The Referral Test: do people describe your business the way you think they do?

Sep 22

3 min read

For many service-based businesses, referrals are one of the most valuable sources of new work.

Someone has a problem. They mention it to a colleague, friend or business contact. And that person says:

“You should speak to…”

But what comes after that?

How do they actually describe your business?

Because the words your clients use when recommending you can tell you a lot about what your business is really known for, and it may not be the same thing you’re trying to communicate through your marketing.

There’s a very simple way to find out.

The Referral Test

Choose five people who know your business well. Ideally, a mixture of current clients, long-standing clients and trusted contacts.

Ask each of them one question:

“If you were recommending us to someone who had never heard of us, how would you describe what we do?”

Don't explain what you're looking for.
Don't give them examples.
Don't ask them to describe your “brand”.

Just let them answer naturally. The aim isn't to test them, it's to test your marketing.

Step 1: Write down exactly what they say

Try not to translate their answer into your own terminology.

If they say:

“They're accountants who are really good with farming businesses.”

Write that down.

If they say:

“They sort out all our IT and I can actually get hold of them when something goes wrong.”

Write that down too. The language itself is useful.

Businesses spend a lot of time deciding how they want to describe themselves. Your clients can show you how that message has actually landed.

Step 2: Look for what comes up repeatedly

Once you have your five answers, put them next to each other.

What appears more than once?

It could be a particular service.
A sector.
A member of your team.
How responsive you are.
The fact that you're local.
A specific type of problem you solve.
Something about the experience of working with you.

These recurring themes are clues to what your reputation is actually built around. If four out of five people independently mention the same thing, that's worth paying attention to.

Step 3: Look at what's missing

This is probably the most interesting part.

What did nobody mention?

Perhaps you've spent the last year trying to grow a particular service, but none of your clients associate you with it.

Perhaps your website talks heavily about strategic advice, while clients still primarily describe you by the traditional service you originally became known for.

That doesn't necessarily mean your marketing has failed.

It does tell you there may be a gap between how you want the business to be understood and how it is currently understood.

Step 4: Put the findings to work

The purpose of the exercise isn't to find the “perfect” sentence and immediately rewrite your homepage.

Use the answers as evidence.

If clients consistently use a particular phrase to describe why they value you, could some of that language appear in your marketing?
If everyone associates you with one service but you're trying to grow another, do you need to give the newer service greater prominence?
If people continually mention the experience of working with your team, are you showing enough of those people in your marketing?
And if the answers are wildly different, is your business trying to communicate too many things at once?

You already have a brand in other people's heads

Your brand isn't only the language on your website or the things you say about yourself. It's also the shorthand other people use when your name comes up in a conversation you're not part of.

And for service businesses, those conversations matter.

So rather than guessing what people say about you, ask.

Five people. Two questions. No complicated survey required.

You might be surprised by what comes back.