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And that probably looks like a spam headline, I guess but it ain’t. This is just for intrest or if you’ve got stories to share.
Word of Mouth advertising has been mentioned here before but I bet you didn’t know there was a STUDY to prove it.
http://www.BuildingOnline.com/news/viewnews.pl?id=1129&subcategory=42
Replies
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>However, the dissatisfied customers who do talk to others about their experience tell 50% more people than the satisfied customers
And this is the key to survival. WOM can make you or break you, and its up to you to decide.
SHG
*piffin,I believe one dissatisfied customer can hurt you more then ten satisfied ones will help, by not knowing this person had a problem that you might have been able to resolve. In my opinion a dissatisfied customer who never left you know there was a problem can be very damaging to your reputation and also very hard to correct.Larry
*Which makes creating a post-client program just as aggresive as a media marketing program. All my biz is WOM. The advantage to the the client is as Larry and SHG point out. They can kill ya.And I point this out to my would-be clients"Unlike marketers, I am completly at your mercy. My future lays in you hands. And there is no way I will knowingly sabotage my future by delivering less than I promised. And this power also requires a responsibility on your (the client) part. I expect no less than two referals from you in the next two years and if my phone doesn't ring, I'll call you to find out why you were dissatisfied or why you refuse to refer me"It works. At least so far...and the few that found reasons to be disatisfied DID damage my rep big time. So the risk is there. This goes back to Piffin's observation of using that "honed intuition" to weed out those customers that may be good for the bottom line this month, but will damage the books for years to come.The funny thing about some of those "bad" WOM customers is that their friends see the work, know in their hearts their friend is a jack-off to do business with, and call you anyway.Schwing!Lesson: Always do your best work, requardless of your feeling for the client. The work shows long after the resentment dies.
*What about the possibility of your client base suffering "inbreeding" caused by the same "gene pool", that is "word of mouth"?I worked for a builder that, for the last 30 years, has relied strictly on word of mouth. He charges 10% over costs on a T & M basis. He says he can't raise his margin.........or is it that everyone in his circle knows he'll work for 10%?Time for some new blood!Don't get me wrong, I believe that satisfied clients, referrals and good will make up a great base. But just as most carpenters employed by builders find it necessary to "jump ship" to get merit raises as opposed to cost of living raises, I think you need to occasionally find clients "unrelated" to your base.Thomas
*Thomas,True. I've found myself stuck in a "nozone" a couple of times, but if you trust the method, a referal is given to a new comer, a boss, a business contact and your off to a new wrinkle.The most important aspect of WOM is to have those referals come out of MWM; (mouths with money)
*VERY good comments! Mark especially.I agree with Larry about the negatives but I have none that I'm aware of (except a couple who are PO'd that I am 'too busy' to get to them) I really like Marks aggressive method of discerning and using the method at the same time.I'm in a small community where this is especially important. Broadenning my base is done by socializing and keeping in contact with the types of people who are first in line to meet new citizens such as realestate people. Most remodeling dollars are spent by folks who have bought within the last two years. They often know what they want to do with a house when they buy it and have a budget to do the work available.
*piffin, In the boating retail business on a typical day would be approximately 15 or 20 customers.The business I'm in now can be one to five different ones per week. When I was building home we might be working on one projects for 5 or 6 month with only one client to satisfy. The more clients your working with the more difficult it is to make sure every one is satisfy. Larry
*DittosThomas
*No argument on that from me. That's why I choose to stay small. Too many customers and I can't satisfy them or myself.
*Orlo had a good point RE: you can't please everyone.I remember a conversation I had a few years ago with a businessman I respect a lot.At one point he was subbing a lot of work to me and we had a pretty good working relationship.We were discussing our respective problem customers and he stopped me dead in the middle of a rant and said" You didn't think you were gonna be able to please everyone did you". I am not sure how I would take Mark's attitude if I were a customer.I think maybe his "demand" for 2 referalls from each customer might rub me the wrong way.It is one thing to ask for referalls or to gently remind customers of the value of a referall. It is great to have customers who WANT to refer you----but I don't think there is any obligation to refer---and I am not sure of the value of am "extorted" referall.( Damned with faint praise)
*Well Stephen, your right, if all I wrote is all I'd say.Out of finger lazyness, (typing) I condensed and cut out a great deal of conversation that happens at the beginning, middle and end.The other thing I failed to add is if your biz is WOM based, you must be willing to follow up and call those clients to "check" on things. This will almost always kick loose a referal without having to demand it. Sorta serves as a reminder that I'm still out there, and still looking for future work, and still concerned on how the client feels about the work I performed. Several years ago I noticed some people wished to keep me as some kind of a secret. "Their Contractor". Kinda like, "I not going to let you steal my contractor!" Took me a while to figure this out and it is from that experience, I start to gently demand that they send referals my way. Good point about not pleasing everyone. Ever notice that ther are some who can't be pleased? Ever?
*In a hot market, too many people don't want to call back because they find out that there are little things that need some fixing, or some tweaking, or something, and they don't want to go back and lose a day from a new job.In fact, when they get the call that something needs to be addressed, the guy who was all over you when he wanted to get paid doesn't remember your name. And so, a satisfied customer becomes a dissatisfied customer overnight, after all the hard work that went into a job because he won't take responsibility. Once that last payment is made, do you want to hear from the customer again with a problem?SHG
*"In a hot market, too many people don't want to call back because they find out that there are little things that need some fixing, or some tweaking, or something, and they don't want to go back and lose a day from a new job. In fact, when they get the call that something needs to be addressed, the guy who was all over you when he wanted to get paid doesn't remember your name. And so, a satisfied customer becomes a dissatisfied customer overnight, after all the hard work that went into a job because he won't take responsibility. Once that last payment is made, do you want to hear from the customer again with a problem?" The above should be etched onto a really big plaque and placed on every contractor's wall.
*shg Has a good point. Is easy to want to blow-off call backs,but I think it will screw you in the end. For me,the very best thing that can happen is that I will complete a perfect roof which never has a problem. A very close second is a roof that requires a minor call-back that I repond instantly to.I Usually am on site with-in a few hours----definitely with-in 24 hours. for me,It seems,I actually get a little better referall rate from jobs that had minor call-backs promptly handled.In my trade customers naturally wonder "what happens if something goes wrong---will he stand behind his work?".A prompt call back service gives you an opportunity to PROVE you stand behind your work and some of those customers become quite enthusiastic about generating referalls.This may not be a big deal if you are installing kitchens and baths----but in roofing it is a very big deal.In roofing I know I am gonna have some call-backs.Once you learn to try to turn them into a positive they are easier to handle.BTW a lot of time the call back has nothing to do with your work-----the puddle on the basement floor turns out to be coming from a leaking galvanized plumbing pipe elbow.My favorite happened this fall. Recieved a call from a customer whose roof I had re-roofed only 2 weeks previously.A storm and dropped a huge tree right on the new re-roof.now I got to Tear-off new roof,re-deck,replace a lot of rafters,and totally re-roof somthing I had just completed 2 weeks ago. Ka-ching!
*Never fear call backs unless you are doing shoddy work in the first place. I respond to call backs quickly and it is usually just a hand holding session, with a little coffee and a nice visit but at the end I get more work out of it, either on site or a recommendation to the neighbors. But they NEVER give that recomendation until AFTER you've satisfied them first.
*The one thing I do after a job is send a thank you card to the home owner. Telling them in brief, thanks for the opportunity to do work and if there is anything, no matter how small, call me. Now I have a small business, so I have the time to do this, but my plan was if I get bigger and find that it's getting a burden to do, I'll recruit my wife to help me out. Also I thought about sending the person who reffered me to a customer a $25.00 gift certificate to the local restaurant. That makes them feel like they were rewarded for their WOM refferal. I'm still thinking about this one though. Can't see the bad in this idea.
*Steve makes a good point. This might be an old story, but is worth reading again:.There was an old man, a boy and a donkey.They were going to town and it was decided that the boy should ride.As they went along they passed some people who thought that itwas a shame for the boy to ride and the old man to walk.The man and boy decided that maybe the critics were right so theychanged positions.Soon they passed some more people who thought that it was a realshame for that man to make such a small boy walk. The two decided thatmaybe they both should walk.Soon they passed some more people who thought that it was stupid towalk when they had a donkey to ride. The man and the boy decided maybethe critics were right so they decided that they both should ride.They soon passed other people who thought that it was a shame to putsuch a load on a poor little animal. The old man and the boy decidedthat maybe the critics were right so they decided to carry thedonkey.As they crossed a bridge they lost their grip on the animal and hefell into the river and drowned.The moral of this story is: If you try to please everyone, you willeventually lose your ass.