Marketing-led referral programs have been shown to be more likely to achieve business-to-business companies’ revenue goals. Research by advocate marketing firm Influitive and B2B sales and marketing specialists Heinz Marketing, Inc. has found that referrals convert and close faster, and have a higher value than other leads, and that B2B companies are three times as likely to reach revenue targets when the marketing department has primary responsibility for a formalized referral program, or when referral tools or software are used.

In their survey of 600 B2B sales, marketing and operations professionals across North America, Influitive and Heinz Marketing found that only one in three B2B companies have formalized referral programs and only 25 percent are managed by marketing departments.

“The findings of our research are clear: If you want to accelerate revenue growth, a referral program must be a key part of your strategy, marketing must own that program and you should leverage technology to create a better referral process,” says Matt Heinz, president of Heinz Marketing. “It’s absolutely shocking to see how few B2B companies have these three key elements in place.”

Jim Williams, vice president of marketing at Influitive, adds, “The responsibility for generating referrals can’t rest solely on the shoulders of front-line sales reps. Simply asking individual prospects and clients for one-off referrals won’t get you to your revenue goals. Instead, sales leaders must turn to their counterparts in marketing, who have the budget, creativity and technology to generate referral business at scale.”

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