Of course, don't just bombard your referrals with product brochures and expect them to come knocking on your door. Instead, it is crucial that you demonstrate to your referrals how much you value your relationship with them. Referral marketing is all about cultivating a good relationship with your prospects and clients. The better you are at developing a relationship with them, the better your business will grow.

This is especially true if you are in a service-related industry. If you want to continuously grow your list of referrals, you will have to come up with a few good ways to follow up with them. Of course, your follow ups should not only be limited to your referrals only. You can use the same techniques here with your existing clients and customers.

There are many ways for you to follow up with your referrals. Personal letters, emails, phone calls and print documents are just some of the more common channels that you can explore. However, some of your referrals might get irritated after a while if they keep getting the same materials from you. As such, it is important that you start getting creative by coming up with a fresh, new ideas to help you better follow up with your referrals.

Here is a great technique: Send out birthday cards, anniversary cards, and thank you cards to your referrals!

But these are not just ordinary birthday cards. These are special birthday cards that come with a personalised birthday message AND a special voucher to invite their friends to enjoy your product or service. For example, if you're running a luxury spa that caters only to ladies, you may send your referrals (and clients) a birthday card with a special voucher for them to bring along two other female friends to enjoy a free birthday treat together. Isn't this a great idea?

This accomplishes two things. One, your referred prospect will surely be impressed by your generosity and will genuinely appreciate the gesture. Two, your prospect will bring along two other friends, who will then become prospects for you as well! You will be building a relationship with all three prospects at the same time. This is a win-win situation for all parties.

If you do this right, you will definitely get more and more referrals, just by sending out birthday cards!

Birthday cards typically have more appeal compared to emails and flyers, so do give it a try. It's a novel idea that not many businesses adopt. They are also a great tool for follow ups because your clients will be reminded of your company at least once every year.

By giving away free products and services, you are actually building goodwill with your prospects and clients. This in turn helps to build your relationship with them. Just keep them updated, and make them know that you treasure them for being your customers.

The strong relationship that you're building with them will reward you many times over in the future.