获客新思路：重视客户推荐的力量
Eight years after it was founded, ButcherBox, a company that sells meat and seafood, passed $600 million in sales. At first it grew by paying influencers to promote its boxes. Later it depended more on buying new customers through digital advertising. Then the cost of finding each customer began to rise, because social media and search websites charged more. Worse still, the customers these paid channels brought in were worth less: they spent less, chose cheaper products, and left sooner.
Mike Salguero, the company’s CEO, looked for another way. He turned to an idea called “earned growth”: growing through repeat purchases and through customers who recommend the company. Salguero treated referred customers as a channel and found that they were far more profitable than customers won by ads. His team then started a program that rewarded customers for bringing in friends. Within a year, referrals rose by 57%, and the cost of winning a customer fell by half.
ButcherBox is not alone. A study of more than ten million people in referral programs found that only 20% of new customers arrived through a recommendation, yet they produced over 70% of the profits from new customers. Referred customers cost less to win, stay longer, buy more, and bring in others. But these few generate almost three times the lifetime income of less enthusiastic buyers.
If referrals work so well, why do so many leaders ignore them? Part of the answer is that most companies do not record how new customers arrive, so referred buyers are counted with everyone else. As a result, advertising receives credit for customers who had already decided to buy after a friend’s advice, which makes paid channels look better than they are.
The lesson for managers is to measure referrals: ask every new customer how they heard about the company, work out what a referred customer is really worth, and reward those who bring friends, but keep the reward modest, so that it does not replace genuine enthusiasm.
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1.1. What problem did ButcherBox meet after using digital ads?
A The prices of its boxes rose.
B Paid influencers refused to help.
C New buyers proved less valuable.
D Its meat was not fresh enough.
解析：选C。C 细节理解题。根据第一段的“Worse still, the customers these paid channels brought in were worth less: they spent less, chose cheaper products, and left sooner”可知，付费渠道带来的顾客花得更少、选得更便宜、离店更快，也就是这些新顾客的价值变低了。A“肉盒涨价了”文中没有提到，涨价的是社交媒体和搜索网站；B“付费网红不肯帮忙”与原文不符，他们只是提高了收费；D“肉不够新鲜”文章根本没提。故选C。
2.2. What does the underlined phrase “referred customers” mean in Paragraph 2?
A Shoppers drawn in by advertising.
B Buyers introduced by friends.
C Repeat buyers of the same box.
D Customers who ask for discounts.
解析：选B。B 词义猜测题。第二段中划线词组上一句的冒号已经把这个说法解释清楚了“growing through repeat purchases and through customers who recommend the company”，也就是靠老顾客回头再买、靠老顾客把公司推荐给别人；紧接着本句又说他的团队“rewarded customers for bringing in friends”，可见referred customers指的是由朋友推荐过来的顾客。A“付费广告赢来的顾客”是上一段那个渠道的顾客，文中说他们价值更低，方向正好相反；C“把同一个肉盒买两次的人”说的是同一位顾客回头再买（repeat purchases），不是别人介绍来的；D“总要折扣的人”文中没有提到。故选B。
3.3. What do the statistics in the passage show?
A Few buyers bring most profits.
B Most buyers come by referral.
C Ad costs are falling fast.
D Big rewards win more buyers.
解析：选A。A 细节理解题。第三段的数据是“only 20% of new customers arrived through a recommendation, yet they produced over 70% of the profits from new customers”，即只有20%的新顾客是推荐来的，却贡献了70%以上的新顾客利润，正说明少数顾客带来了大部分利润。B“大多数顾客靠推荐而来”与20%这个数字正好相反；C“广告成本正在快速下降”与第一段“the cost of finding each customer began to rise”相矛盾；D“奖励越大越能带来顾客”文中没有这样的数据，第五段反而建议奖励要适度。故选A。
4.4. What is the text mainly about?
A How ButcherBox sells its meat boxes.
B Why advertising is losing its value.
C What influencers do for food firms.
D Why word-of-mouth matters more.
解析：选D。D 主旨大意题。全文先讲ButcherBox靠广告买顾客遇到的麻烦，再讲它转向“earned growth”后的变化，接着用一千多万人的研究数据说明被推荐来的顾客价值更高，最后解释许多公司为什么忽略他们、管理者应该怎么做，核心是这种靠顾客推荐的增长值得重视。A“这家公司怎样卖肉盒”和C“网红为食品公司做什么”只说了第一段的细节，B“广告为什么失去价值”只概括了第四段，都太片面。故选D。