I have been obsessed for many years with the concept of internal marketing versus external marketing. I believe far too much money is spent on billboards and bus shelters and bus benches and church bulletins, newspapers. Are we kidding? Newspapers. There's a whole demographic of people 20 years old to 30 that have hardly ever read a newspaper but yet some people are just stuck on all of these conventional advertising methods that eat up your money and it's very difficult to even track what you get as far as your return on investment. Instead, if you use the ideas in this article, you can cut most of your advertising costs significantly.
Word of mouth internal marketing starts when you talk to your already existing client, for this article we will call him Mr. Bob Jones. You say, "Can I ask you a question?" No one's ever answered this by saying "No you can't ask me a question."
We need to grow our business here at "Insert Your Business Name" and the way that we want to grow our business is with customers like you. I have a few questions to ask you, are you currently satisfied with our service?
Well of course they're satisfied, they're excited, they're happy. In fact, they might even be a personal friend.
Well, Mr. Jones, we would like you to help us meet your friends, neighbors, co-workers and relatives. Lets start with your friends. Mr. Jones, the type of friend we're talking about is when you call that person on the phone, you don't have to say hey this Bob. They already know your voice. You've spent that much time with them. Which friend of yours might appreciate our services?
At this point, I ask them if they could please write down, their name and number.
Very good. Who else, what other friend might you want to help us with that would appreciate our service. Write that down. How about your neighbor, Mr. Jones. We are looking for the type of neighbor that is there for you in a pinch. If there's an emergency and you've got to immediately leave the house. You trust them; they'll watch over the house or take care of an errand for you. Write that neighbor's name down please.
I pause, to allow your client, who's trying to give you referrals, to think. They're going through their mental computer and they're visually imagining who is it in their circle of influence that would fit with working with us. You will be shocked at what great information you will get which is a huge time saver, so now we've finished with friends, neighbors.
Mr. Jones, lets talk about your co-workers. The co-workers that rely on you and you rely on them. The ones you have a great relationship with and they would appreciate our services. Which co-worker comes to mind? Write that down. Thank you.
And Mr. Jones, lastly but certainly not least, let's explore your relatives. Which relatives would really appreciate our kind of service and would like to work with us, the fun people that we are. Please write down the relatives that come to mind.
Mr. Jones, I want to thank you for going through this exercise with us and I want you to always know, we sincerely appreciate your business. We know you have other choices. We are committed to doing everything that we need to do to continue to earn your trust and your business in the future.
This is the method I have used for over 25 years. It can be used in any industry. You can build a business hard or you can build a business smart. Remember, I do use conventional advertisement but never once, have I used a billboard of my face to build business. They certainly have their place, make no mistake about it. Generally, the most important place you can place your face is in the front of the face of one of your existing clients that then gives you referrals to friends, neighbors, co-workers, and relatives that they know and trust.
Always remember, marvelous performance is almost always intentional. Marvelous performance is almost never accidental. Have a marvelous day.
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Marvin is a left-handed, right-brained, intense, fun-loving, full blooded Cajun Man. He was an insurance agent for 18 years in St. Bernard Parish, a town of 70,000 people. All 27,000 homes were damaged in Hurricane Katrina. His life would never be the same and he's all the better for it. Marvin focuses NOT on Surviving the STORM, but learning how to DANCE in the rain. http://www.marvinleblanc.com
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