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Have you seen any circumstances where customers viewed money for referrals as a bribe?
Have you seen a circumstance where customers have viewed dollars for a referral as a "bribe" and led to negative impressions towards the company?
This question was asked during Matt Heinz's presentation, "Metrics and Analytics: 10 B2B Metrics Worth Your Commitment" during the Focus Interactive Summit: Progressive B2B Marketing.
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Yes. I believe it works against you both in terms of the company asking/taking the money and for prospects who "discover" that the referral was given with a financial exchange.
In the first situation, the money often ends up going to the individual who provides the referral rather than the company - that always creates awkwardness all the way around. In the 90's, it was common practice for vendors to take out their best clients on boondoggles to fancy resorts for weekends, etc. You don't see that as much anymore because prospects see it as bribery.
For the prospect that is being referred, if they become aware of payment in exchange for the referral, they begin to question the reference, the company, etc.
It is best to stay away from informal referral programs. In the case of formal referral programs - the typical one involving a 10% commission for a new prospect - I am not so sure how others feel about it.
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