The Edge January/February 2026

BOOSTING YOUR BUSINESS

MEASURING THE EFFECTIVENESS YOUR ADVOCACY MARKETING No matter what methods you choose to implement to encourage more referrals, it’s important to understand your current percentage of business that comes from word of mouth. This way, you can accurately gauge what’s working and take note if referrals suddenly drop off. Hawkins says for the first eight years of his business, 100 percent of his leads came from word of mouth. “That’s how we built our book of busi ness,” Hawkins says. “We did a really good job for a client and then they suddenly refer us to their friends or we’re asking, ‘Hey, do you know of anybody else who could benefit from our services?’ but really, we let our work do our speaking for us. Just recently, we’ve had to branch out a little bit and try to establish additional relationships because of the growth that we’ve had over the past few years.” Rossen estimates about 30% of their business is from referrals. Marsiglia says they track everything in their CRM. From January to October 2025, 23% of their leads have come from word of mouth. She notes knowing exactly where your leads are coming from is not always black and white, so this percentage could be higher. “If they don’t tell us naturally, we make sure to ask, ‘How did you hear about us?’ when we’re on the phone,” Marsiglia says. “If it’s a referral, they will let us know the name of their friend, family, or neighbor that has used or still uses our services.” All three companies say they have repeat referrers, but most of their referrals come from a wide variety of customers. At the end of the day it all comes back to giving clients an experience they want to tell others about. “It doesn’t matter to me if you spend a million dollars a year or if you spend $10,000 a year, I am looking for long-term relationships and people who want to invest in us because we want to invest in them,” Hawkins says. “What we’ve seen is that as we’ve done that, as we focused on all of our clients and tried to treat them that way we’ve developed very solid rela tionships. We have customers that come to us for everything. They oftentimes will come to us and say, ‘Hey, what do you think of this? What are your thoughts?’ It gives us the opportunity to not only col laborate with them, but also be a partner and be a trusted ally and a friend, and that’s been a game changer for us.” TE

broke the tension for everybody, and it showed them, ‘Look, let’s roll our sleeves up, but let’s work on a solution together. Let’s figure this out where it works for both parties.’” You can also consider hosting custom er appreciation events. Hawkins says this is something he’ll start doing with their top customers in 2026. “I think starting with an activity, an event that encourages and promotes the things that they’re doing, and isn’t a pushy, ‘Hey, give us more opportunities and leads.’ It’s a ‘We just want to say thank you,’” Hawkins says. “Let’s go to a baseball game, or let’s go to dinner or some other type of event that just gives them and us the opportunity to just hang, talk, get to know each other, and they walk away knowing that we are genuinely apprecia tive of them and what they do for us.” Marsiglia says they hosted their first client appreciation event in recent years this past summer and it was a success. “Our clients graciously let us co-host a ‘summer fling’ gathering at their home with their friends, neighbors, and our landscape team,” she says. “Our team designed, installed, and now maintain the property, so it was incredible to spend time in the beautiful space we created. There was a private chef/caterer, live acoustic music, and a bartender – it was a night to enjoy their outdoor living space and say ‘thank you’ for their business, referrals, and overall loyalty.” Rossen says they have been hosting client appreciation events for the past 10 years. They hold two events during the year. One is a concert they sponsor and hold an open house at their design studio, and the other one rotates as a wine tast ing or a potting workshop. Rossen’s clients are encouraged to bring guests with them to these events. He says these events allow them to build relationships with their customers and make clients more likely to want to refer the company. All of these different practices can in spire loyalty and continued referrals with your customer base. Marsiglia says you shouldn’t worry about whether offering a reward will impact the authenticity of a client’s word of mouth. “From the client’s perspective, I don’t think it’s natural to recommend a compa ny or service you don’t believe in, specifi cally when it’s one that comes at a higher price, such as recurring maintenance or design/build services,” Marsiglia says.

says. “With every five referrals, that mon etary bonus increases. There isn’t a limit! The more you refer, the more you earn.” Rossen says they will occasionally run social media promotions with other local brands, such as a restaurant, where if they like Rossen Landscape’s Facebook page and share the post with someone else, they’ll be entered for a drawing to win a $200 gift card for the restaurant and a Japanese maple. Hawkins says while they don’t have a formal loyalty program in place, they do make a point to adapt to customer needs if budgets are tight. For instance, one customer’s upcoming project needs to start in October, but their budget can’t be billed until January. “They’ve been worried that we’re not going to be able to kick this project off,” Hawkins says. “Instead, we’re going to do journal entries internally, and then we’ll bill you come January 1 for what we’ve done for the past couple of months. That

 KEY TAKEAWAYS ■ Referrals remain the industry’s most trusted growth driver. Rec

trust and loyalty that nat urally generate referrals. ■ Referral credits, appreci ation events, and collabo rative client partnerships reinforce goodwill and sustain an ongoing cycle of positive recommen dations. ■ Asking for reviews at the right time, maintaining organized CRM records, and monitoring referral sources enable com panies to understand and grow their word-of mouth impact.

ommendations from satisfied clients carry greater credibility than any marketing message and often serve as the deciding factor for new business. ■ Exceptional service is the foundation of customer advocacy. Delivering on commitments, setting clear expectations, and consistently exceeding client needs create the

34 The Edge // January/February 2026