Forty per cent of new business is referral. It appears in no plan.

Referral is usually the cheapest channel a business has, and the only one nobody manages: which is why it quietly sets the ceiling on growth.

By Steve 5 min read
Abstract bridge artwork for Forty per cent of new business is referral. It appears in no plan.

Ask most owner-managed firms where new business comes from and referral will be somewhere near the top of the answer. Ask where it appears in the growth plan and the answer changes. The plan has a paid search line, a content line, an outbound line, a headcount line for sales. Referral sits outside the plan entirely, described in the language of weather: it comes in, it’s been quiet lately, word of mouth has always been good to us. That framing is the problem. A channel that produces a large share…

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