Think back to any major decision you’ve ever made – personally or in business – what has been the key deciding factor in that final decision?

It always comes down to a recommendation from a good friend or a trusted business contact

This was brought home to me at a recent 4N Hale & Altrincham meeting at the Cresta Court where the 40 seconds round had a significant amount of the 25 businesses in the room recommending other businesses in the room for the fantastic services they’d provided. As somebody who has been networking regularly for over year recommendations do happen at every meeting, but this time it was different, it was a seismic change to an overwhelming majority of talking as much about other businesses in the room as well as their own businesses

Why the change i’m not quite sure, but talking to dozens of business each and every week there’s a feeling for many that business is better than ever regardless of what’s printed in the tabloid press. Maybe businesses are becoming ever more grateful to those that help them lift it up after what could have been difficult times over the past year

So next time you work with somebody that provides a good service and goes beyond the call of duty – recommend them, shout from the rooftop and tell other people to get in touch. Treat others as you’d expect to be treated yourself was the saying we were all brought up with

Here’s a few ways you can recommend people in business

TWITTER
The quickest and easiest way – 140 characters and you’ve told your many followers of the great service you’ve had

Also listen to what your tweeters are tweeting about and if they’re after a particular service and know somebody who can help – put them in touch

LINKEDIN
Higher end businesses use this as a great CV and recommendations tool. It’s our preferred method for getting recommendations as lists them in date order and allows you to leave an in-depth recommendation

FACEBOOK
Perfect for recommending those B2C business such as restaurants, bars, cafe’s etc – on the new facebook pages timeline the recommendation section should be page right mid way down

FACE 2 FACE RECOMMENDATIONS
As per the scenario above – do some face 2 face business networking and meet new businesses as the same time as recommending people you know for great services

FREEINDEX / TRIPADVISOR etc
We’re ranked Number 1 for Social Media Marketing in the UK on freeindex via independent customer testimonials so we know how important this can be

TALK TO US…
In the UK we’re so used to complaining about bad service we’d like to know what makes you recommend a business as well – let us know in the comments section

If you need help on developing a real testimonial strategy for your business get in touch about our 1 on 1 social media training

Altrincham Hq

“With over 12 years experience of Social Media and 17 years experience of online marketing in other companies, clients come to myself when they want a veteran rather than a rookie” Alex McCann