Will
Word of Mouth Make or Break Your Business?
Have you ever recommended a good movie to a friend? Have you ever stayed away from a restaurant because someone told you they had a bad experience there? This is “word-of-mouth” advertising and it can have a huge impact on your business.
In most cases of “advertising,” the business owner has control of how the ad looks, feels, and the message it conveys to the potential customer. The exception to this is “word-of- mouth advertising”. With word of mouth, your prior customers have all the control over potential customers. If they rave about you, you’ll attract new customers. If they gripe about you, they will deter people from becoming your customer.
Good word-of-mouth advertising can work wonders for your business, and the best part is that it is free. Your prior customer may run into someone who needs your services, and if you have provided quality products or services, chances are they will recommend you. If you sought out ten customers through your own marketing efforts and they each told one person about you, who then became your customer, you would have doubled your customer base.
Bad word-of-mouth advertising can have the same effect, only in a negative way. When you mistreat a customer or sell them a poor product, they will definitely let people know about it. When someone is spreading good word of mouth advertising, they will usually wait to tell the good stuff until someone specifically asks about it.
For instance, if they recently worked with a great graphic designer, they will be more than happy to recommend them when someone asks if they know of a good graphic designer. However, with bad word-of-mouth advertising, the hurt party isn’t going to wait for someone to ask if they know of a bad graphic designer. They are going to tell everyone, whether they want the information or not.
The fact that the angry customer is telling this to people who may not even be interested in hiring a graphic designer doesn’t sound so bad, but unfortunately, these people will probably remember the story. When they are asked if they know of a good graphic designer, they will retell the angry customer’s story. The person in need of a graphic designer will stay away from the designer who made the angry customer so angry in the first place.
You can protect yourself from the negative aspects of word-of-mouth advertising by consistently providing quality products and great customer service. Of course, you cannot please everyone, but if the majority of your customers have only good things to say about you, you will have plenty of great word-of-mouth advertising for your business.
Have you ever recommended a good movie to a friend? Have you ever stayed away from a restaurant because someone told you they had a bad experience there? This is “word-of-mouth” advertising and it can have a huge impact on your business.
In most cases of “advertising,” the business owner has control of how the ad looks, feels, and the message it conveys to the potential customer. The exception to this is “word-of- mouth advertising”. With word of mouth, your prior customers have all the control over potential customers. If they rave about you, you’ll attract new customers. If they gripe about you, they will deter people from becoming your customer.
Good word-of-mouth advertising can work wonders for your business, and the best part is that it is free. Your prior customer may run into someone who needs your services, and if you have provided quality products or services, chances are they will recommend you. If you sought out ten customers through your own marketing efforts and they each told one person about you, who then became your customer, you would have doubled your customer base.
Bad word-of-mouth advertising can have the same effect, only in a negative way. When you mistreat a customer or sell them a poor product, they will definitely let people know about it. When someone is spreading good word of mouth advertising, they will usually wait to tell the good stuff until someone specifically asks about it.
For instance, if they recently worked with a great graphic designer, they will be more than happy to recommend them when someone asks if they know of a good graphic designer. However, with bad word-of-mouth advertising, the hurt party isn’t going to wait for someone to ask if they know of a bad graphic designer. They are going to tell everyone, whether they want the information or not.
The fact that the angry customer is telling this to people who may not even be interested in hiring a graphic designer doesn’t sound so bad, but unfortunately, these people will probably remember the story. When they are asked if they know of a good graphic designer, they will retell the angry customer’s story. The person in need of a graphic designer will stay away from the designer who made the angry customer so angry in the first place.
You can protect yourself from the negative aspects of word-of-mouth advertising by consistently providing quality products and great customer service. Of course, you cannot please everyone, but if the majority of your customers have only good things to say about you, you will have plenty of great word-of-mouth advertising for your business.
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