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Christian InTech Articles - Mobile Cell Phones
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8-Reasons All Non-Profits Need A Web Site...
A nonprofit organization can take advantage of the Internet for at least eight purposes: publicity public education fundraising volunteer recruitment service delivery advocacy research communication Let us look at brief examples of each...
Dynamic Pre-Hiring Practices
Dynamic Pre-Hiring Practices by Charlon Bobo, Red Frog, Inc. © 2005 The pre-hiring process can be a challenge. Much time and energy can be invested and in the end, wasted, if your approach is not focused, deliberate, and specific. The following...
Prepaid cell phone plans: Great option or Last Resort?
There was a time when prepaid plans were marketed mostly to people with poor or bad credit. Now, prepaid plans are being marketed as a great alternative to unlimited plans. Here are a few things to consider before you sign up for your prepaid. ...
Setting Financial Goals - Part 1
Setting goals is difficult enough without adding the word finance in the mix. Many people are reluctant to tackle the task of determining financial goals. Unfortunately failing to do so can have an adverse effect on achieving a comfortable lifestyle...
Taking Charge Of Your Files
One of the first steps is to box up last years files. However, before you do that be sure to go through your files and clean them out. The files that can take up a lot of space during the year, can be easily tossed. For example, your correspondence...
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How To Stimulate Word Of Mouth (Part Two)
If you want to get good word of mouth you have to give people
something to talk about.
This is something we love to work on with our clients in
workshops and seminars to help them spread the word in low cost
ways. If we can do that for your company, business group or
community, please do get in touch. Meantime, lets explore some
examples.
Unfortunately good quality products and friendly service don't
get talked about beyond an occasional comment to friends or
family on the day of the experience. There needs to be something
else to bring the experience back to mind; a trigger that
prompts your customer to follow up with comments about the
quality and service and why people should buy from your
organisation.
A classic example of this is the 'Teddy Bear' story about my
experience in Denmark, Western Australia. Anytime anyone in my
part of the world mentions going to Denmark (the town not the
country) I am reminded of the Teddy Bear story and then tell
people about Chimes Health Resort and the 'real' reasons it is a
great play to stay. Email me at info@terrifictrading.com if you
would like a copy.
Give them a story (or 2) to tell Every business has interesting
snippets about everyday work and seasonal issues that get talked
about between staff or across the kitchen table but aren't
shared with customers because we don't think they will be
interested. You would be surprised how little anecdotes can
capture the customer's imagination.
For example, it was at Voyager Estate in Australia's Margaret
River wine region that I was first told why roses are often
planted at the ends of rows of vines. It isn't to make the
plantation more aesthetically pleasing, it is because aphids are
attracted to roses and will head for these before the vines thus
giving the growers an early warning system.
To someone working in the industry that is a 'so what' example.
However, to everyday customers like me it's a fascinating fact
that can be brought up in conversation when mentioning a visit
to a wine growing region. The customer has been given something
to talk about. Something that may make the business responsible,
memorable.
What's interesting, unique, quirky, amusing or even tragic about
your business? Maybe it was destroyed in a cyclone and you had
to rebuild from scratch, maybe you are a fourth generation
dentist, carpenter or retailer, maybe....there's bound to be a
story or two that can be passed on.
A dentist with the best coffee Talking of dentists, Brisbane
dentist Paddi Lund has used word of mouth with great success to
build his business. In fact, it is the only dental practice I
know of that has an unlisted phone number; no sign above the
door and you can only become a patient via referral from
existing patients. I'm sure that Paddi is an excellent dentist,
but it isn't his dentistry that gets him talked about. It's his
quirky, different way of doing things, his Italian cappuccino
machine and his home made dental buns.
Paddi used to dream of being a restaurateur, but he was smart
enough to realise that his skills were in dentistry not in
running a restaurant. He decided to share his dream in small
ways with his clients by investing in a large, expensive
cappuccino machine and having himself and all his team trained
to make an excellent cappuccino. He also installed a convection
oven where he bakes fresh 'dental buns' for his clients to take
home with them.
When you arrive for your appointment there is no familiar
hospital smell. Instead you are greeted with the aroma of ground
coffee and freshly baked bread. That's different!
Now, if he and his team were no more than ordinary at dentistry,
and if their customer service was pretty average, all of these
'bells and whistles' wouldn't result in more business. But when
you are good at what you do that, it's examples like this that
get you noticed, remembered, talked about and recommended.
You can check out Paddi's book 'Building A Happiness Centred
Business' at the Resources section of our website
www.terrifictrading.com.
Are your loos a tourist attraction? Jenny and Lloyd Maloney own
Two Dogs Hardware in Merredin, a business that they have built
up dramatically in recent years in the Western Australian
wheatbelt town and region that has suffered population decline
in recent years. A couple of years ago they shifted their
business to a far larger location and used the opportunity to
build the most impressive loos I have come across in regional
Australia or New Zealand.
Hardware stores sell plumbing supplies, bathroom and door
fittings, paint and electrical equipment. So, they approached
their suppliers and explained that they wanted to showcase their
products in the most talked about loos in the wheatbelt. The
result is amazing. Beautifully located, spacious ladies and
gents toilet facilities, piped music, a baby changing
area, top
notch fittings on everything. A marked contrast to the typical
outback store dunny down the back with the door hanging off and
the resident redback spider in the corner.
Does it work? Well, if you are driving from Perth to Kalgoorlie
it's a must see facility. And they aren't shortsighted. They
don't have a sign up saying that these facilities are for
genuine shoppers only. They rely on a friendly greeting,
enticing end cap displays and a well laid out store to encourage
enough visitors to buy and spread the word about their amazing
store.
Write your story down Storytelling is a great way to spread word
of mouth and you can take this even further by writing it down
and publishing it.
Paddi Lund has done this, turning his business philosophy into a
best selling book. For you it may not be your philosophy. Maybe
it is stories about your business, your region or even your
recipes. This is what Trish Flowers, former librarian, and owner
of the award winning Bay Merchants Deli and Café at Middleton
Beach in Albany did recently. Her 56 page book, "The Bay and
Beyond - facts and stories from Albany and the region" is
actually based around recipes for 12 gourmet sandwiches which
they prepare and sell at their fantastically successful outlet.
It is accompanied by stories about the ingredients, information
on the local producers supplying much of the fresh ingredients
and stunning photography of the region.
It's a celebration of local producers and their produce, a
tourist momento, educational piece for the region and a great
advertisement for her business. Bay Merchants is a mecca for
local well off baby boomers and tourists who happily pay $20 per
copy for the privilege of spreading the word about Bay Merchants
and it's fantastic food. And I can assure you the gourmet
sandwiches and everything else about this business are a true
delight.
If you have a story to tell but the written word doesn't come
easy to you, get a journalist at your local newspaper to
moonlight for you. They are usually happy to get the extra work
and will interview you and turn it into an article, booklet or
book that can be passed on to customers.
Let me finish this second article in the word of mouth series by
reminding you of two examples of low cost ways of generating WOM
which I've spoken about before.
Bridget Jones' Diary The release not so long ago of the sequel
to the movie "Bridget Jones' Diary" reminded me of the
wonderfully targeted word-of-mouth campaign United International
Pictures (UIP) executed in Sydney a few years ago to coincide
with the release of the now famous original.
The target audience was women. If you want to spread the word to
a woman who better to tell than her hairdresser?
UIP invited hairdressers to early screenings of the movie hoping
the gossip and story-telling sessions inside hairdressing salons
would help spread the word. Did it work? The only thing that
could have made it work more successfully would have been to
swear the hairdressers to secrecy!
The lesson here is to identify who talks regularly to your
prospective customers.
Promoting the Brand I've always loved the story about shopping
bags at Stew Leonard's grocery store in Norwalk, Connecticut.
It's a great example of how to engage your customers and build
your brand....in the lowest cost way possible.
Back in 1974 a customer, Colleen Blanchard, had her picture
taken in front of St.Basil's Cathedral in Moscow. It happened
that she was carrying a Stew Leonard shopping bag and this came
out clearly in the photo. Stew proudly displayed the photo on a
special pin board in his store.
Soon it became a game and customers brought in photos from all
over the world. Stew Leonard's shopping bags in the hands of
happy customers were pinned up on the noticeboard in scenes from
the Great Wall of China to the Eiffel Tower.
What a terrific promotional idea. Thirty years later people are
still going into the store to see if their photo has gone up and
to check out photos of friends and relatives. What a great way
to increase store traffic and turn your customers into
international ambassadors for your business. And there is
another important lesson from this: If a promotional idea is
still exciting and delighting customers don't stop doing it just
because you have got bored with it. Your customers will soon let
you know when a promotion has passed its use by date.
What do you do to stimulate word of mouth at present? If you
have examples that you have either experienced or use in your
own business to stimulate word of mouth, please do pass these on
so that I can share them with our readers.
About the author:
Jurek Leon is a speaker, trainer and consultant. To subscribe to
Jurek's FREE monthly email newsletter go to the Free Articles
section of his website: www.terrifictrading.com
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