Do you keep hearing about word of mouth advertising but you aren’t really sure what it means or how it can help you? We all do word of mouth without even realizing it. Have you ever recommended a good book or a movie to a friend? Have you ever stayed away from a particular restaurant because someone told you the food was terrible or the service was poor? I bet you have! Well this is what’s commonly known as “word-of-mouth” advertising and it can have a huge impact on your direct selling business. The following should help you uncover the secrets of word of mouth advertising.
When you advertise your business with traditional methods you have control of how your ad looks, feels, and the message it conveys to your potential customer. However, with word of mouth the opposite is true, in fact you have very little control. Your past customers are the ones who have all the control over your prospective customers. If they rave and say good things about you, your products and service, you’ll attract new customers. If they complain and say bad things about you, you can guess how this will influence people on becoming your customer.
Good word-of-mouth advertising can work wonders for your direct sales business, and the best part is that it’s completely free. Your customer may run into someone who needs something you offer, and if you have provided quality products and services, chances are good they will recommend you. For example; if you have ten customers from your own marketing efforts and they each told one person about you, who then became your customer, you would have doubled your customer base. Sounds pretty good doesn’t it?
Of coarse, bad word-of-mouth advertising can have the same effect, only in a very negative way. When you mistreat a customer or sell them a poor product, they will definitely tell other people about it. When someone is spreading the good word about you, they will usually wait until someone specifically asks about something you offer before they say good things.
For instance, say someone recently purchased some natural cleaners, if they’re happy with their products and the service was good, then they will be more than happy to recommend you when someone asks if they know where to get natural cleaners. However, with bad word-of-mouth advertising, the upset customer isn’t going to wait for someone to ask if they know of any bad natural cleaners. They will be sure to tell everyone they know about their bad experience, whether that person wants the information or not.
The fact that the angry customer is telling this to people who may not even be interested in natural cleaners might not sound so bad, but unfortunately, these people will probably remember the story. Then, when they are asked if they know where to find natural cleaners, they will retell the angry customer’s story. The person in need of natural cleaners will stay away from the dealer who made the first customer so unhappy.
Now this is the best secret, there is a lot you can do to protect yourself from the negative aspects of word-of-mouth advertising by consistently providing quality products and outstanding customer service. Here’s some tips on How To Provide Great Customer Support. While you cannot please everyone, if the majority of your customers are happy and have only good things to say about you, you will have plenty of great word-of-mouth advertising for your direct sales business.
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