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Word-of-Mouth Referrals are a great marketing tool for small business.
My father wasn’t exactly all that handy in the area of home projects when I was younger. In his defense, though, he had no internet, YouTube, or Google to lean on back then. So, when he started a home project, there was a high degree of probability that a professional would be needed to help him finish the job at some point in the process. He also knew my mother would never let him rest until he completed the project. Mothers are good like that.
Since my dad didn’t have resources like Google reviews or Angi (Angie’s List) to get information from, he relied on word-of-mouth referrals from neighbors, friends, or family with a positive experience. After all, there was, usually, concrete proof of a neighbor’s testimony evident right across the street.
To this day, my dad still prefers hiring professionals based on word-of-mouth referrals even when the price is higher because he places a premium value on high-quality work.
To this day, my father still prefers hiring professionals based on word-of-mouth referrals even when the price is higher because he places a premium value on high-quality work.
Word-of-mouth referrals help small business.
Referrals from someone who knows your company are the best source of advertising for your business. They can be more potent than any other form of advertising, because people inherently trust referrals from friends and family more than reviews they read online. So, the better your member’s experience is, the more likely they’ll share it.
According to Nielsen, 92% of people trust word-of-mouth and referrals from people they know. This data suggests that when someone sees a friend or family member raving about a particular brand, they’re much more likely to buy.
How do you create good Word-of-Mouth referrals for your small business?
Whether it’s online or in your brick and mortar store, there are numerous ways to build a Word-of-Mouth referral engine for your small business that’ll get people discussing your products and services. Below we’ve listed some great ways to get the buzz going.
- Be straightforward in customer communication – One way to build positive referrals from current and potential customers is to be honest about conducting your business. When you’re transparent about what they can expect from your support, pricing, and products, their confidence level improves dramatically.
- Improve your customer experience – It seems obvious. But, when you cultivate a work environment where the staff is friendly and helpful, customers feel comfortable referring friends and family to do business there. Creating an inviting interior design also helps customers feel at home and likely to return.
- Be overly helpful to your customers – When your business provides the information and resources customers need to thrive, it positions your company in the role of helpful guru. If you pay attention and help customers solve their business problems, you’ll gain their trust, and they’ll rave about you to their friends.
- Support your community – It pays to be a good neighbor. Be involved and stay connected to your local community. People remember and will talk about how your small business was there to support local non-profits and charities. It not only improves your company’s reputation, but it speaks to the character of how your company helps people. People feel good about referring family and friends to companies that support the place where they live.
Psst…Have you seen these great services?
At Cooperata, we help small business owners every day find low-cost, premium solutions that best fit their needs.
As a result, we’ve compiled many useful resources on our own Resources page. It’s filled with premium vendors and other powerful online resources that small businesses need for their websites. Check out our resource page and feel confident that these sources will save you time and money through their usefulness. If you’d like more information on any vendors mentioned on our Resources page, please contact us and we’ll be glad to provide more details on our experience.