Given the struggles facing many small businesses today, many of them could not afford to launch marketing campaigns. As such, referrals have become a popular marketing strategy as it entails lower costs but even some businesses are struggling on that front. Enter the ReferUs Network, which promises to make referrals easier and more effective as marketing tools for small businesses through its web-based application. Today we talk to Justin Herald, ReferUs’ co-founder and CEO, to know more about ReferUs’ approach to referral marketing.
ISB: What motivated you to build a business around word of mouth marketing that would become ReferUs?
JH: We saw a huge gap in the market with many businesses who were trying to get their customers to refer business to them, but they seemed to be making it a very difficult and labour intensive process for their customers. That is how ReferUs started. We saw an easy solution to an ongoing issue. We wanted to create a process that would make a referral instant, right as the customer was raving about a business. 10 seconds is as long as it takes for your customers to send you a hot lead and that’s all they need to do. Our process makes it a whole lot easier and simpler to create an army of referrers for your business.
ISB: What makes word of mouth marketing work so well for small businesses?
JH: Word-of-mouth marketing should be the number one process a business has in place. If your customers aren’t talking to others about your business, then you need to make sure they are. People trust people they know, so in a world of consistent marketing everywhere we go, when a friend or family member refers a business to you, you believe them more than a fancy ad somewhere. If your customers love what you do, then they will happily assist you in growing your business by referring you, all you need to do is make that an easy process.
ISB: Do you think that word of mouth marketing would work for all business types?
JH: Word-of-mouth marketing and referrals work for any type of business, no matter how large or small. We have service-based businesses, product-based businesses, Franchises, online businesses, Real estate, and Finance brokers and now car dealerships are in conversations with us—all types of businesses that are realising that their loyal customers and raving fans would love to help them grow their business, and that is where ReferUs Network makes that process even easier and trackable.
ISB: What are the common problems with word of mouth marketing and how does ReferUs solve them?
JH: Most businesses would have no idea when their customers are referring their business until that referral hopefully contacts the business. We have solved that problem by creating a process where a referral is sent at the exact time someone is referring a business to someone else. It takes only 10 seconds, and after that, the business being referred has the potential new customers/ clients’ details, the person being referred has the businesses details, and the referrer can track that referral in real time.
All referrals go into the business’s and referrals individual ReferUs CRM.
ISB: ReferUs seems like a marketing platform in and of itself, but how do you market a marketing platform?
JH: Most businesses have no formal referral process let alone a marketing process. Most businesses don’t have their customers referring their business because they have never asked their customers to refer for them. ReferUs just makes that a very easy process. Now when you invite your customers to become a referrer for your business, your customers get your businesses branded referral process right on their mobile phones with one easy process. Now not only can they send you a hot lead from someone who is looking for what you are selling, they also can track that lead they sent through as well as the person they just referred gets sent all of your business’s details. It keeps everyone in the loop to ensure transparency.
ISB: You’ve received multiple offers from investors, despite not actively seeking VC. How did this happen?
JH: We have had a lot of interest from VCs and individual investors prior to and after launch. After launching we have had a few meetings with companies looking at investing into what we had created, but I am firm on what we need and want if we were look at investment. We are getting a lot of interest from investment firms globally, which is very exciting. ReferUs Network is suited to any business globally, and that is now being seen.
ISB: In what way was the experience of starting this venture different from the other ventures you’ve started?
JH: As I have started a few businesses in the past outside of software, this start-up was a lot different. Luckily for me my business partner and co-founder, Phil Bamford has created numerous software programs in the past which made things a lot easier. It’s a great partnership as I can come up with some crazy ideas and Phil knows how to make that happen. The key to ReferUs’ success was that we needed the process to be simple, but as I have now discovered, that means a lot of work behind the scenes.
