It’s a fact: Your customers and prospective customers have a bigger voice then ever before! Thanks to services like Facebook and Twitter, their ability to reach people is so huge, that it can generate an avalanche of word of mouth marketing for you, (so long as you continue to exceed their expectations.)
Of course, if you piss them off, their ability to share their frustration is just as huge and can cause a great amount of damage!
Social networks: When things go bad
In yesterday’s post, I discussed the importance of disclosure; of being transparent and honest with your marketing. I gave a number of reasons why it makes sound marketing sense, to be ethical, open and upfront. So, what happens when a company decides to do the opposite – To hide something from the marketplace in order to make a fast buck?
There’s a post over on Seth Godin’s blog, where his opening sentence was just 2 words: Avoid stamps.com. This was in a post called “A bias for scamminess,” which gave his account of what allegedly happened to him, when he tried to use the stamps.com service, and found that just by entering his credit card details to buy some stamps, he had agreed to pay them $15.95 a month! Whether Seth made a mistake or was victim of a technical error, rather than a deliberate stealth sales tactic, Seth’s experience has probably been shared with hundreds of thousands of people by now.
Of course, best-selling authors like Seth have always had their own platforms. If you angered a celebrity 20 years ago, they had the power back then to get their message out, via mainstream media.
What’s different today, is that hundreds of millions of people now have their own social networks and therefore a voice.
Social networks on a smaller, local level
I live in a very small village, in the North of England. My wife recently discovered a great place for parents to take their kids, and she shared it on Facebook, with her friends. She suggested that they all meet there on a certain day, so the kids could play and the parents could take a look. On the day in question, 27 of her Facebook friends met up with their kids, for a great day out – all because of her Facebook message. Here’s the thing: Had that same Facebook message been a negative review, rather than a positive recommendation, just as many people would have seen it. Just as they were motivated to attend, they could have been motivated to avoid the place, and tell their friends to do the same, had the message been negative.
The fact that the marketplace now has a greater voice than ever before, has (at least) 3 interesting consequences:
- For providers, who exceed expectations and are remarkable for all the right reasons – It’s pure gold dust! The providers that used to enjoy a lot of word of mouth recommendations, will see an increasing supply of great referrals.
- For providers, who offer a similar-ish type of service to their competitors – At best, they will stay about the same. The providers that have never really attracted many word of mouth recommendations, still won’t.
- For providers, who offer a poor service – The clock is ticking. If they disappoint enough people with lame products or poor service, they can expect the newly enabled marketplace to spread the word.
I believe that the motivation has never been greater, for small business owners to focus on delivering service excellence. The rewards have always been good, but right now, they are excellent. Exceed the expectations of your marketplace and offer a uniquely valuable service, then help them share how great you are on their social networks.
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Another top knotch post, Jim. It used to be said that people are three to ten times more likely to tell others about a negative experience than a positive one. Many studies have shown that a satisfied customer is likely to tell approximately three people, whereas a dissatisfied customer is likely to tell approximately eleven people.
This is often because the positive experiences are expected and soon forgotten, but the unresolved negatives get people angry and frustrated, energising word of mouth.
But that was back then. Today a single person can tell 10,000 at the push of a button.
Studies have also shown that unexpected extraordinary service also causes strong positive word of mouth. In fact, some of the strongest and most frequent word of mouth is caused when dissatisfied customers are turned around by an extraordinary response to their expression of dissatisfaction. And again in today’s connected world, delighted customers can also spread the word to tens of thousands of others.
Keep up the great posts Jim.
Warmest whsies
Robert
Robert Clay´s last blog ..How to make your e-mails deliver ‘the click’
Interesting point there, Robert.
It’s one of those sad facts, that people seem keener to spread bad news stories about providers – as opposed to positive.
Great Blog Post Today!
I think it has so much information. I have read it 3 or 4 times today. Keeping our message alive and fresh on a daily basis has helped us grow substantially in the last couple of years.
Our audience continues to grow and we have to work hard to keep our message enticing and back that up with superior service. This is my motivation!
I think this post is one of my favorites in 2010.
Brent Pohlman´s last blog ..Be a part of change and start thinking and acting
Thanks for the kind words my friend!
Yes, Jim, the power of social networks and communication continually impresses me and amazes me. People who discount or flagrantly abuse that power really don’t understand it. Your Seth Godin example reminded me that I have a couple of phone calls to make to end services that are set up that way. Thanks!
Your Dell post is another excellent example of the power of the positive use of social media. It is easy to harness the negative power. It takes one more step and a stronger person to make sure they communicate their pleasure in a product as much as they might communicate their anger or dismay. In either case, you need to pay attention to how easy it is to tell larger numbers of people in a short time today.
Julie Walraven | Resume Services´s last blog ..Should a Jobseeker Blog
It’s amazing how much traction that dell post created, Julie. People used the comments section, to share their experiences, good and bad.
Many said that it was great to see a positive, unsolicited post.
I had read Seth’s blog and thought at the time…wow, I’d hate to be stamp.com Interestingly, I had thought about signing up for the service…not any more.
You really captured the state of service and why it is so important to be open and honest. Thanks!
http://www.kathycondons.blogspot.com
Great points about reach today, Jim – no matter how frequent we’re active in the space, we all have some reach.
Of course, the flip side is that then you have to make sure you share the positive stuff too. It’s easy to criticize from our “lofty perches”, but how about helping others fly too when they do good?
Cheers bud!
Danny Brown´s last blog ..3 Simple Ways to Be Cleverly Quiet in Social Media
Hi Danny! When I wrote a positive post about Dell recently, it generated a huge amount of interest. This shows that people are not as focused on the negatives as some may think.
It’s good to share positives and people are interested, in my experience.
You raise an important point here — a big part of marketing in a “social media” world comes down to great service. A lot of consumers have the tools at their disposal to do a lot of your marketing for you. You just have to concentrate on giving them a reason to do so, and do it in a positive way. Great service is becoming more and more important.
Marek´s last blog ..What I Read This Week
You’re right Marek – all the social media magic in the world will not make up for a poor quality service.