Buzz Builder

Video of "Galvanizing Your Business with Word of Mouth Marketing" Keynote Presentation at the Hillsboro (OR) Chamber of Commerce

Last week, I was invited to give a keynote presentation on "Galvanizing Your Business with Word of Mouth Marketing" at the Hillsboro (OR) Chamber of Commerce's monthly Forum Luncheon. I enjoyed the enthusiasm and energy of the audience of business leaders looking for creative ways to build buzz for their companies.

I hope this video provides you with ideas for growing your business. Please keep in mind that audio quality improves after I'm introduced since the microphone is on my lapel. Also, I suggest that you learn from a mistake that I made. If you're ever filmed as speaker, don't forget to take off your nametag.

If you know a company, chamber of commerce, or association looking to educate people about word of mouth marketing, please consider referring me as a speaker.

Special thanks to Karyn Reohr of Black Label Films for shooting this video in challenging lighting conditions and editing it.

Walt Disney World Resort Builds Relationships with a Mickey Mouse Doll and Personal Note

This week I received a phone call from my friend Holly Duckworth, who is a speaker, trainer, and consultant specializing in the development of executive volunteers. Holly was calling me as she exited a UPS office and I could hear the excitement in voice.

"You'll never guess what I received," she said. Holly had just opened a package with a stuffed Mickey Mouse doll and handwritten note from Josh Gold, a senior sales manager at Walt Disney World Resort, congratulating her for passing her Certified Association Executive (CAE) exam.

Holly told me that she didn't know Josh but his gift made a very nice impression. She had studied for months to earn her CAE designation, and it felt good to receive recognition from a total stranger. She said that his gift was particularly brilliant because she imagined that he had sent similar items to others who had earned the CAE, a select group of 83 people. And, since many CAE holders are association executives, recognition from Walt Disney Resort is a fabulous way to create a positive memory that might play a role in encouraging a future event booking. 

Have you found a way to wow the people whose business you would like to win in such a personal way that they pick up the phone and say to a friend "you'll never guess what I just got"? Figure out how to do this and you'll be well on your way to creating incredible word of mouth.

Create a Community not a Commodity to Grow Your Business

Note: the below post originally appeared as an article in my free Buzz Bulletin eNewsletter. To receive future issues delivered to your inbox, please sign up here.

Websites selling discount coupons for goods and services like Groupon have generated a lot of buzz. But, are online coupons the ticket to success or are there better ways for businesses to generate repeat and referred customers?

In a July 2010 article, I expressed doubt about Groupon and online coupons. Based on what I’ve been reading and hearing from entrepreneurs who have sold discounted products and services through Groupon, my initial concerns were justified.

In a recent interview on The Charlie Rose Show, Groupon’s CEO Andrew Mason said, “We are going to be the savior for small business.” In that interview, Mason stated that Groupon was “able to give one business half the number of customers in one day that the business had previously had in the previous 25 years combined.”

Yet, Groupon customers come at high price. Groupon typically offers coupons that cost half the value of the good or service being provided. And, the product or service provider splits this reduced amount with Groupon on a 50%-50% basis.

For many businesses, this means that an item purchased with a Groupon coupon generates less revenue than it costs to produce the good or service. On 1/7/11, The Wall Street Journal ran a story about U.S. Toy, a retailer with eight toy stores across the country, which offered $20 worth of merchandise for a $10 Groupon certificate.

Jonathan Freiden, co-CEO and president of U.S. Toy, experienced two problems. First, U.S. Toy had hoped Groupon purchasers would buy an extra item once they walked into the store. But most bought only the minimum $20 worth of merchandise to redeem the offer. Taking into account Groupon’s cut, U.S. Toy generated only $5 for every $20 in merchandise sold causing it to lose money on about three-quarters of its Groupon-related sales. Second, Freiden said about 90% of Groupon purchasers were already existing customers of his store.

OCSC Sailing, the country’s largest single-location sailing school and one of our clients, had a similarly underwhelming experience with online coupon providers. Anthony Sandberg, founder and president of OCSC Sailing, said “Nearly everybody who purchased an online coupon was looking for a deal. Once they used their coupons for an introductory sail, we never saw them again. They were off to try the next discounted adventure.”

Anthony believes that online coupon companies commoditize products and services. He feels that businesses would be better served by growing a community of loyal customers. In Anthony’s 31 years of business, these are some tactics that have worked well for OCSC Sailing that other businesses can adapt:

 1. Make customers feel special

Anthony or his business partner and OCSC Sailing CEO Rich Jepsen make a point of personally welcoming all new students. “People are excited to talk with the owner of the business – especially when they are first-time customers.” Of course, this makes perfect sense. But, I cannot recall the last time that an owner of a business I frequented went out of his way to make me feel special. What steps do you take to make new customers feel connected to your company?

 2. Check-in on a regular basis to ensure satisfaction and increase referrals

During the time that a student is taking classes at OCSC Sailing, somebody other than the instructor will interview him or her to make sure that the educational experience is meeting his or her expectations. If the conversation uncovers that there is dissatisfaction, OCSC Sailing will try to correct it.

Upon class completion, a club manager shares with the student that the school doesn’t advertise and instead relies on positive word of mouth to grow. This has generated more qualified referrals than any online coupon or other marketing program. It also inspires positive comments on influential customer review website like Yelp where OCSC has 40 reviews and the highest rating of five stars. How do you ensure customer satisfaction and referrals from customers?

 3. The difference is the cherry on top

Anthony believes that little extras turn satisfied clients into a company’s best salespeople. What sets OCSC Sailing apart from its competitors is a strong sense of community. Anybody who has taken a class at OCSC is invited to participate in free events like lectures and BBQs. Or, they can participate in a “Sign-Up and Sail” program that pairs people looking for sailing companions. These offerings build community while providing students with something that other sailing schools don’t. What are the little extras you do for your customers that keep them coming back and referring their friends?

This year, I would like to create buzz for readers of this blogs as well as continue to share tips and techniques for boosting your business through word of mouth marketing. If you’ve got answers to the above questions or other creative marketing tips, please contact me and you might be the next company featured in this blog or The Buzz Bulletin eNewsletter.

Lessons from Magician Harry Houdini on Generating Buzz-Worthy Publicity Stunts

There was a great story on NPR's Weekend Edition yesterday about the life and times of renowned magician Harry Houdini. I liked reporter Robert Smith's focus on how Houdini was a master buzz builder. Some interesting lessons from Houdini on carrying out successful publicity stunts:

Go to where the media is. One of Houdini's favorite stunts was hanging himself upside down in a straitjacket from buildings — but not just any buildings. He chose buildings that housed major newspapers, hanging off The Houston Chronicle or The Boston Globe so photographers could just pop their heads out the windows to shoot him. He would not only make front-page headlines but he would sell out evening performances.

Look for cross-promotion opportunities. Houdini used other stunts like escaping from milk cans, mailbags or steamer trunks as an opportunity to build buzz. For instance, Houdini would have a beer manufacturer produce a beer barrel big enough to contain him. Then, he would be nailed into the beer barrel and submerged in water. Houdini's escape from a beer barrel contained great symbolism. Magician Teller, one half of the comic-magic duo Penn and Teller, said "When Houdini escaped from your boss' beer barrel, you were escaping from your everyday job."

Use evocative symbols. A new exhibit at the Jewish Museum in New York, called Houdini: Arts and Magic, looks at the visual legacy of Harry Houdini and how his fame managed to survive.The Houdini exhibit features posters from every stage of his career, each one more and more dramatic: Houdini surrounded by the forces of evil; Houdini being handcuffed by a menacing policeman; Houdini being choked by a robot; Houdini being held underwater by a giant, green monster.

Houdini was such a master of publicity that he still remembered today more than 80 years after his death.

(Photo Courtesy of The National Portrait Gallery/Smithsonian Institution)

The Power of Follow Up Seminar Provides the Keys to Referral Success

One of the biggest frustrations I hear from entrepreneurs is that they don't get enough referrals in spite of doing great work for their clients. This complaint always gets me to share a valuable piece of information that I learned at a Word of Mouth Marketing Association meeting a couple of years ago. According to a professor at Northeastern University (unfortunately, I can't remember his name), nearly 50% of all people need to be specifically asked for a referral in order to make one.The professor said that people are either so busy that they forget to make referrals or they have no idea that the person whose products or services they enjoy is looking for referrals. Thus, without a plan for getting referrals, it's likely you won't get nearly as many as you deserve.

If you're interested in a plan for developing referrals and long-term client relationships, I highly recommend The Power of Follow Up seminar coming to Portland October 15 from 1 to 4 PM. The presenter is Judy Garmaise aka "The Follow Up Expert" who has spoken for many Fortune 100 companies including New York Life, Merrill Lynch, Adecco, Ajilon and KForce. Judy has written for over 200 business journals on how a methodical follow up plan will guarantee both referrals and business success. I understand that the seminar is filling up fast so sign up as soon as possible at Insightful Women Speakers.

LinkedIn and Networking in the Digital Age

The article below is from the March 2010 edition of my Buzz Bulletin eNewsletter (free signup on my website):

“Networking is getting what you want by helping others get what they want.” - Zig Ziglar

I’m surprised to meet so many savvy business people who either aren’t on LinkedIn, the most popular networking website for professionals with more than 60 million active users, or fail to leverage its powerful features. When I ask people why, I hear things like “I just don’t see the value.” It’s an unfortunate point of view because LinkedIn provides tremendous advantages:

Staying Connected

LinkedIn is an ideal complement for real world networking activities. Before LinkedIn, I would meet interesting people and not have a simple way to keep in touch. Now, when I meet someone with a LinkedIn profile it’s simple to follow up with an email or personal card saying how much I enjoyed meeting them and how I hope to stay connected via LinkedIn. For former clients and people I see rarely yet with whom I want to maintain ties, I’ve discovered that LinkedIn is an easy way to share my activities and learn about what they’re doing since LinkedIn sends me regular updates of what’s going on with my network. Also, LinkedIn is the primary way I stay in touch with folks from my high school, college, graduate school and professional organizations. All have LinkedIn groups which I’ve joined and use to reconnect with old friends.

Building Relationships

It takes me less than a minute to write testimonials for people in my LinkedIn network. After I write a recommendation, the recipient gets to approve it before posting it to his or her profile page. Whenever I’ve recommended somebody via LinkedIn, I’ve always gotten an enthusiastic “thank you” in return. And, I’ve discovered that many people who have received recommendations from me will provide me with a testimonial even though I haven’t requested one.

Leveraging Relationships

My favorite LinkedIn feature is the “Network Statistics” section found in the pull-down menu below “Contacts” on the home page. Currently, I have 248 friends and colleagues in my LinkedIn network. Two degrees away (friends of friends and colleagues), I have approximately 62,000 contacts. Three degrees away (people I can reach through my contacts or one of their contacts), my network expands to about 4.5 million people. If I want to target a specific company, I type it into the search bar on the top of any page. This provides me with my personal list of first to third degree contacts who either work or worked for the targeted company. Now, instead of having to make a cold call, I can get a warm introduction into the company or I can use my network to gain insight into what’s going on behind the scenes.

Providing Insight

Now that my LinkedIn profile is 100% complete, it provides anybody interested in my services with the best insight into my background and qualifications. Furthermore, it contains material about me which can’t be found elsewhere like personal recommendations. Just recently, on my LinkedIn profile page, I posted a high-definition YouTube video demonstrating my expertise in a speech that I gave on “Marketing Without Advertising” (easy to do using the plug-in for Google Documents available on LinkedIn). My LinkedIn profile is so complete that I’ve posted a link to it in the signature section of my outbound email messages so people can learn more about me and my services.

If you’ve found an interesting way to use LinkedIn, please share it with others by posting a comment below. Good luck in all your networking activities and I hope to see you on LinkedIn or at a networking event soon!

Suffering Haitians Need Your Financial and Blogging Support in this Dire Time

The immense tragedy of the recent earthquake in Haiti generated hours of sad footage like the below coverage on the CBS Evening News. It was heartening to see the initial outpouring and sympathy from people around the world. However, since the media has an increasingly short attention span, it's likely that the story of Haiti's difficulties in providing sustained assistance to its suffering populace will receive very little mainstream media attention. If just one percent of the 135,000,000+ bloggers in the world, wrote a post encouraging people to donate to organizations supporting Haitians as they try to rebuild their lives, that would be 1,350,000 million influential voices of support.

I've chosen to give money to Mercy Corps, a secular non-profit international aid organization, because they have a proven track record for minimizing administrative costs while maximizing direct assistance to the needy in times of emergency. Doctors Without Borders, another well-run non-profit organization and Nobel Peace Prize recipient (1999), has teams on the grounds in Haiti that desperately need assistance to provide the long-term medical care that Haitians will require as they recover from the worst natural disaster to ever strike them.

Please do what you can to spread the buzz about donating money or blogging on behalf of the Haitians.

Business Networking Video Tips

In these tough economic times, many companies have slashed their marketing budgets. One of the best ways to increase visibility and sales for your company is through networking. Because networking is so effective and low-cost, I'm considering the possibility of doing a short series about networking. Below is the "pilot"  of this series. If you would like me to continue this series or have questions or ideas for upcoming episodes, please let me know.

How to Inspire Referrals and Business Growth with a Balloon, T-Shirt, and Thank You Card

Today, I heard Anthony Miller, a friend and colleague in the Oregon Chapter of the National Speakers Association give an outstanding presentation on how business can succeed in tough economic times. Anthony, who is the president of a sales training company called Stepping Stones Solutions, told an insightful story about how one of his friends is thriving in the mortgage business when many competitors are going bankrupt in today's difficult economic environment.

Anthony said his friend attributes his success to a laser focus on customer service and building a referral based business. For instance, when a customer completes the arduous mortgage approval process and receives a loan, Anthony's friend sends a box to the customer's office containing a big helium balloon that pops out when the it is opened. Inside the box is a handwritten thank you note, a t-shirt with the name of the mortgage company, and a few business cards. Invariably, people notice the balloon and have questions. Commonly, the story of the successful mortgage process is told which oftentimes leads the person hearing the story to ask for information about the mortgage broker and a business card is passed. The mortgage broker who spends about $15 for for the contents and delivery of each balloon package has gotten many great referrals and sales from this effort and considers it his most successful marketing tactic.

What do you do to wow satisfied customers once you've made the sale? How do you still instill excitement that gets people to refer their friends and colleagues? If you have limited marketing dollars, you have to make sure that you spend them wisely in a way that will be noticed. I would be curious to hear what you do.

Turning Unhappy Customers into Your Best Evangelists

“Men are rich only as they give. He who gives great service gets great rewards.”
Elbert Green Hubbard (1856 – 1915), American writer, publisher, artist, and philosopher

Ten years ago, while working in my family’s office furniture business, I learned that negative customer experiences are the best source of new business opportunities. Recently, I relearned that important paradoxical lesson.

The furniture industry is often frustrating for consumers and retailers. Customers wonder why it takes 12 weeks to have a new sofa manufactured and delivered when they can drive a new car off the lot immediately. When I explained how the two industries are different, my words did little to assuage customers tired of long waits.

I vividly recall one customer who received a desk, credenza, and file pedestal from our store about three months after ordering them. Unfortunately, when they arrived, the quality of veneer did not match what he saw in our show room. Furthermore, when the furniture was delivered, our drivers accidentally dinged some corners.

Irate, the customer called me and unloaded his frustrations in a three minute expletive-laced tirade. After hearing him out, I apologized and asked what we could do to make him feel better. He asked for new furniture and a reasonable discount amount which I agreed to provide. Furthermore, I told him that I would do everything possible to expedite his order.

Fortunately, his new office furniture arrived in perfect condition and we delivered it without incident. He came into the store to thank me personally for resolving the issue. On that same visit, he ordered an expensive desk chair. In the following months, he referred at least three people to our store who made big purchases. One of them told me, “John told me that you screwed up his order but worked with him to make things right. That’s why I’m here.” 

Our customer service manager told me that many of our most enthusiastic customers were the ones that experienced the biggest problems with their orders. When she bent over backwards to solve these issues, these customers, who were used to lackluster retail service at other stores, were ecstatic. Invariably, they would come back to our store and send in their friends.

My wife and I dropped off Bella, our company’s Director of Goodwill (DOG), at our local boutique pet hotel. Since she had enjoyed three previous stays there, we were confident that Bella was going to have fun. About an hour after leaving Bella and en route to a conference we would be attending for three days, we received a phone call from the pet hotel’s owner informing us that a puppy had accidently nipped our dog while playing. Her calm demeanor and proposed solution of taking Bella to our vet for stitches made us feel like the situation was under control.

Although we were worried, we were also grateful to be informed immediately about the situation. Over the next couple of days, we received updates on Bella’s situation and what was being done to ensure that she had optimal care. Furthermore, we were given the direct cell phone numbers for both of the pet hotel’s owners in case we had any questions or worries. When we returned, the owner greeted us with a profuse apology and waived the $100 cost of Bella’s stay - a nice gesture considering the vet’s bill was $350. (As a side note, Bella was her happy self the whole time. For her, it was an adventure!).

While we have no idea whether Bella’s bite might have been prevented, we know that she received great care and we felt like the pet hotel’s owners were truly concerned about how we and our dog felt. We’ll have no hesitation about having Bella stay at the pet hotel again and we’ll continue referring our friends.

While it’s true that excellent repeat business and referral opportunities come from customers who have had far from perfect experiences, it’s the savvy business owner who realizes this and works hard to turn unhappy customers into excellent company evangelists.