Word-of-mouth seems to be back in fashion, as I’ve recently
read a handful of articles on the topic of getting referrals from customers. And to my way of thinking, the advice that’s
being promulgated is dead wrong. That
is, I’m seeing advice to ask customers for referrals right away, upon closing
the sale, and providing them with incentives for their next purchase if they
send the firm any business.
What makes that advice so wrong is that it is usually far
too soon to expect a customer to make a referral: he has just purchased a
product, has yet to try it out, and does not know whether he is actually happy
with the outcome. Being pressed
immediately to tell others about his experience with a product he hasn’t even
take out of the box is inappropriate and uncomfortable.
What makes word-of-mouth so powerful is its raw
honesty. When a person tells another
person about their success with a brand, the person they tell receives this as
legitimate and trustworthy information that is well-meant, because the person
who is telling them this is concerned for their welfare and is not seeking anything
for himself by passing along the information.
So it should be immediately evident that offering customers
a premium or discount for spreading the word is immediately harmful to their
integrity and the value of their recommendation. If the person to whom they are promoting the
brand knows about this, the integrity of the referring party is called into
question – and they certainly will learn of it when they purchase and the brand
makes them the very same offer of a benefit to promote to their friends and
neighbors.
Even suggesting to a person that they ought to advocate for
the brand is an affront to their integrity: they will decide, on their own,
whether their experience is worth sharing.
A person who gives a referral is staking their personal reputation on
the outcome to others, generally those with whom he has some manner of
relationship. The degree to which he
values that relationship governs his likelihood of recommending a brand to the
other party – thus an attempt to cajole a person into referring others is
interfering in their personal choices, their personal relationships, and their
personal brand.
In all, there is likely no proper time and no proper way to
ask others to advocate for the brand, and word-of-mouth is entirely out of the
brand’s control – but for one thing: a brand can earn word-of-mouth by actually
delivering value to the customer.
Customers will give referrals when they are ready, and not sooner.
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