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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