of the person you are asking the referral from and understand their motivations and thinking process.
think of a customer who recommends her daughter- very low risk
think of a MD of a large company recommending you to another MD, they are not just recommending you they are vouching for you.... putting their own reputation on the line so high risk
to think all you need to do is hand out a bottle of spotter and say" tell your friend about me" is not going to do it
