Turn Customers Into Brand Advocates

March 2012 Integrated Solutions For Retailers

By Erin Harris, associate editor

J. Hilburn’s referral program drove 600 new transactions, which resulted in $250,000 in sales.

J. Hilburn provides men’s luxury clothing via direct sales. Not only is J. Hilburn the reseller, but it is the manufacturer as well, and 1,400 sales representatives resell the merchandise. All sales are done direct through field reps, called style advisors, as well as through its e-commerce channel. The retailer conducted a survey among its 30,000 customers, and nearly 50% of respondents reported that they were referred to J. Hilburn by current customers. Neal Patel, VP of technology at J. Hilburn, explains why the company’s homegrown referral program was not robust enough to grow the business.