What makes an ideal referral champion is somewhat subjective. To identify yours, cherry pick which of the following are particularly important in your circumstances, score them out of 10 and make your list.

1. They’re willing to get involved - plus have the time, the means and the opportunity.
2. They trust the business to deliver 100%.
3. They’re active networkers with a large network of contacts, on and offline.
4. They socialise with our target audience.
5. They really understand the marketplace, what we do and how we bring value to our clients.
6. They should be able to recognise opportunities for us, with ease.
7. If there’s a financial reward for converted referrals then they’ll work hard for us.
8. They see themselves as advocates and have brought us referrals before.
9. We’ve given them referrals in the past.
10. Their testimonial is published on our website.
11. They’ve been clients for years.
12. They are one of our biggest clients and their recommendation will carry weight.
13. They owe us a favour (they’re a long-standing supplier).
14. Their opinion is highly respected.
15. They blog and should be happy to promote us.
16. They have a similar client base (and are part of our partner marketing programme).
17. They’re good friends (to the business).

Doing this on a larger scale

If you have a large database of clients, the best way to pinpoint likely champions is to carry out a simple Net Promoter Score survey.

This can be done in a couple of minutes as part of a customer care call.

Back to your comprehensive guide to referral marketing.