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Word of Mouth Ideas (Part Four)
Ask And Ye Shall Receive There are three key reasons that happy
customers don't regularly spread positive word of mouth about
businesses.
They get caught up in other things and just don't think to
mention it. Related to this, no-one specifically asks them so
they forget to mention your company and how happy they are in
dealing with you. Every time they ask you how business is you
seem to be flat out so they assume that the last thing you need
is more customers! Particularly with professional businesses,
this third point holds true...especially if it has taken a while
to get an appointment to see you. Let people know that you have
the capacity to expand your business and are always interested
in gaining more clients like them. They will be shocked,
assuming that more clients would just mean more stress for you.
So, be careful that you are getting the right message across to
your potential ambassadors.
Have a simple system in place to encourage word-of-mouth. For
example, Carol McGavisk, a Cake Decorator in Broken Hill,
includes a brochure and her business card in with each order.
The brochure shows all the different types of products she
makes, plus a bit of information about Carol and her business.
If the customer is a repeat customer, she specifically asks them
to pass the brochure on to someone (at the party) who shows
interest. Carol says that this usually gets a very positive
response from the customer and generates more business for her.
Acts of Thoughtfulness A couple of years ago I was presenting a
Customer Care course in regional Western Australia for
veterinary clinics and hospitals. One of the participants, Alma
Taylor of Mt. Barker Veterinary Hospital, shared how they send
out a sympathy card with a handwritten message whenever they are
aware of the death of a client's pet. In it they also enclose a
small packet of Everlasting Seeds with the message 'In loving
memory of your pet' on the side. Its small acts of
thoughtfulness like this that really do make a difference.
Generating Referrals In his book 'What Will They Franchise
Next?', Jim Penman of Jim's Mowing fame at one stage was
investigating the average conversion rate of mowing leads into
regular customers. These are hot leads where the prospective
customer phones up Jim's 13 number and asks to have their local
Jim come out and do their lawns or at least give them a price on
the job. In the poorest performing areas the conversion rate of
leads to regular customers was 40%. In better areas it was
around 60% but some of the Melbourne franchisees were converting
more than 100%. He was intrigued. How could this be?
He talked with the top performers. One in particular was a
franchisee in the Box Hill area of Melbourne. It turned out that
not only was he converting almost all his regular leads, he was
also generating a regular supply of referrals.
He would look for an extra job that might take five minutes or
so. He'd notice an overgrown garden bed that needed tending or
some rubbish that needed removal, and he'd just do it and tell
the customer afterwards. No charge. It was simply a gesture of
goodwill. Put together with a top class, reliable service and an
ability to
build rapport with customers, his clients were very,
very happy. Happy enough to tell their friends and neighbours
and the referrals flowed in.
Talk About Your Business If you want people to talk about your
business, you have to talk about it too. And that means taking
every opportunity to promote your business by talking about what
you do at service clubs, local chamber's of commerce, schools or
whatever target groups are appropriate.
This means getting over any fears you have of speaking in
public. Now, I'm a professional speaker, I love speaking in
public but I know that many people are uncomfortable in this
role. PLEASE take steps to get over it. Attend a public speaking
course. Follow this up by joining a group such as Rostrum,
Penguins or Toastmasters and attend regularly so that you can
practice in a safe environment. Develop the confidence, learn
the structure and practice, practice, practice. Once you have
this skill it will be with you for life. It's a great asset.
Talk Kindly To Yourself Many managers and self-employed people
are most unkind....to themselves. They are continually beating
themselves up for the things they haven't achieved in their
business and the self-talk day after day is often far too
negative.
Take time out every day to reflect on what you have achieved,
how far you have come, compliments that people have paid you and
your staff. Bathe yourself in these for at least a few moments
at the beginning and end of the day.
How can you expect other people to continually be saying good
things about you and your business if you don't practice this
yourself?
We all know (I hope) that the most effective way to motivate
anyone is to catch them doing things right and praise them for
it. Similarly, the best way to bring a positive aura around your
business is to catch yourself doing things right and praise
yourself, every day.
Check Your Response What's your response when a customer, friend
or business colleague says, "How's Business?"
Do you automatically have a positive response? Are you able to
make them feel good for having asked the question?
If you are regularly talking positively to yourself it becomes a
lot easier to put a positive slant on things for other people.
It also pays to have some prepared responses so that you are not
sucked in to a negative response. For example, "It's going well,
but we could always do with more good customers like you."
I remember years ago at his sales seminars, American sales
trainer Tom Hopkins recommending to salespeople going through a
slump that when faced with the "How's business?" question they
respond in an enthusiastic tone, "Unbelievable." He said when
you do this you aren't lying. You haven't said whether it's
unbelievably bad or unbelievably good but it sure sounds as
though it's going well!
With positive word-of-mouth continually being spread about your
business you will have a lot more unbelievably good days.
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
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