And so on and so on and so on…
Sound familiar? It was part of a commercial for Faberge
shampoo where the featured character says, “and I told two people, and she told
two people, and so on and so on...."
A recent customer experience made me think of it again. I
was in a craft store on a mission to find a small white Christmas tree for a
special project. In two long rows of
trees, not one was white or small. Not to be deterred I wandered down a few
more aisles and found one on the far side of the store on the very top shelf
way beyond my reach. I ask the first associate I see for help. She states (with
a smile, I might add) that she would be more than happy to assist me in getting
what I needed. What came next is what stuck with me. She added, “I hate it when
you go into a store and nobody wants to help you. And I will tell you one of those stores is
XYZ.” She had no qualms telling me the name.

Word of mouth has always been powerful and with the social
media explosion, its strength has increased significantly. With blogs,
Facebook, online reviews and more, word-of-mouth travels faster and farther,
gathering followers along the way. In fact, it’s been said that where at one
time an unhappy customer would tell three other people about their experience,
today they can reach about three million.
People trust recommendations from friends and consumer
online opinions above all other forms of advertising. And if you think you
really know what customers are saying about you, you may want to double check
that. For example, in a study done by Lee Resources, 80 percent of companies feel
they provide “superior” customer service. In reality, eight percent of people
think that these same companies deliver “superior” customer service.
What do you want three million people to hear about your
company? What word-of-mouth message do you want customers to share? Give them
something to talk about. From top
management to the employees on the front line, make sure everyone who
represents your brand does it in a way that when your customer tells two
people, and they tell two people, and so on…it’s a good thing.
Posted by MJ Thomas
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