Many small businesses and independent landscape designers depend

on referrals. These are the lifeblood of our company.

Are you taking the time to thank those who are referring others to

you? Do you have a specific "Referral Rewards" system in place?

Referrals come from many groups of people--past clients, other

design professionals, contractors, realtors, etc. Each should

be thanked and rewarded.

My system involves two steps. First, upon receiving a referral,

I send a "Thank You" card to the referral source. Second, I reward

the source of the referral AFTER I've completed a significant

amount of work such as an installation or landscape plan.

The reward is typically based on the size of the project. A

referral leading to a $100,000 installation project will earn a

larger reward than a $2,000 design project.

I always try to make the reward unique to the individual. For

example, my irrigation contractor is a wine aficionado. I know

exactly what to get him when he refers someone to me.

Here are some ideas for "Referral Rewards":

• Donation to referrer's charity of choice
• Charity gift cards - Check out www.tisbest.org (very cool)
• Gift card to restaurants
• Memberships to local botanical gardens
• Flats of annuals
• Services - For example, one month of gardening services

Do whatever you are comfortable with. Just make sure you at

least have a rewards plan in place.

Check out Jeffrey Scott's book, "The Referral Advantage." He

dedicates an entire section on this topic called "Incentive

Systems: What works, what doesn't."

Click here for a special offer Jeffrey and I put together for you.

All the best,

Chris Heiler, Editor

Follow me on Twitter- http://twitter.com/chris_heiler