Archive for the ‘Marketing’ Category
How To Get Word Of Mouth — And Get More Customers
I’m Konrad, and I run a small scanning service. I’ve been doing this for over 5 years and I’m just gonna blab about what has worked for me.
My last post I talked about the importance of marketing.
But thinking back, what is more important than fancy knowledge in marketing is word of mouth.
Word of mouth is too simple so nobody works on it
My biz philosophy is simple– do a good job, and people will tell their family and friends.
Man, it’s so simple. You don’t have to read marketing books. You don’t have to waste time on promotion or worry about “social media”. Maybe it’s too simple that most people don’t even bother. But it really is that simple– do a good job you are honestly happy with, and people will see it. I actually got tips when I first started. I scanned peoples slides, charged them, and they gave me an extra $20 because they were happy with the results. They don’t do that anymore cuz my prices are higher. But its how I started– simple word of mouth.
Anyway, saying that, here’s three tips on how to get people to spread word of mouth:
Tip #1: If everybody paints their door red, then red doors no longer stick out
Satisfaction is one thing. But when your customer is HAPPY, then that is when they will talk. But you need to be exceptional. So how do you do something exceptional?
If everybody does the same thing, then the one who is different will stick out– will be exceptional. So DON’T copy your competitors. Screw them and forget about what they are doing. Do what YOU do. I know you do something unique. Even if its little, focus on that.
For instance. All scanning companies talk about “digital ice”. Digital ice helps enhance scans. It helps with “quality”. I say bull shit. It’s just a shortcut. You can’t press a bunch of buttons and get quality from a machine. An actual human has to fix the images. Thats why I don’t use digital ice. I use Photoshop. And I tell my customers that. It’s what is unique about my biz.
Find something, even if its a small difference. And focus on that. My wife pays $4 for ONE cupcake. She could get 6 for the same price at the grocer store. But at the grocery store you can’t see them bake them. She likes going to the small stores where they have aprons on, and you can see the oven. A small diff, but it’s enough for her to shop there and not at the grocery store.
Tip #2: Guaranteeing your work is corny — do this instead
Another all too simple idea is to guarantee your work. But it seems companies either don’t use it, or use it in a way customers don’t believe it.
Here’s the thing. If a customer is not happy, and if they demand their money back, you are most likely going to. Maybe not, but then you’re messed up and have a scam biz. Anyway, you most likely will give their money back if they demand it. So, technically, you already have a guarantee policy. But you probably don’t say so.
But it’s very important that you DO say so. And don’t do the generic thing– “money back guarantee!”. They wont believe that. Tell them in your own words. Say that you are confident in your work. And if there is an issues, to let you know. And you will do anything to fix the problem, or give them their money back.
What you are doing there is taking the responsibility. The hardest thing for a person is to part from their hard earned money. They don’t want to take all the risk. So by saying you will take all the risk and guarantee your work, they are more likely to be happy to do biz with you. And that is the whole part of the experience. They will leave happy, and they are likely to talk about the experience. Especially the ones who were upset. My best customers were my worst. For whatever reason I messed up. But I did everything I could to correct it. They were so appreciative, they actually told me they will recommend me.
And one more note. If you think people will take advantage, maybe they will. But the guarantee got me MORE customers than it would when I didn’t offer it. So maybe 1 will take advantage. But I got maybe 4 or 5 more customers because of it.
Tip #3: $20 to adwords or to a loyal customer?
This idea is awesome. I forget where I read it. But it’s like this. Tell a customer that instead of giving away your marketing money to Google or the news paper, you rather give it to them. Tell them if they refer a customer and they buy, you’ll give them two movie tickets, or whatever. A simple incentive goes a long way.
This isn’t about bribing. It’s about rewarding your customers. And honestly, I rather give 20$ to somebody who gave me money for my work, then to a faceless marketing corporation / evil machine.
Anyway, these are just a few things I’ve learned along my adventures in small biz. I got more, so stay tuned.
Konrad
