Research shows that peer-to-peer referrals are becoming key to major buying decisions. Both consumer and professional buyers are turning to trusted friends, colleagues and peers and asking them if they can recommend somebody that can do X.
Best-selling author Alan Weiss argues this has significant implications: ‘Sales today are based on evangelism. That is, the spreading of the word from peer-to-peer. Buyers want to hear from someone like them… people they trust and to whom they can relate’.
The idea of peer-to-peer referrals influencing sales is not a new one. In 1991 Geoffrey Moore wrote his seminal book Crossing the Chasm. In that book he talks about four different types of buyers and their attitude towards buying new products or services:
- Revolutionists – buyers who will take a chance on something new
- Evolutionists or pragmatists – buyers who need social proof first
- Conservatives – will only buy when others do
- Laggards – may never buy
For any new start-up it is critical that you understand who you are trying to sell to and their attitude towards buying it. If your product or service is new and unfamiliar then it is going to be extremely unlikely (and costly) to convince a conservative company to buy it first.
However, if you are dealing with evolutionists then one marketing strategy is to use peer-to-peer referrals. This is why social media platforms are awash with influencers being paid by companies to use and promote their products!
Building a simple marketing strategy can start with your existing customers or prospects. Who do they turn to for advice? Who do they trust? What resources do they rely on? Work out how to develop relationships with their peers or network.
If a prospective buyer is looking for social proof, how can you demonstrate your value add? Can you share a case study of how your tech is currently bringing value to others? Can you host a technical demo day and invite all your prospective customers?
Sales will always be a relationship business. If there’s no relationship, there’s no sale. The job of the salesperson is still to build relationships with all key buying influences, both direct and indirect.
