Creating A Word Of Mouth Virus

Want To Defy The Word Of Mouth Rules?

Bad news travels. According to TARP in the US:

- Unhappy customers will share their experience with up to 12 others
- In turn, each of those will share that experience with another 6 each

The same study suggests that a happy customer will share their experience with just a few friends, and it won't travel very far beyond those friends.

Here's How You Can Beat This

No matter what you do, there will always be a tiny minority of clients you can never please. But the vast majority of your clients will be happy with what you do.

To overcome this, here's a step-by-step idea for a campaign.

1. Firstly, email all of your clients to ask them for a positive quote for your web-site or next brochure. What's in it for them? You'll include a small profile of them, link to their web-site and get them a little publicity.

2. Those who don't respond, a day or two later, forward the same email saying "Not sure if you got this (see below), but very grateful if you could spare a moment to give me a quote for our web-site.". Also say "To help, here's a few examples of what others said..." and include any quotes you've already received.

3. Fulfil your promise. Publish those quotes with a short profile of each client and include a link to their web-site where they have one.

4. Now collate the responses and send a thank you email to all your clients. Include the quotes and tell them they've been published. Include a link to the page on your web-site where they can see them.

5. Email all the prospects on your database saying something like "We were humbled when our clients said such good things when we asked them to tell us what they thought of what we do. If you think you could use a service that generates feedback like this, hit reply and ask us to call or meet up to tell you more. Here's a few examples...". Now include a few examples, and a link to the part of the site where they can see them all.

What You Will Achieve...

Anyone slightly dissatisfied will start to see that you do a great job. Perhaps if they've been one of those hard-to-please clients, they will begin to see things a little more from the perspective of your happy clients.

You'll cement your relationship with all of your clients when they see you please far more people than just them.

And you've just defied what usually happens when people share their experiences. Instead of just accepting that people rarely share their good experiences with just a few people, you've made sure that good news has spread far further.

How many clients do you have? How many prospects do you have? Is it dozens or hundreds?

When people do this, here's three of the other bonus side-effects:

- "Non-sales" communications often generate repeat business from existing clients (see Not Selling Sells - Just Say Thanks)

- You may gain clients when you share the positive experiences of clients with your prospects

- Your web-site will start performing better - people seek evidence that you do a good job, and testimonials prove it.