Tuesday, July 29, 2008

The Power of Word of Mouth


I've been reading Pete Blackshaw's new book "Satisfied Customers Tell Three Friends, Angry Customers Tell 3,000". Isn't that a clever title and an accurate statement? If I enjoy a product or service I might tell a few friends but if I get bad service or a defective product, I do tend to tell lots more and include all of the details. I guess we like to be heard. But are the companies listening? Well, according to Pete they better start listening.

In this age of instant everything, the Internet provides us with a megaphone to broadcast our opinions. And that reach goes much further nowadays with Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, YouTube, blogs, ratings and reviews and many more. Companies need to be monitoring the Internet for any mention of their company, their products or services and most importantly, be quick to respond. Pete includes examples of companies who were slow to respond and others who responded quickly and as a result, avoided potential disasters.

I read a blog post earlier this week on the Valley PR Blog in Phoenix. The post was entitled "The Power of Brides Online" and was written by Charlotte Risch. She had recently become engaged and quickly became consumed with wedding plans. She personally experienced the power of word of mouth, as other brides were quick to talk about their experiences with bridal shops and wedding vendors. And not all of their experiences were positive. Her advice to many of the bridal boutiques was to brush up on their word of mouth marketing skills. How right she is! Bad word of mouth spreads oh so quickly. Maybe they need to get their hands on a copy of this book.

Pete Blackshaw's book should be read by anyone who provides a service or product to the public. The book is easy to read and makes common sense. Companies need to adapt to today's consumer driven world. They cannot continue to ignore the power that consumers wield.

I highly recommend this book.
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2 comments:

Lori said...

This does sound interesting, and very true. I live in a relatively small community and if you have a business treat you bad "word of mouth can be like the kiss of death."

But the reverse is true also. If you ask many of the business people here in town they say, "word of mouth is the main source of new customers."

Thanks for the recommendation.

Debbie Petras said...

I think the key is to deliver on their promise with a good product or service and as a result good word of mouth will be spread. The Internet just amplifies it and the number of people who might listen. Thanks for your thoughts Laurel!