All Business Networking: Word of Mouth

Showing posts with label Word of Mouth. Show all posts

Building a business by referring others first

In a recent post I suggested it was a good idea to work out who else is needed when you do business. This simple exercise means you can work out which other businesses give you the most referral opportunities. Both for giving and receiving.

Someone asked me a couple of days ago if I could give an example. Some years ago I was involved in an Internet start up. We provided high speed internet connectivity to business clients in City of London in the days before broadband! Before we opened for business we built relationships with other providers of services in the Internet, IT and Telecoms space. Services that would be complementary to ours and that our clients and potential clients might also need. Some of these may have been competitors in some respects, but we felt that if they were right for a client then we would not be and vice versa.

These other businesses included providers of:

consumer ISP services - we were b2b only.
computer and computer network equipment - we did not sell this equipment.
email and internet software.
internet security.
computer cabling suppliers.
data storage.
telephony and telephony equipment.
e-commerce.
web design.
internet hosting.

Most of the time when we spoke with potential clients they might not need our services at the time, but they needed one of these others and we referred them. This kept us front of mind for both our potential clients and those we referred.

Over time all of our business came through referrals from these sources. The 'potential clients' became clients or referred others as a result of the help we provided for them. Those we referred then stated doing the same for us. Many of these relationships also resulted in more collaboration, but that's another story...

Good Networking!
Dave Clarke

How to amplify and not dilute your message

Why does Word of Mouth Marketing work so well?

That was the recent headline of an article by my colleague in NRG Business Networks, Martin Davies. Stuart Harris Replied on Twitter,

"WoM marketing is great because it's personal but the person isn't paid ("hire a liar") - they recommend or not from the heart".

The subject came up yesterday at a seminar on Linkedin before the NRG lunch in Swindon. We know, and research confirms, that a recommendation or referral from a trusted 3rd party is much more powerful than any direct message of yours.

That's why networking is not about broadcasting your message to as many people as possible. Neither is it about meeting as many people as you possibly can yourself. That just dilutes your effort.

Build strong relationships with a close trusted network. They will deliver those precious 3rd party recommendations and your message will be amplified many times over.

Good Networking!

Dave Clarke

Are you talking enough with the people you already know?

One of the issues I hear most often from Directors and Professionals in small and medium sized businesses is how to generate business in new markets. I facilitated a peer to peer 'Boardroom' session recently where half of the issues raised were around this topic:

"How do I reach the companies I want to provide with a new service?"
"How do I get people to my networking group?"
"How do I get to relevant SMEs?"

Many people think the answer is to search for new connections on social networks or find new places to meet lots of people. The problem with this is you can very quickly run out of resources including your precious time. Stretching yourself very thinly in this way probably means getting to hardly know lots of people. Not the way to generate new business.

I spoke at an event recently on the big mistake that means networking doesn't work for many people. I asked the audience whether the best business came via recommendation and they agreed. I asked if they agreed that people recommend people in business that they know, like, rate and trust. They agreed again so I also asked whether they thought a good networking event was one with people they mostly didn't know. They agreed with that too and that is very often where the problem begins. Getting to know people takes time and the vast majority of people you meet once will remain as strangers.

The best way to get to the people you don't know is not by yourself. It is through word of mouth. It is by getting to know and supporting your close network even better than you do now. Grow advocates amongst them and they will recommend you to the people you don't know yet.

Good Networking!

Dave Clarke

Why does Word of Mouth Marketing work so well?

Word of Mouth Marketing is fashionable and perceived to work exceptionally well in today’s world of information overload. But exactly why is it so powerful?

Here is the reason. Word of Mouth is all about what someone who is not perceived to have an axe to grind says about someone else’s product or service. We pay more attention to positive (and negative) comments from our friends and associates about all sorts of things than what we see, read or listen to in the media.

In today’s world successful marketing is all about speeding up the person’s decision making through the value of a third party’s recommendation. They are valued because:

• They are seen as independent;
• They have experienced the product or service and are seen as knowledgeable;
• Advice they give is seen as relevant because they are thinking of that person.

Let me give you a real example which brought this mind. Last week, at one of our networking lunches, one of our members Mark asked me if he should buy a service from another member Jill. It involved quite a lot of money and time so he wanted to be convinced he was making the right decision. “I want to make the right decision and I value your thoughts” is what he said. Knowing what was important to him and having experienced first-hand Jill’s service I was able to talk about her service at the right level and explain what benefit Mark might get.

In short I was valued because I had experienced the service, was seen as independent and was offering relevant and pertinent advice.

He bought it.

The moral of this story is that nothing sells better than a supporter who knows your service well and is motivated to help. At NRG we call them advocates and they are worth their weight in gold!

For more information read the NRG Advocacy Model.

Good Networking!

Martin Davies

The same rules apply for online and offline Word of Mouth

I have written before about online & offline networking needing similar approaches. Recent HP Labs social media research concludes that successful influence on twitter does not depend on a large number of followers. That for information to propagate in a network, individuals need to forward it to the other members, thus having to actively engage rather than passively read it.

This supports the behaviours we identified in our research into offline networking and how to proactively create positive word of mouth.

Success in networking (offline and online) comes down to building a manageable number of relationships amongst people with influence amongst the right audience. Then motivating that network to advocate you.

Good Networking!
Dave Clarke

Are you networking with the right people?

In 'The circles (no more strangers)' Seth Godin writes "It's so tempting to seek out more strangers." He makes the point that trying to reach strangers is expensive and you may very well upset your true fans. He uses an excellent graphic (shown to the right here) to illustrate his point that delighting and overwhelming your true fans is a better strategy than chasing after strangers.

Many business people and professionals give in to this temptation and concentrate their marketing efforts on strangers. Building word of mouth from the people they already know can be neglected and their behaviour in networking can be similar. Their networking is all about finding and connecting directly with the people they don't know.

The key to successful networking is to take the opposite view. Instead of looking for strangers it is about building strong relationships where you get to know, like, rate and trust each other. Instead of spending time with people you don't know try investing quality time in building the right relationships. I think it is worth repeating what I wrote last week in 'How Networking Really Works. A small number of people you get to know really really well can give you access to all the new people you want to meet.

Effective networking is about support and sharing knowledge and finding advocates who recommend and refer you. Good networking groups provide the environment for you to strengthen existing relationships & build new ones. It is much easier and more enjoyable to develop your business in an environment like that.

Good Networking!
Dave Clarke

How recently have you been in touch?

I was involved in a discussion yesterday about the importance of the Christmas Trading period to many in the retail and leisure trades. With the year many of them have had it could well be make or break time. Now is the time to act to ensure they maximise their business in the next couple of months.

One thing that came up in the discussion was the goldmine that many of them are sitting on without realising it. The gold in this mine is their existing customers. Many businesses concentrate on looking for new customers all the time and forget those people they have already done business with.

Make sure you keep in regular contact with people you have already done business with. Give them some added value and they may well spend more with you. Do it consistently and they will be amongst your best sources of new business from the people they know and influence.

Good Networking!
Dave Clarke
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Keeping track of your referrals 2

I wrote yesterday about the importance of keeping track of your referrals. You may think that is limited to direct contact of some sort, but I have also found that much of the business generated via the internet has its root in referrals and word of mouth. I was phoned a few weeks ago by someone interested in opening a new NRG Group in an area we don't cover. I asked how he had found us & he said Google. When we met I asked the question again. Whilst it was true that he had found our website via Google it was because someone we both know had suggested me to him. I was able then to thank the referral source and update him with what had happened.

Many of the people who found us via google also turn out to be via Word of Mouth. More than half of the searches that found our website include NRG suggesting someone recommended or referred them in the first place.

Good Networking!
Dave Clarke
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Keeping track of your referrals

I facilitated a networking breakfast on Friday 7 at the end one of the visiting members asked if she could say a few words. She shared that the NRG business networking group she belonged to had been a great factor in her success. Much of her business was a result of the relationships she had made in the group. It was not all, however, down to direct referrals. It was sometimes 2, 3, 4, 5 or even 6 steps removed, but by tracking back to the initial source she knew which relationships were critical to maintain & nurture.

If you don't keep track in this way you run the risk of upsetting your referral sources by not keeping them up to date with the results of the positive Word of Mouth they are generating for you. You could potentially miscalculate the return on investment on some of your activities and end up dropping some for the wrong reasons.

Good Networking!
Dave Clarke
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Is the idea of a sales funnel now outdated?

In 'McKinsey: Shooting holes in the Sales Funnel' Bob Apollo writes about an article in a recent McKinsey Quarterly review on the consumer decision journey.

Bob writes how the conclusions can equally be applied to the B2B buying process. As Bob says "the increasing importance of word of mouth, recommendation and reputation in the B2B buying process has transferred information power into the hands of the prospect".

I have reported similar findings on the increasing importance of word of mouth previously. So if you are in the the B2B or B2C space make sure that you have a strategy for influencing the people your prospects turn to for this word of mouth.

Good Networking!
Dave Clarke
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Is offline networking still relevant?

In 'Networking has never been more important' I wrote about the answer I gave to Rod Sloane when he asked "is networking still relevant in 2009". The question comes nearly 40 second into this 2 minute Audio Clip:

Good Networking!
Dave Clarke
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Networking has never been more important

Yesterday I answered the question from small business marketing expert Rod Sloane, "Is Networking still relevant in 2009?". The answer I gave was based on my own experience so it was nice to find some supporting evidence from Neilsen's Global Online Consumer Survey. They found that ninety percent of the 25,000 consumers surveyed noted that they trust recommendations from people they know. The following table summarises their findings:

Building positive word of mouth has, indeed, never been more important.

Good Networking!
Dave Clarke
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Offline still most important for Word of Mouth

A couple of years ago in 'Word of Mouth: The real action is offline' I wrote about research from the Keller Fay Group revealing that 72% of all word of mouth interaction took place face-to-face.

A recent report from Mintel finds people still prefer real-life recommendations to online.

So while Social Media and Social Networks are becoming increasingly important in maintaining and building relationships don't forget to focus on the offline.

Good Networking!
Dave Clarke
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How do you get your new business?

One of the questions I often ask the owners of small businesses is "How do you get your new business?" The most popular response is "Recommendation or Referral".

The response is to be expected, but what is often surprising is that many of these people do not know who gave them the recommendation or referred them. For some of them this leads to much unproductive 'networking' activity almost entirely focused on meeting lots of people.

The best networkers know exactly who is referring them. This means they can concentrate their business development time with the relationships that really matter to them. In a really productive networking group you will often find at least one sub group of people that are using the regular meeting to maintain these quality relationships. These people will spend most of their 'networking' time in regular groups and One2One time with the members.

Do you know who is referring you and where you should be investing your networking time?

Good Networking!
Dave Clarke
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Using Social Media to spread Word of Mouth

Yesterday I wrote about the conversation I was having with a Service Business Owner about Twitter. On Friday last week I attended an excellent presentation from Internet Pyschologist Graham Jones about increasing website traffic with 2 simple steps. The Two steps are firstly to generate regular and consistent content, then promote it.

Graham mentioned the drop in his web traffic when not signposting & sharing his content via Twitter. As I wrote in 'How do I use Twitter & Social Networks?' Twitter and other Social Media are great for sharing your expertise and building your reputation.

Are you utilising Social Media in this way?

Good Networking!
Dave Clarke
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Engaging in relevant conversations with Social Media

I was speaking with the owner of an Internet Services Business last week about the Seminar I attended earlier in the week from Grant Leboff. I wrote about Grant's views in my post 'Are you the answer for your network?'.

During the conversation he said that he wasn't really sure what to make of Twitter. I said that it was helping me to engage with interested people much quicker than has ever been possible before. Also to track the effectiveness of positive Word of Mouth for your business.

For example a few weeks ago one of the attendees at a monthly NRG Business Networking Event tweeted about his positive experience and a great presentation. The presenter, Ant Hodges, retweeted and one of his contacts asked "What is NRG". Ant replied "NRG is the most effective business networking organisation I have been part of - follow @DaveClarke or visit nrg-networks.com"

Are you engaging in relevant conversations online & keeping track of your 'Word of Mouth'?

Good Networking!
Dave Clarke
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Are you the answer for your network?

At a seminar this week at an NRG-networks event in London the speaker, Grant Leboff, shared his insights into the changes taking place in Sales & Marketing. The web has meant a revolution in communication and massive choice in everything that we need. When we need something now we do two things, we ask our network and we search online.

Do you have a strategy for building word of mouth for you and your business?

When someone in your network gets asked about a problem that you solve are you given as THE answer to that problem? You should be if your networking is effective.

Good Networking!
Dave Clarke
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In a world of thousands of suppliers Word of Mouth is essential

At a recent seminar before a London NRG-networks lunch author Grant Leboff was explaining how sales & marketing have changed.

To illustrate the impact of the Internet he talked about how things were beforehand. In the world of business to business products & services if you needed something you probably had a choice of 2 or 3 local suppliers. You probably saw them all before making your purchase decision and relied on personal recommendations to help in your decision.

Now that you have a choice of thousands on the Internet how do you decide which one to use?

You cannot possibly see them all.

Are you like the seminar audience?

They said they rely more than ever on the recommendation of a trusted contact.

So in this world of enormous choice Word of Mouth is more important than ever.

Good Networking!
Dave Clarke
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Is Facebook good for your business?

I am often asked "Should I be on Facebook?". The people who ask are often the ones who think they can 'get business' from Facebook.

Facebook is a Social Network, not a Business Directory. See Social Networking in Plain English for a great quick video on the subject.

Participants in a network are involved in relationships around some sort of mutual exchange. Social networks like Facebook are great for keeping up to date with your friends, acquaintances and peers.

The subjects discussed in social networks include business so should you spend business time interacting with people on Facebook? That really depends on what you are selling so ask yourself a question;

'Is facebook a good place to find and connect with those people with access & influence in my market?'

If the answer is yes then join and start adding value in groups that are relevant. Start your own group to interact with those people that you already do business with and they like interacting on facebook. I do that and generate well qualified paying guests for our membership groups. They are attracted or invited by people they know, like and trust already.

Participants in a Network like facebook or subsets of it may be part of your target market so the question to ask then is 'Does facebook have good numbers of potential customers?'. If that answer is yes then you may want to investigate facebook advertising.

Good Networking
Dave Clarke
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What should you blog about?

At a recent seminar after the monthly NRG-networks lunch at Marble Arch in London Internet Psychologist, Graham Jones, was talking about 2 simple ways to double your website traffic. One of the questions he posed was what was common to the websites we all visit regularly? The answer being content, content and more content.

In my recent article 'top 10 tips for building business with the effective use of offline & online networks' tip 7 is that your blog is the cornerstone of your online presence & you build your reputation by sharing your expertise. The important thing is that you are sharing content that is relevant to your intended audience.

I was talking about this last week with the owner of a printing company and he asked me what he should blog about. I asked him about the problems that his customers are looking to solve when they use his services. All of the examples he gave me were about how his business customers were looking to improve the ways they communicated their marketing messages. As a marketer he had a clear understanding of their issues and many practical examples of where he had helped. My reply to him was that those were the things to blog about. The stories, hints, tips, & insights from his clients' issues and problems are great content to add value to others with similar issues.

If he regularly generates that content and communicates that through his network he will build an audience of interested readers. Many of them will know people with the issues and problems that need an expert like him.

Good Networking!
Dave Clarke
Get 7 networking secrets for business success

business networking | business networking events | business networking podcast