Word of Mouth or Referral Marketing?
“Passaparola” in Italian, “Referral Marketing” in English: two words for the same issue.
It’s an excellence marketing tool, the world’s most ancient advertisement strategy and one of the most powerful (probably the most powerful). Even multinational companies have adopted this marketing strategy over the last years. When ideas or company identity lack, satisfied customers share their positive experience with friends and relatives: they will buy the product/service they were talked about thus enlarging the potential customers circle.
It’s a guarantee, we play safe….everybody is enthusiastic about it and so…let’s try it!
I remember my father, who was gifted with the word-of-mouth art. He was spontaneous, he wanted to do something good for everybody: “Do you need something? I know who can help you”. He would suggest the best restaurants, the best car and motorcycle sellers (his passion), the best places to enjoy an happy hour with friends; my father would even try to find a job to those who would ask for it… he was the one who helped me find my first job!! Daddy Alberto, my Number 1. I was proud to have him as my “personal counsellor”, he would do it heartily, for no agenda, nobody taught him, that was just his talent.
My father is the example of a spontaneous strategy, with no agenda, a classic feature of any word of mouth: the occasion. I would imitate him, but as I grew up I felt I needed it to be a real tool for my job, especially when I turned from manager into businessman. The commercial staff would not find any more customers for me, it was up to me now!! It wasn’t the number of contacts that would make a difference for my personal growth and that of my companies, and I realized that immediately: it was all about their quality. I had to weave a contact network based on quality, focused on clear targets, to be pursued and shared.
History shed a light on many networking tools used by professionals and companies, some of them being very refined. The world started using them and the classic question “How can I help you?” is now the connection between supply and demand. Word of mouth is the strategy of real professional businessmen who, far from being only beginners, give shape to a structure that generates a real turnover.
My role as Executive Director of BNI gives me the chance to work with the world’s biggest and most successful organization for Referral Marketing (no other organization compares to it). Besides, I also collaborate with Asentiv as Trainer and Coach to offer professionals and businessmen a proven system for Referral Marketing, to make it really strategic and structured. To recap, if you want to reach excellence and stand out as a Referral Marketing expert, success highways are open, just jump on the car and drive at full speed!!
ANdrea
