BUSINESS SUPERFANS® ADVANTAGE • EPISODE 13
Customer Experience
Revenue Reactor Discipline
Customer Experience
Blocked Growth Addressed
The primary growth blocker is one-and-done selling: owners stop engaging customers, employees, and partners after the transaction, so referrals and repeat business depend on luck instead of a planned, consistent habit of small touches.
Primary Stakeholder
Customers
Additional Stakeholders
Employees, Referral Partners, Complementary Businesses, Suppliers/Vendors, Delivery Drivers, Competitors, Prospects
Primary Topic
Growing Referrals and Repeat Business Through Small, Consistent Touches
DIRECT ANSWER
Referrals and repeat business grow when you keep engaging people after the sale. Steve Feld recommends following up on every purchase, sending short thank-you cards, recognizing employees, offering rewards that are easy to earn, and paying partners a referral fee. Put each touch on your calendar so it happens every week, not just when you remember.
Why This Guest’s Perspective Matters
Steve Feld, MBA, has owned, operated, and built seven businesses, provided change management and process improvement to three other companies, and operated a division for three Fortune 500 companies. A business coach, TEDx presenter, and author of books for small business owners, he has worked with hundreds of businesses on clarity, strategic planning, and growth. In one of his own businesses, he tracked referrals at 27% of the business.
Key Discoveries From This Conversation
Root cause: the relationship ends at the sale. Steve says the businesses “crying the blues” about referrals usually stop engaging once the deal closes: “they do the sale and then we don't hear from them until they need to reorder.”
Misconception: asking everyone “who do you know?” is a referral plan. In one of Steve's businesses, referrals made up 27% of the business. “How do I know that? I track it.” The plan was structured and rewarded, not a blanket ask.
Strategic shift: employees are Superfans too. Steve's clients sign monthly birthday cards and print milestones in the newsletter. At one company with an average tenure of 28 years, those notes made “everybody feel, wow, they really care about me.”
Practical method: put every touch on a reminder. Trello, Asana, a reminder app, or Outlook all work, Steve says, as long as the tool prompts you. He doesn't clear a reminder until the task is done.
Business consequence: one-sided partnerships fall apart. Steve recommends a referral fee, such as 10% of what a referral closes, to keep both sides accountable. When a CPA stopped sending referrals back, he moved to another CPA.
Measurable outcome: simple rewards can double revenue. A women's boutique Steve worked with rewarded repeat purchases and testimonials. The owner told him, “I doubled my revenue just from these little touches,” and hired someone just to manage it.
Follow up after every sale. Ask whether everything went right and what you could improve; the answers sharpen your sales process and set up the next order.
Write short thank-you cards weekly. Pre-printed cards with one or two personal lines take far less time than you expect.
Make referral asks specific. “Anyone with skin” gets you nothing; “someone with eczema” gets you a name.
Welcome new hires on purpose. A planned first week with department heads and a desk full of welcome cards turns new employees into advocates.
Mail something physical. A simple printed newsletter or a quarterly postcard keeps you in front of clients and prospects longer than email.
Keep rewards easy to claim. Loyalty and rebate programs that make people jump through hoops create critics, not fans.
Build two-way partner relationships. Agree on referral fees with complementary businesses so both sides keep sending business.
2:53 — One-and-done selling — Why businesses miss referrals and repeat customers after the sale.4:28 — Thank-you cards and bounce-back coupons — Simple weekly touches that bring customers back.6:38 — Recognizing your employees — How birthday cards signed by managers lift morale and engagement.9:20 — Onboarding that creates Superfans — A planned first week and a welcome desk on day three.11:21 — Printed newsletters still work — One ad, real news, and milestones that clients actually read.12:52 — Reminder tools that keep you consistent — Trello, Asana, Remind, or Outlook, and never skipping anyone.17:07 — Loyalty programs that pay off — Easy rewards and testimonials that doubled a boutique's revenue.19:33 — Complementary businesses and referral fees — Why one-way partnerships fall apart.22:50 — Vendors, drivers, and competitors as fans — Relationships that led to a co-op and new clients.28:54 — Block the time and make a plan — Why winging it kills good ideas.
PUT THIS INTO PRACTICE
Block 30 minutes this Sunday for thank-you cards. List everyone who bought from you in the past week, write two personal lines on a short card for each, and mail them. Then set a recurring weekly reminder, and don't clear it until the cards are in the mail.
Steve said something early that I'd put on every owner's desk. The businesses crying the blues about referrals are usually the ones that stop talking to customers once the sale is done. The sale really begins after the sale.
None of what he shared is expensive. A thank-you card on Sunday. A birthday card signed by the managers. A reward people can actually earn. Steve blocked two hours for his thank-you cards and found it took him thirty minutes, and he enjoyed it.
The part most owners skip is everyone else around the business. An employee who doesn't feel appreciated shows up at a customer's home and does half the job, and now two companies look bad, including the one that made the referral. A partner who sends you clients and gets nothing back eventually stops. Steve even turned his delivery drivers into fans.
So don't wing it. Block the time, put it on a reminder, and do it every week. That's how one customer becomes a Superfan who brings you the next one.
What does Steve Feld say businesses get wrong after the sale?
Steve Feld says most businesses treat the sale as one and done and don't hear from the customer again until a reorder. He recommends following up on every purchase to ask whether everything went right and what could improve. The feedback sharpens your sales process, and staying in touch sets up renewals, replenishment, and referrals.
How did Steve Feld track and grow referrals?
Steve Feld says referrals made up 27% of the business in one of his companies, and he knows because he tracked them. He paired a structured referral plan with incentives such as bounce-back coupons and weekly thank-you cards, instead of asking every customer who they know. He also recommends paying complementary businesses a referral fee.
What does Steve Feld recommend for welcoming and recognizing employees?
Steve Feld recommends monthly birthday cards signed by managers, anniversaries and milestones in the company newsletter, and an onboarding week that introduces new hires to every department head. At one company he worked with, new employees reached their desk on the third day to find company swag and welcome cards. He says morale, engagement, and employee suggestions all rise.
Why does Steve Feld build relationships with vendors and competitors?
Steve Feld says vendors, delivery drivers, and even competitors can become fans when you treat them as people, not transactions. He gave drivers small gifts like ice water on hot days, and they shared what was happening in other stores. Those relationships led him to form a co-op with competitors and buy their customer databases during a downturn.
Biz Coach Steve — Steve Feld's coaching practice, with free articles, workshops, and resources for business owners.
The 100K eBook — Steve's free guide to eight simple strategies for growing a business without spending more on marketing or advertising.
Trello — The project management tool one of Steve's clients uses to prompt follow-up tasks.
Asana — Another project management tool Steve has seen clients use for reminders.
Remind — A reminder app Steve mentioned for daily prompts such as sending a birthday postcard.
Microsoft Outlook — Where Steve keeps his own reminders and tasks, which he reviews every morning.
No current sponsor or approved-partner tools were discussed. Steve mentioned Trello, Asana, Remind, and Microsoft Outlook as reminder tools, along with his own free resources at BizCoachSteve.com.
EPISODE 213
Frederick Dudek
Culture
Frederick Dudek (Freddy D) uses a true story about a customer who spent $112 on chicken pot pies on purpose to reveal the most underused marketing asset in most businesses: the frontline employee, and why recognition — not customer-facing tactics — has to come first.
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EPISODE 225
Ely Delaney
Communication
Most service business owners have a list that has gone quiet. Ely Delaney, founder of Purple Knight Marketing and author of The Follow-Up Code, explains how relationship-first, value-first follow-up wakes it up, including the client who went from about $35,000 to about $110,000 a month by changing nothing but his words.
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EPISODE 12
Catherine Oaks
Marketing
Most small businesses talk about themselves and quit marketing too soon. Catherine Oaks, founder of SliiceXR, explains how customer-centric messaging, one consistent brand across every channel, and at least nine touchpoints build brand awareness and turn customers into Superfans.
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Biz Coach Steve
Guest Offer
Steve Feld offers his free eBook, which he calls the 100K book, on eight simple strategies to grow your business without spending more on marketing or advertising. Get it at bizcoachsteve.com/100k. You'll also find free articles, workshops, and resources at BizCoachSteve.com, and you can connect with Steve on LinkedIn.
Topic Tags
Follow-Up, Customer Retention, Referral Partnerships, Employee Recognition, Loyalty Programs, Direct Mail, Client Relationships, Stakeholder Ecosystem
Frederick Dudek
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Business Prosperity Advisor · Creator of Business Superfans® · Creator of Revenue Reactor™
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