|
|
|
Balancing PLay and wORK: Leveraging Time, Part 2
In this article we suggest some ways to "work smarter", or achieve more by multi-tasking - multiplying our productive time so we have more time to PLAY! For example, we may choose to drive the car, listen to music or an audio book, or talk on our...
RFIDInvesting.com Presents its First Online Investor Forum for RFID Stocks and Industry
For Immediate Release
Nov 19, 2004
RFIDInvesting.com Presents its First Online Investor Forum for RFID Stocks and Industry
POINT ROBERTS, WA. November 19, 2004 - RFIDInvesting.com, a global investor and industry news portal for RFID stocks...
The Pros and Cons of Refinancing
Refinancing has become a valid option for many individuals with high interest rates on their mortgage. Refinancing is essentially a replacement loan, with a different lender and (hopefully) a lower interest rate. So why would you choose to...
Use Your Cell Phone Trial Period to Test Your Plan: Here Are Some Guidelines
If you use your trial period wisely, you can avoid some costly missteps when you sign up for your wireless service. The trial period is all about testing your plan. You always want a phone that matches your lifestyle, your geography, budget and...
Why to Pay a Survey Site -When its Free?
The gigantic development of the Internet during the last few
decades has spawned numerous business activities on the net. The
"Paid Survey Sites" is one of the best rollouts of biz-boom on
the Internet. Paid Surveys have attracted considerable...
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
How To Stimulate Word Of Mouth (Part Two)
If you want to get good word of mouth you have to give people
something to talk about.
This is something we love to work on with our clients in
workshops and seminars to help them spread the word in low cost
ways. If we can do that for your company, business group or
community, please do get in touch. Meantime, lets explore some
examples.
Unfortunately good quality products and friendly service don't
get talked about beyond an occasional comment to friends or
family on the day of the experience. There needs to be something
else to bring the experience back to mind; a trigger that
prompts your customer to follow up with comments about the
quality and service and why people should buy from your
organisation.
A classic example of this is the 'Teddy Bear' story about my
experience in Denmark, Western Australia. Anytime anyone in my
part of the world mentions going to Denmark (the town not the
country) I am reminded of the Teddy Bear story and then tell
people about Chimes Health Resort and the 'real' reasons it is a
great play to stay. Email me at info@terrifictrading.com if you
would like a copy.
Give them a story (or 2) to tell Every business has interesting
snippets about everyday work and seasonal issues that get talked
about between staff or across the kitchen table but aren't
shared with customers because we don't think they will be
interested. You would be surprised how little anecdotes can
capture the customer's imagination.
For example, it was at Voyager Estate in Australia's Margaret
River wine region that I was first told why roses are often
planted at the ends of rows of vines. It isn't to make the
plantation more aesthetically pleasing, it is because aphids are
attracted to roses and will head for these before the vines thus
giving the growers an early warning system.
To someone working in the industry that is a 'so what' example.
However, to everyday customers like me it's a fascinating fact
that can be brought up in conversation when mentioning a visit
to a wine growing region. The customer has been given something
to talk about. Something that may make the business responsible,
memorable.
What's interesting, unique, quirky, amusing or even tragic about
your business? Maybe it was destroyed in a cyclone and you had
to rebuild from scratch, maybe you are a fourth generation
dentist, carpenter or retailer, maybe....there's bound to be a
story or two that can be passed on.
A dentist with the best coffee Talking of dentists, Brisbane
dentist Paddi Lund has used word of mouth with great success to
build his business. In fact, it is the only dental practice I
know of that has an unlisted phone number; no sign above the
door and you can only become a patient via referral from
existing patients. I'm sure that Paddi is an excellent dentist,
but it isn't his dentistry that gets him talked about. It's his
quirky, different way of doing things, his Italian cappuccino
machine and his home made dental buns.
Paddi used to dream of being a restaurateur, but he was smart
enough to realise that his skills were in dentistry not in
running a restaurant. He decided to share his dream in small
ways with his clients by investing in a large, expensive
cappuccino machine and having himself and all his team trained
to make an excellent cappuccino. He also installed a convection
oven where he bakes fresh 'dental buns' for his clients to take
home with them.
When you arrive for your appointment there is no familiar
hospital smell. Instead you are greeted with the aroma of ground
coffee and freshly baked bread. That's different!
Now, if he and his team were no more than ordinary at dentistry,
and if their customer service was pretty average, all of these
'bells and whistles' wouldn't result in more business. But when
you are good at what you do that, it's examples like this that
get you noticed, remembered, talked about and recommended.
You can check out Paddi's book 'Building A Happiness Centred
Business' at the Resources section of our website
www.terrifictrading.com.
Are your loos a tourist attraction? Jenny and Lloyd Maloney own
Two Dogs Hardware in Merredin, a business that they have built
up dramatically in recent years in the Western Australian
wheatbelt town and region that has suffered population decline
in recent years. A couple of years ago they shifted their
business to a far larger location and used the opportunity to
build the most impressive loos I have come across in regional
Australia or New Zealand.
Hardware stores sell plumbing supplies, bathroom and door
fittings, paint and electrical equipment. So, they approached
their suppliers and explained that they wanted to showcase their
products in the most talked about loos in the wheatbelt. The
result is amazing. Beautifully located, spacious ladies and
gents toilet facilities, piped music, a baby changing
area, top
notch fittings on everything. A marked contrast to the typical
outback store dunny down the back with the door hanging off and
the resident redback spider in the corner.
Does it work? Well, if you are driving from Perth to Kalgoorlie
it's a must see facility. And they aren't shortsighted. They
don't have a sign up saying that these facilities are for
genuine shoppers only. They rely on a friendly greeting,
enticing end cap displays and a well laid out store to encourage
enough visitors to buy and spread the word about their amazing
store.
Write your story down Storytelling is a great way to spread word
of mouth and you can take this even further by writing it down
and publishing it.
Paddi Lund has done this, turning his business philosophy into a
best selling book. For you it may not be your philosophy. Maybe
it is stories about your business, your region or even your
recipes. This is what Trish Flowers, former librarian, and owner
of the award winning Bay Merchants Deli and Café at Middleton
Beach in Albany did recently. Her 56 page book, "The Bay and
Beyond - facts and stories from Albany and the region" is
actually based around recipes for 12 gourmet sandwiches which
they prepare and sell at their fantastically successful outlet.
It is accompanied by stories about the ingredients, information
on the local producers supplying much of the fresh ingredients
and stunning photography of the region.
It's a celebration of local producers and their produce, a
tourist momento, educational piece for the region and a great
advertisement for her business. Bay Merchants is a mecca for
local well off baby boomers and tourists who happily pay $20 per
copy for the privilege of spreading the word about Bay Merchants
and it's fantastic food. And I can assure you the gourmet
sandwiches and everything else about this business are a true
delight.
If you have a story to tell but the written word doesn't come
easy to you, get a journalist at your local newspaper to
moonlight for you. They are usually happy to get the extra work
and will interview you and turn it into an article, booklet or
book that can be passed on to customers.
Let me finish this second article in the word of mouth series by
reminding you of two examples of low cost ways of generating WOM
which I've spoken about before.
Bridget Jones' Diary The release not so long ago of the sequel
to the movie "Bridget Jones' Diary" reminded me of the
wonderfully targeted word-of-mouth campaign United International
Pictures (UIP) executed in Sydney a few years ago to coincide
with the release of the now famous original.
The target audience was women. If you want to spread the word to
a woman who better to tell than her hairdresser?
UIP invited hairdressers to early screenings of the movie hoping
the gossip and story-telling sessions inside hairdressing salons
would help spread the word. Did it work? The only thing that
could have made it work more successfully would have been to
swear the hairdressers to secrecy!
The lesson here is to identify who talks regularly to your
prospective customers.
Promoting the Brand I've always loved the story about shopping
bags at Stew Leonard's grocery store in Norwalk, Connecticut.
It's a great example of how to engage your customers and build
your brand....in the lowest cost way possible.
Back in 1974 a customer, Colleen Blanchard, had her picture
taken in front of St.Basil's Cathedral in Moscow. It happened
that she was carrying a Stew Leonard shopping bag and this came
out clearly in the photo. Stew proudly displayed the photo on a
special pin board in his store.
Soon it became a game and customers brought in photos from all
over the world. Stew Leonard's shopping bags in the hands of
happy customers were pinned up on the noticeboard in scenes from
the Great Wall of China to the Eiffel Tower.
What a terrific promotional idea. Thirty years later people are
still going into the store to see if their photo has gone up and
to check out photos of friends and relatives. What a great way
to increase store traffic and turn your customers into
international ambassadors for your business. And there is
another important lesson from this: If a promotional idea is
still exciting and delighting customers don't stop doing it just
because you have got bored with it. Your customers will soon let
you know when a promotion has passed its use by date.
What do you do to stimulate word of mouth at present? If you
have examples that you have either experienced or use in your
own business to stimulate word of mouth, please do pass these on
so that I can share them with our readers.
About the author:
Jurek Leon is a speaker, trainer and consultant. To subscribe to
Jurek's FREE monthly email newsletter go to the Free Articles
section of his website: www.terrifictrading.com
|
|
|
|
|
| Compare Cell Phones & Service - Cingular, Sprint, T-Mobile ... |
| Research, compare, and buy cellular phones and services. |
| www.letstalk.com |
|
| Free T-Mobile Cell Phones and Other Wireless Deals |
| Save on T-Mobile cell phones and plans. Compare deals to TMobile.com. 1-year T-Mobile plans available with popular phones. Or pick another wireless carrier. |
| www.a1wireless.com |
|
| mobilecellphone.com |
| www.mobilecellphone.com/ - 2k - Cached - Similar pages |
|
|
| Mobile Cell Phone Rental in Japan :: RentafoneJapan |
| This page contains information on mobile cell phone rental in Japan and Korea - Japanese, Korea, and International GSM mobile cellular phone and mobile ... |
| www.japanvisitor.com |
|
| Communications - Mobile-Cell-Phone Ezine Articles |
| EzineArticles.com allows ezine or email list publishers to upload or download free expert content that can be used within email newsletters or websites. |
| ezinearticles.com |
|
| Cell Phones and Service from Virgin Mobile |
| Cellular Phones and Service from Virgin Mobile. Ringtones & downloads for your mobile phones, as well as cell phone accessories, prepaid cell phones, ... |
| www.virginmobileusa.com |
|
| Mobile / Cell Phone Is Linked To Cancer, you need protection from ... |
| Test your exposure levels to mobile / cell phone radiation and check if it's safe to carry a mobile phone! |
| www.radar3.com |
|
| Repair4MobilePhone: Do-It-Yourself Mobile (Cellular) Phone ... |
| Repair4MobilePhone: Do-It-Yourself Mobile (Cell) Phone Upgrading, Modding and Repairing · site map · search · Mobile (Cell) Phones | IrDA | BlueTooth ... |
| repair4mobilephone.org |
|
| YouTube - New Apple iChat Mobile Cell phone |
| New Apple iChat Mobile Cell phone 00:25. From: foxymcfox Views: 90457. << Now Playing ... New Apple iChat Mobile Cell phone *FAKE* 00:33. From: foxymcfox ... |
| www.youtube.com |
|
| YouTube - New Apple iChat Mobile Cell phone *FAKE* |
| ... turned off or an old version of Macromedia's Flash Player. Get the latest flash player. This is a video response to New Apple iChat Mobile Cell phone ... |
| www.youtube.com |
|
| Java Mobile Cell Phone Games - A220 Mission 1 |
| An arcade style shoot em up game , Java Midlet for your Mobile / Cell Phone. Fly through mountains and cave systems eliminating multiple enemies before ... |
| www.jpowered.com |
|
| Java Mobile Cell Phone Games - Alien War |
| Alien War is an arcade style game , Java Midlet for your Mobile / Cell Phone. JPowered is a leading provider of Java Mobile Cell Phone Games. |
| www.jpowered.com |
|
| Communications - Mobile Cell Phone |
| Mobile Cell Phone Tips. Broadband-Internet, GPS, Mobile-Cell-Phone, Telecommunications, Satellite-TV, Satellite-Radio, VOIP, Video-Conferencing » View ... |
| communications.smartads.info |
|
| Free mobile, cell phone and text news alerts - Philadelphia ... |
| Set up free mobile, cell phone alerts to stay connected with the news. Receive text message alerts when news happens on the WCAU Philadelphia, PA website. |
| www.nbc10.com |
|
| Buying a Virgin Mobile Cell Phone? Want $10 free airtime? |
| I have some Kickback codes that I will e-mail you if you want that will give you $10 Extra in airtime when you activate your Virgin Mobile Cell phone. ... |
| www.topix.net |
|
| Skype from Mobile Cell Phone |
| Skype from Mobile Cell Phone,cell phone,cellular,mobile phone,skype,Skype as we already know is one of the most popular VoIP applications. |
| blog.tmcnet.com |
|
| Yahoo! Answers - can you use a t-mobile cell phone with verizon ... |
| 3 answers - i want to get a t-mobile phone and use m verizon sim card. is that possible? if not can i use the t-mobile phone with a verizon plan? |
| answers.yahoo.com |
|
| Compare Prices on Samsung X210 Mobile Cell Phone - ShopFerret ... |
| Use ShopFerret to find the best stores and lowest prices for the Samsung X210 Mobile Cell Phone. |
| www.shopferret.com.au |
|
| eBay: Custom Mobile Cell Phone Pay Per Click Website +Adsense ... |
| Find Custom Mobile Cell Phone Pay Per Click Website +Adsense in the Business Industrial , Other Industries , Websites Businesses for Sale , Internet ... |
| cgi.ebay.com |
|
| Tmobile |
| Review Cell Phone: pad Samsung Trace T519 T-Mobile Cell Phone ... Paper Thin T-Mobile Cell Phone with 1.3 meagpizel camera and MP3 Player. ... |
| www.1800mobiles.com |
|
|