Last updated on January 7th, 2016 at 04:52 pm

With your first work week of 2016 beginning today, it’s time to get the scoop on a pillar of B2B sales strategy: why referrals are central to your B2B firm.

CustomerThink teamed up with Heinz Marketing to compile this handy infographic of 17 statistics related to B2B referrals and ROI.

For instance,  82 percent of sales leader say referrals are key to sales success. And 78 percent of marketers said in the survey that referrals have a higher conversion rate compared to any other type of lead.

When referral tools are used smartly, they are three times more likely to accelerate referral generation and conversion.

See the full infographic below:

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