Marketer’s Best Friend

Everyone who knows me well knows I am the ultimate dog-lover. My dogs are completely spoiled in a “Best in Show” kind of way (if you’ve ever seen the movie, you know what I mean…). To me, they are so much more than man’s best friend – they’re pretty much the closest I’ll come to having kids for quite some time. So last week, when my little one Charlie had to go in for dental surgery to have 15 teeth pulled, I was a nervous wreck. Thankfully, I have a wonderful veterinarian who understands the connection I have with my dogs, and truly goes above and beyond to make her patients (both two and four legged…) feel comfortable and confident in the services she provides. Charlie’s surgery was more complicated than we anticipated, so the doctor said she’d like to see him the following morning (a Saturday). We came to find out that Saturday was her day off and she came into the office just to check on our little pooch. She gave us her personal cell phone number to use, in case Charlie had any issues or if we had questions, and even followed up with us on Sunday to see how he was doing. My husband and I were extremely impressed with our vet and her willingness to go the extra mile, even taking time out of her personal life (a treasured concept as most of us know…) to ensure the health and well-being of our dog.

After this experience, the first thing I wanted to do was tell everyone I knew how great our vet is and share with them this story of exceptional customer service. To that end, I even went on Google maps, Yelp and all the other consumer rating sites to write a glowing 5-star review of our vet (completely out of character for me). I told all my animal-loving friends and family that if they needed a vet, I had the place for them! Albeit toothless, Charlie is doing great now, and the whole experience got me thinking about the value and effectiveness of word-of-mouth-marketing.

Word-of-mouth can be a marketer’s best friend. When people experience something they feel has exceeded their expectations, most times they’ll want to let everyone else in on the goods. Heck, I’ve never once written an online review about anything – but my experience led me right to every online tool out there to spread the word about my spectacular vet. I’ve also referred multiple people to my vet, who have all been equally as pleased.

Some of the most successful, well-known businesses in the world earned their fame as a result of word-of-mouth marketing. Craigslist is now a household name in 570 U.S. cities and 50 countries, but just years ago it was simply some dude named Craig’s e-mail distribution list of friends to promote local events. These days, Craigslist averages 20 billion page views per month.

While word-of-mouth has long-since been a PR and marketing tool, many businesses are now seeing its value, given the sluggish condition of the economy and the proliferation of Internet-based communication opportunities. W-O-M is one of the most trusted and effective forms of marketing – all at little to no cost to your organization. So how can your business reap the benefits of W-O-M marketing? Simply providing extra-ordinary customer service and recognizing that your current customers are your No. 1 spokespeople is the best place to start. And, unless you’re my vet, that shouldn’t require much teeth pulling. 

P.S. – if you need a great vet, see Dr. Berglund at Friendship Hospital for Animals in Fort Collins…

Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 09/14 at 08:07 AM

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