DISQUS

Tech Innovation · 1 year ago

I love the ideas, especially #4. Creating a community for your customers is quickly becoming the most important thing that you can do to spread the word about your product or service. Use of online services, web 2.0 networks, and the like can enhance the customer experience and provide you with free marketing. I recently wrote a few blog posts on that exact topic.

John Valente · 1 year ago

Hi John,

I enjoyed your post. Initially, I was rather surprised and thought you may have forgotten one of the best methods of getting your customers to work for you, and then I realized that there are so many, you probably just wanted to list a short sampling.

Anyway, my #5 method would be creating an Affiliate Program for your product or service. More and more businesses are creating affiliate programs and it seems you can create one for just about any business. The bottom line is, if you're customer is so happy with your product or service that you think they should (and likely will) refer their friends and colleagues, why not give them an incentive to do so???

I've implemented the strategies you've posted above as well as created an affiliate program for our customers. It was actually suggested by one of our customers early on and we now have a network of several hundred affiliates posting links, forum messages, blog entries, and just plain ol' word of mouth for our business.

Without an affiliate program in place, I could never have hired a sales force of hundreds!


Best Regards,

John Valente
www.DollarCardMarketing.com

Matt · 1 year ago

Great tips. Customer interaction is key in leading to that all important form of marketing called "Word of Mouth". Nothing will jump start your business quicker than happy customers talking about you and your business.

Thanks,
Matt

Eric Brown · 1 year ago

John, Great Post
I think that you start by targeting The Influencers, which every brand has, even no brands, however one of the huge benefits of Social Media, is it is much easier to “listen for them” They are the ones leaving comments on your MySpace page, channeling folks to your Facebook page, taking pictures of your properties and putting them on Flickr, just because they thought the building had some cool features, they are the Complainers that care enough to complain, and Love You when you Listen, and Love You even more when you do something about it. Those are The Influencers, and I believe that when You Lead Your Influencers they become Evangelists.

kevinpuls · 1 year ago

When I met my life insurance agent a year ago:
http://www.amwellagency.com I liked our policy so much that I had to tell friends and family about it.

And, when we launched our first, original site four weeks ago (a blog-driven, charity-based site that honors the men & women of the Armed Forces), my life insurance liked the site so much that he contacted the web designer http://www.inverseparadox.net and they are now re-designing his site for him.

I always held strong to the belief that our small businesses are the backbone of the economy. So I always make a concerted effort to help them out & try and connect them with each other. Whether it's for cross-promotional campaigns, which I love, or just to get them to know about each other.

My father was a small business owner (barber) for over twenty years. I know about the impact of small business in the communities. In fact, growing up, I could never get in trouble because everyone got their hair cut at my dad's. From the principal of the High School to our Police Chief. My father endeared himself to his customers and they kept coming back. Some would even bend over backwards to help him because of the feeling of community he portrayed.

Thanks for your time.

Best,

-K
http://www.for-the-troops.com

Rebecca Blackwell · 1 year ago

John,

This is a great post - I couldn't agree with you more. Months ago I wrote an article about how our customers are our marketing department. With the amount of marketing "clutter" that surrounds us everyday, generating positive word-of-mouth from happy customers is so very powerful.

After reading your post yesterday, I had an experience with a company that illustrated the exact opposite of what you suggest here. I decided to blog about it: www.NaturalMarketingBlog.com.

I pointed to your post as the example of what companies *should* do, and my experience as the example of how damaging poor customer service can be.

Thanks for the great content and the great contrast!

Jared Young · 1 year ago

John, I think this is timely and poignant. Given the state of our economy, good word of mouth is all the more important and more valuable. As people start looking more closely at their spending habits they are more likely to make purchasing decisions based on positive recommendations from trusted sources... essentially, a reference from a friend makes a purchase a lot less risky for a timid market.

In John's post above he mentions rewarding clients and customers for referring your business. While this can work in many businesses, you have to be careful not to come across as "bribing" your client base. If you truly provide great service and a great product, you loyal customers will gladly refer you without a reward. A better approach is often to provide the reward to the new customer that your current clients bring in. By allowing your current clients to give out a reward, they feel less like a salesman hawking your service and more like philanthropist.

The key is to nurture your clients so they want to help you grow your business. Make them feel valued rather than purchased.

Jared

John Easton · 1 year ago

John:

Giving your customer-fans the tools and knowledge of your business to be effective sales people is where most word of mouth efforts fail. I am going to promote this post among my Twitter audience.

http://twitter.com/jeaston1

Jared Young · 1 year ago

John and all readers:

Today I was thinking more about getting your clients to help you market your business... it's actually something I spoke about at a recent conference. To add to and expand on John's idea #4, I wrote a blog post today.

To summarize: Identify your top clients and make them part of your mastermind group. It will show them how much you appreciate them and help them feel like a vested part of your business (and you success). Plus, it's a great way to find out what makes your best clients tick... and hopefully acquire more clients like them.

You can read the whole post here: .

Thanks!
Jared

Melissa Nery · 1 year ago

Great tips John!

I was also looking through GrabbingGreen.com (http://grabbinggreen.com/home/?page=1)and they also recommend to thank your loyal customers by rewarding them. Check out GrabbingGreen.com. It's been super helpful to me :)

Thanks for the great advice!

web Content · 1 year ago

It's soo true, your customers (or potential customers) expect you to tell them whatever you can in an attempt to make a sale, they're far more likely to trust the advice of people not on your payroll..

pays to live green · 1 year ago

I agree that number 4 is a great idea. I know clothing stores that host events my fiancee goes to and she loves them. She may not want any clothes at the time but will end up walking out of the store with new clothes. Customer word of mouth is huge especially if they had a good experience.

Joshua Horwitz · 1 year ago

Nice post John. Particularly when the economy gets tuff the value of customer references increases. I recently posted some thoughts on the topic here. I'd be interested in your thoughts.

http://referencesuccess.com/2008/10/27/customer...