In this article we are going to illustrate some amazing ways to manufacture a “Wow Moment” – if you use these tactics in your own business – you can greatly increase your word of mouth advertising. [Keep Reading]
word-of-mouth-advertising
Do you under-promise and over-deliver? This is a great way to “wow” your client.
We call this the “Under-Promise and Over-Deliver” Referral System.
I have worked with some of the top companies in the world, large Advertising Agencies (MadMen types) and other smaller Agencies, websites with up to 12,000,000 visits per month and Pay-Per-Click Budgets of 1.5 million per month.
The one thing that I learned to keep your clients happy is “Under-promise and Over-Deliver” – in other words, always try to do more than you say you will.
I have also worked with some of the top SEO companies out there, and you what’s funny? They procured most of their business through referrals! REFERRALS! – NOT SEO?
This is a great story from Help Scout:
It’s The Little Things! This is How Disney Does It:
Small gestures can create customer wows. Walt Disney World housekeepers have a tough job. Cleaning up after people on vacation is a challenge. Even in such a challenging job, housekeepers will do little things that make Disney guests say, “Wow.” For example, while spending a day in the Magic Kingdom children will often leave their stuffed Disney characters in their hotel room. Housekeepers have been known to position the characters with playing cards in their hands or tuck the characters into the children’s bed to create a moment of magic.
Employees can do many things to create wows. Remembering a customer’s name is a huge wow, as it creates a feeling of family. Letting a customer know that another product may better meet their needs is another wow. Sending a goody basket with a handwritten note to that young couple who just took out their first mortgage is a wow. Some wows are small and some are large, but make no mistake about it – wows add up.
One of the most powerful ways to create wows is to share best practices with fellow employees. Hold a company meeting so employees can share things that they have done that dazzled customers. Just talking about these behaviors increases the likelihood that others will adopt some of the practices or create new ones of their own. It is also likely that some wows can become standard procedure, whether it’s a grocery store bakery handing out fresh-baked cookies to children, or a vendor buying lunch once a month for salespeople. Next time you’re helping a customer, ask yourself, “Will my behaviors make this customer say or think, ‘wow’?”
Some More Pointers to Creating Your Own Custom Patter for a “Wow Moment”:
1. Personalize Your Service
Nothing says wow better than a custom gift unique to their needs. For instance, if you know they like a certain type of music, sports team, desert, wine or favorite of some kind. For example, sending a gift basket with each large purchase.
2. Send a Handwritten Note
3. Check in With Customers
4. Deal with the Small Stuff, take the work off your customer’s plate!
“Nordstrom is an example of a company that handles all of the details quite well. They have a no-questions-asked return system, and they probably send all of their returns to Nordstrom-Rack and make quite a profit.
I remember I once got a “Tony Bahama” jacket as a Xmas gift from a wealthy friend of mine. But the jacket was too large for me. I returned it and they gave me a large amount of cash back – no receipt, no hassle – no questions asked. This is an example of removing the red tape and making it easy for your customers to do business with you.
How can you remove complexity off returns or disagreements.
5. Don’t Let Red Tape Get in the Way
“Zappos is a company that is connected to some legendary stories of amazing service. One story about an employee who took service to the next level has some interesting lessons to teach businesses about the dangers of red tape.
A customer was shopping for shoes for her elderly mother. Due to her medical condition, her mother had very sensitive feet and was often in pain when wearing hard-soled shoes. The customer bought six pairs of shoes from Zappos, and her mother tried them on and found two that she could bear to wear for long periods of time.
When it was time for her mother to return the other four pairs, she called Zappos and began this amazing tale of kindness:
Being a friendly Midwesterner, one thing led to another, and before she knew it she had a long, warm conversation with the Zappos employee.
In talking with the employee, this elderly woman discovered that the person on the other end of the line could readily relate to her plight; the employee’s father had suffered from similar foot problems due to diabetes.
The employee ended the conversation by saying that she would pray for the woman to feel better … but the story doesn’t end there:
My mom called me to relay the news, and I could hear the smile on her face from 600 miles away. She said that the lovely Zappos person had sent her an enormous bouquet of lilies and roses to let her know she was thinking of her.
My sister emailed the company to thank Zappos for taking such good care of my Mom. Two days later, my mom, sister, and I were contacted and told we are now “Zappos VIP Members,” which entitles us to free expedited shipping on all our orders.
Zappos’ insistence on building a company of sincere and reactive employees (and not of policy-controlled robots that let red tape get in the way of doing the right thing!) is largely the reason they are so beloved by customers.
The icing on the cake?
The customer closed out her praise for Zappos with this message:
My sister vows to buy every pair of shoes, from now on, from Zappos.
The trick is to create a checklist or a sequence of actions that make every one of your customer want to say this.
6. Recognize Unique Opportunities
This might seem like strange advice at first, but when it comes to building reciprocity with customers and a reputation for exceptional customer service around your business, the key element is surprise.
One story that paints a clear picture of how the surprise factor works actually comes from a big business—Samsung.
On their Facebook page, a longtime customer posted a joke sketch of a dinosaur and claimed that he wanted to have a custom case made of the drawing.
Then they ask them to rank the value of the program on a scale of one to six. It’s a little different than one to ten, so attendees have to think a little bit more. And then, one of the questions on the evaluation is, “if you were to recommend this program to someone else, what specifically would you say about it?” And they give them some space to write. At the bottom of the page there is a spot for them to write down three names. And they just ask the group if they could think of three people or more, and ask them to put down the names and phone numbers of those people – right there and a check-box saying “would it be OK to use your name?”
They ask them to call these three people. Say: “The reason I’d like you to call you is, it doesn’t do much good to call on somebody if they’re not expecting your call.” And “I would much rather that they say to somebody, ‘You know, I went to this program the other day. it was really great. I recommend it and I’ve given your name”. So, it’s real clear up front that there’s no surprise telephone call coming, no pressure.
And then, as a gift to people who give the referrals, they give them a two-cassette audio album 22 Proven Ways to Double Your Sales. So there’s a gift attached to it, as well. And the referrals keep rolling in.”
Conclusion:
When you adapt, adopt and implement the successful referral systems that other businesses have used to rapidly expand their business – into your system for getting referrals – you can propel yourself above your competition.
We have seen people use just 10% of these methods to get a tremendous result. You don’t have to do all of them. You just need a SYSTEM in place.
How you can add this to your businesses three Draft Referral Checklists?
How can you implement this in your business to propel you past your competition?
Remember actions, not thoughts, get results.
Best,
World Class Media Team
Result-Driven Viral Marketing & Design,
Search Marketing and Optimization.
Phone (toll free) 888.924.5558
