The sales process · After the order
A customer who would recommend you has still never been asked to.
Asking for referrals is the deliberate request for one introduction, made to a customer who has just had a good experience. It names the person you want to meet, gives them something they can forward, and takes a no without a second try. GullySales sets up the asking and the record behind it.
In one paragraph
Asking for referrals is the deliberate request for one introduction, made to a customer who has just had a good experience. It names the person you want to meet, gives them something they can forward, and takes a no without a second try. GullySales sets up the asking and the record behind it.
Word of mouth, earlier in this list, is what your customers say when nobody asked them to. This step is the asking. It is a different job: done on a day you choose, aimed at a person you name, and owned by somebody in your firm.
Most firms ask at the worst moment, which is when the invoice goes out. The request arrives attached to a payment, from an accounts email address, in a month when the job has become a memory. Ask within a day or two of the thing going right.
The ask itself is one sentence, and vagueness is what kills it. If you know anybody who needs this, send them my way is a line your customer will agree with and then forget. You have handed him the work of thinking of somebody.
The reorder call before this is the natural place for it. The last step in the stage is the other conversation, with customers who stopped answering. A programme with a reward is a separate build, worth nothing until the habit of asking exists.
Where this sits
Stage 9 of 10, after the order. Handing the customer to whoever delivers, then earning the second order and the referral.
- The stage before
- Sales closure
- The stage after
- Running the process
If you want this done for you
Give your happiest customers a specific reason to send you the next one.
The work
What this step is actually like.
“One name, not a category”
Decide who you want before you open your mouth. Not a good lead, but the purchase manager at the unit next to theirs, or another builder working in Kengeri. A customer can picture one person and act on it. Anyone you know is a wish rather than a request, and it is why customers say yes and send nothing.
“Write the message they will forward”
Nobody composes a paragraph about you on your behalf. Send three lines they can paste into WhatsApp: who you are, what you did for them in one clause, and a number a human answers. Tell them to change whatever they like. A customer who has to draft it will do it next week, and next week does not come.
“When they say no”
Take it once and take it cleanly. A no is nearly always about their standing with the person you want to meet, not about your work. Pushing costs you the customer as well as the introduction. Ask again after the next piece of work, not after the next fortnight.
“Where the asking breaks down”
Somebody from your office the customer has never heard of makes the request. The same customer is asked three times in a month by three people who do not speak to each other. Or the introduction lands, the enquiry is quoted, and nobody tells the customer what became of the person they sent. That last one closes the tap.
What we do
What you end up with.
The artefacts this step produces, what each one is for, and how you know it is finished.
The request, agreed in advance
One line everybody uses, written where the service team can find it. Let the engineer put it in his own words, but the shape holds: the job went well, is there one person you would introduce me to.
Result: Two engineers on two sites make the same request.
The forwardable introduction
Three or four lines carrying your name, what you did for this customer, and the number to ring. Short enough to read on a phone without scrolling, and written so the customer still sounds like himself.
Result: The customer forwards it in ten seconds instead of putting it off.
The referral log
Columns: the customer, the date you asked, the name they gave, what you sent, what came of it, and what went back as thanks. Keep it beside the enquiry book, so an arriving enquiry can be matched to whoever caused it.
Result: Nobody is asked twice in a month, and the sender is thanked by name.
The thank-you, and what your council allows
Decide what goes back to a referrer before you need it, and be careful with money. Doctors, dentists, lawyers and chartered accountants are bound by their own council's code on what may be paid for a referral. It is your registration at stake, so check first.
Result: Nobody is guessing about what your profession permits.
Why us
Why owners pick GullySales over an agency.
Marketing and sales, as one job
Most agencies stop at the enquiry. We also fix what happens after it: the reply, the follow-up, the quote and the CRM.
The person on the first call does the work
No account managers in between. You are never handed to someone you have not met.
A baseline before anything starts
Your numbers are written down on day one, so every monthly report compares against something honest.
The fee in writing, split three ways
Our time, your media spend and production on separate lines. You always see what goes to us.
No lock-in, no guarantees we cannot keep
Three to six months at a time. We never promise a ranking or a lead count, because nobody controls those.
One office, and we say so
Nagarbhavi, Bengaluru. We work across India by call and WhatsApp and travel when a session needs to be in person.
#257, 3rd floor, Sri Nanjundeshwara Complex, Nagarbhavi 8th Block, Outer Ring Road. How we work.
The offer
Start with a free audit of how you sell.
It is useful on its own, whether or not you hire us.
What you receive
- A 90-minute call with the person who will do the work
- A written, scored report on the six places orders leak, within a few working days
- Every fix ranked by what it returns and what it costs
- The one thing to do first, and why
- An honest line on whether you need outside help at all
- If you do, the scope and the fee in writing
No invoice. No obligation. No sales script.
FAQ
Questions owners ask before they call.
Not here? More answers, or ask on WhatsApp.
The job went well three months ago. Is it too late?
Our engineer says asking is not his job. Who does it then?
Should we pay for referrals?
How do we know we are actually doing this?
How much does it cost?
How long is the contract?
How soon will we see results?
What do you need from us?
What if we are not happy with the work?
Where to go next
The work that carries this step further.
The rest of after the order
Or read the whole sales process in order.