Wizard of Ads Partners

By Sonya Winterbotham

 

Ever heard the saying from jelly beans big things grow?
I may have tweaked an original saying you’re more familiar with… but jelly beans work.

Let me explain… The other day a new work colleague needed a mechanic and hit up staff for their referrals.  Me?  I didn’t just suggest mine; I fought off other contenders with a sterling argument about jelly beans.  

My mechanic does something so small, so simple, but so memorable it’s made his business a success.  After every service, every wheel alignment, every oil change… He places a little packet of jelly beans and a letter thanking you for your business on the passenger’s seat of your car.  

Do I hear cries of “that’s ridiculous nobody goes back for jelly beans”?  It’s not the jelly beans, it’s the significance of the gesture, what it tells you about the business and how it makes you feel even after you’ve forked out $180 on a service… That is what keeps you coming back.

At other mechanics you consider yourself lucky if you get a plastic rubbish bag hanging from your glove compartment… but it doesn’t quite attract the same response as this tiny packet of jelly beans.  Its semantics plain and simple – What’s a plastic rubbish bag remind you of?  The chore of cleaning your car.  In contrast jelly beans are a bright, colourful treat, and whether you like them or not the surprise of this little package of sugary goodness makes you smile.

Now to be totally honest, jelly beans are just the tip of his marketing iceberg, because there’s one more thing my mechanic places on that passenger seat - a tiny little envelope with three business cards… Ahhhh… he understands the power of word of mouth, and in his unobtrusive manner he’s asking if you’re happy with his business to please refer him to your friends.

Jelly beans, a letter and a few business cards – the total cost wouldn’t add up to five bucks per customer… yet the business he’s received because of this little gesture would add up to thousands every year.

Too often we just think about today’s bottom line and how we can get the customers spending more now.  But if you just let the jelly beans do their work they might end up branding your business better than you imagined. 

 

Find your magic beans and you’ll see that from little things, big things really can grow… how big is up to you.

 

 

by Roy H. Williams

The price of making a powerful statement is cheap compared to the cost of ads that don't work. So make a statement that counts. This is the best advice I can give you.

I'm not talking about making a grand and sweeping claim, such as, "Lowest prices anywhere. We won't be undersold." No one believes hype anymore. I'm talking about a statement that is bona fide, no loopholes, easy to experience. And it only takes one such statement to put a business over the top. This is why you should designate a percentage of your ad budget to purchase word-of-mouth advertising.

Word-of-mouth is credible because a person puts their reputation on the line every time they make a recommendation. And that person has nothing to gain but the appreciation of those who are listening. What are you doing to make sure your potential ambassadors feel secure? What are you doing to trigger word-of-mouth?

1. Word-of-mouth is triggered when a customer experiences something far beyond what was expected. Slightly exceeding their expectations just won't do it.

2. Don't depend on your staff to trigger word-of-mouth by delivering "exceptional customer service." Good service is expected. It's bad service we talk about. Great service can increase customer retention and generate lots of positive feedback to the business owner, but rarely is it the basis for word-of-mouth.

3. Physical, nonverbal statements are the most dependable in triggering word-of-mouth. These statements can be architectural, kinetic, or generous, but they must go far beyond the boundaries of what is normal.

4. BUDGET to DELIVER the experience that will trigger word-of-mouth. Sometimes your word-of-mouth budget will be incremental, so that its cost is tied to your customer count. Other times it will require a capital investment, so that repayment will have to be withheld from your advertising budget over a period of years. The greatest danger isn't in overspending, but in under spending. Under spending for a word-of-mouth trigger is like buying a ticket halfway to Europe.

5. Don't promise it in your ads. Although it's tempting to promise the thing you're counting on to trigger word-of-mouth, these promises will only eliminate the possibility of your customer becoming your ambassador. Why would a customer repeat what you say about yourself in your ads? You must allow your customer to deliver the good news. Don't rob your ambassador of their moment in the sun.

Your word-of-mouth trigger can be architectural, kinetic, or generous.

1. Architectural: This can be product design, store design, fantasy décor, etc. The piano store that looks like a huge piano, with black and white keys forming the long awning over the long front porch. The erupting volcano outside the Mirage in Las Vegas. A glass-bottom floor that allows customers to see what's happening far below them. Do you remember when McDonalds began building playgrounds attached to all their restaurants? It worked like magic for 20 years.

 
2. Kinetic: Activity. Motion. "Performance" by every definition of the word. The tossing of fresh fish from one employee to another at Pike Place Market in Seattle, (the inspiration for FISH!, that bestselling book and training film.) The magical, twirling knives of the tableside chefs at Benihana. Kissing the codfish when you get "screeched in" at any pub in Newfoundland. (A screech-in is a loud and funny ceremony where non-Newfoundlanders down a shot of cheap rum, repeat some phrases in the local dialect, and kiss a codfish. Everyone who visits that wonderful island returns home with a story of being "screeched in.") While it may at first seem like a staff-driven, kinetic word-of-mouth trigger is a violation of number 2 above, "Don't depend on your staff," it's really not. A staff-driven kinetic word-of-mouth trigger is constantly observable by management. It isn't a "customer service" experience delivered privately, one on one. Extraordinary product performance is another kind of kinetic trigger. If a laundry detergent dramatically outperformed all others, its performance would likely become a kinetic word-of-mouth trigger. But remember, slightly exceeding customer expectations is usually not enough.

3. Generous: Extremely large portions in a diner. Oversized seats on an airplane. Are you willing to become known as the restaurant that allows its guests to select - at no charge – their choice of desserts from an expensive dessert menu? You can easily cover the hard cost of it in the prices of your entrees and drinks. Flour, butter and sugar are cheap advertising. Are you the jewelry store that's willing to become known for replacing watch batteries at no charge, even when the customer hasn't purchased anything and didn't buy the watch from your store? Word will spread. And batteries cost less than advertising. Why sell them for a few lousy dollars when they're worth so much more as a word-of-mouth trigger?

Architectural, kinetic, generous: these are the flour, butter, and sugar of effective word-of-mouth. What can you make from these ingredients? Will you put their rich taste into the mouths of your potential word-of-mouth ambassadors? Or will you just keep making ambiguous claims in your ads and hope that people are willing to believe you?

  

PS. Let Wizard of Ads Australia help boom your business with Word of Mouth strategies. Is your business in North America? Contact the Wizard of Ads home office.