If you ask a significant number of small business owners, they will tell you that their number one way of getting customers is through ‘word of mouth’. The theory behind word of mouth makes perfect sense: perform brilliantly and everyone will tell everyone. But largely because of changes in our culture word-of-mouth advertising has become the world’s most overrated form of marketing.
Word of mouth assumes your clients will rave if you perform well. But today’s clients race home after work, then rush for four more days. When they finally get time to reflect, they have forgotten their good experience with you. Think about it, let’s say you have a leak at home and call for a plumber. The plumber comes and does a great job. Do you really rush out and start telling all and sundry about the great work this plumber has done for you. No you don’t, you get on with the rest of your life. Oh, you might mention the plumber to somebody else at a later time, if they mention that they need a plumber, but this could be months if not years later (and this assumes that you have their contact details and can remember their name).
Your customers, they’re overloaded, they’re busy with their lives. They’re not thinking about you and your business.
Now before we go any further I need to differentiate between ‘word of mouth’ and referral marketing. Referral marketing is an active approach to building relationships and getting recommendations from your customers and referral partners. ‘Word of mouth’ is passive; it relies on others doing the work for you.
The world has changed and continues to change at an incredible pace, and if you have relied on Passive Word Of Mouth until now you need to ask yourself the following questions:
- Am I getting more sales than I did last year, and the year before that?
- What happens when someone receives a referral for my business? Do they Google you? Do they look at reviews? Do they read about you on your website?
- Are your competitors outpacing you in annual growth? Are they showing up higher on Google searches? Do they have a better online reputation?
Consider your own buyer’s journey (see my blog on the buyer’s journey here) when considering finding a plumber where you live (I’m assuming that this is not an emergency situation as the buyer’s journey is slightly different then).
Here’s what generally happens:-
- You may ask people you know for recommendations, you may even ask for recommendations on Facebook groups or other social networks.
- Whether you receive a referral or not, the next place you’ll search is Google. You’ll type in something like ‘plumber East Yorkshire’ or you’ll just type in ‘plumber’ as Google knows where you are. If the name you’ve been given is not there, then ‘doubt’ starts to set in.
- Then you’ll review the top search results including the map listings.
- You’ll definitely be more interested in those plumbers with great and many online reviews and stay away from those with bad reviews.
- You’ll visit their website to see the quality of their business, if they’re professional, if they have the service you need, if they work in your particular area, if they have the right vibe that resonates with you.
- Then you’ll probably call them (actually most likely to email or message them) to start the conversation.
This scenario is true regardless of whether your referrals come from a friend or family member, or if they come from your network of business associates. It’s also true in the world of B2B (Business to Business) as it is in B2C (Business to Consumer).
The scenario I outlined here can take as little as 1-2 minutes if you’re skimming and make quick decisions. In fact, recent statistics show that when a consumer performs a search like this, they are 79% more likely to make a buying decision within the hour. That’s huge. This is why it’s important to respond to communications quickly if you’re not on it within the hour you’ve likely lost out.
Now consider the other scenario if your business doesn’t have a strong website that resonates with the customer, no reviews (or worse, bad reviews), doesn’t show up on Google organic results (the most clicked on results), or Google Maps results. In essence, you don’t exist, or you don’t look appealing to the buyer. They probably don’t message you or call.
Doing Nothing Isn’t A Strategy.
Now for the business owners that say Word of Mouth Marketing is their best source of business, what they are actually saying is that they do nothing, no marketing whatsoever. They may offer a great product or service, they may serve their customers really well, they’re friendly, they may even ask their customers to tell others about them (probably not though), and they anticipate every satisfied customer to tell the world of their experience. This is the myth that they’ve bought into. As I stated earlier your customers are too busy to be promoting your business.
Consider this, In the online world where we can measure things really well there’s a statistic that shows how misplaced this hope is:
- 93% of consumers check online reviews
- 84% of consumers trust online reviews as much as a referral from a family or friend.
- 80% of consumers have reversed a buying decision due to negative online reviews.
- Yet only 6% leave reviews of businesses they’re satisfied with. What did he just say 6%!!!!
So that’s not good if you’re a business that isn’t investing in your marketing presence, whether that’s online or otherwise. More than likely your lack of effort and investment in marketing is likely killing your business.
You should note that not all marketing is as effective as it could be. I offer a FREE service where we look at a piece of your marketing to establish its viability. This could be your website, a leaflet you’re planning on sending out, an ad you’re looking to place in a magazine or paper, basically any marketing communication. Just click the button to find out more..
Twelve intensive half-day meetings.
