Tweet

Talking Behind Your Back is Good

Written by: Stuart Ayling

Article Overview: Most of us grew up with the concept of “Don’t talk behind someone else’s back”. A similar philosophy is “If you’ve got something to say, say it to their face”.

Talking Behind Your Back is Good

Most of us grew up with the concept of “Don’t talk behind someone else’s back”. A similar philosophy is “If you’ve got something to say, say it to their face”.

But this is not how the world works.

Especially when it comes to your clients and prospects.

In most cases you will be the last point of contact. Before they speak with you, your prospect will have asked their friends, colleagues, neighbours and advisors. And they will have reviewed your web site – all before they pluck up the courage to speak with you directly.

You see, people are generally scared of making decisions. And the bigger the decision, the more scared people get.

So they search for answers. For reassurance. For understanding. And for the confidence that they will make the best decision.

That is where word-of-mouth comes into play. Word-of-mouth is simply the act of one person speaking to another. It is natural – and unavoidable.

Some people say you can control word-of-mouth. As a marketing consultant I say that at best, you can try to influence it. Controlling word-of-mouth is a tall order for anyone. But you can be successful in guiding the development of word-of-mouth.

You can do this by:
Having a system to satisfy clients. Do a fantastic job.
Letting clients know you really care about the outcomes you provide. Be interested in their results.
Stay in touch with clients via reminders, newsletters, or personal contact.
Impress them so much that they will want to tell their friends and colleagues.
Tell them who would make ideal new clients for you.
Prepare your clients on what to say when they talk about you and your services.
And they will remember you when someone asks them for their opinion.

You can also attempt to activate referrals (referrals = word-of-mouth that results in someone contacting you) by using incentives of one sort or another. This needs to be done in a careful manner. You don’t want to pressure your clients, or offer what might be seen as inappropriate rewards. You don’t want to seem desperate either.

Importantly, don’t make the mistake of relying only on referrals for the development of your business. We all want business to roll in on it’s own. But we also know we need to guide the acquisition of new clients. We need to choose carefully. We need to develop new markets. Relying on word-of-mouth doesn’t always give us this power over our future.

When it comes to getting more clients – you really do want people to talk about you behind your back.

Related Articles
  What Buyers Hate About Sellers
  Refuse to participate in a Recession!
  The Story of the Talking Head
  Losing Sales - A Ridiculous Sales Habit You Need To Ditch
  Sales Training London: Playing the WAITing Game

Article Tags:



Related Forum Posts
Book: Talking From 9 to 5 - Book: Talking From 9 to 5: How women's and men's conersational styles affect who gets heard, who gets credit, and what gets done at work Deborah Tannen, PhD 1994 You say something at a meeeting, it is ignored, then someone else says the same thing and everyone embraces it as a marvelous idea. You devote yourself to a project but don't get credit for the results. You work around the clock to avoid a crisis, but your efforts are not recognized because no one notices a crisis that never occurs. YOu give what you think are clear instructions, but the job is not done, or is done wrong. ... Work is a special world because as we talk to get our jobs done, we are also being evaluated. How we get others to do what we want, and how we accept or avoid responsibility for mistakes, display or challenge authority, reveal or conceal what we don't know -- all affect how we are regarded and rewarded. TOC 1. Women and Men Talking on the Job 2. "I'm sorry, I'm not apologizing": Conversational rituals 3. "Why don't you say what you mean?" Indirectness at work 4. Marked: Women in the workplace 5. The glass ceiling 6. "She's the boss": Women and authority 7. Talking up close: Status and connection 8. What's sex got to do with it 9. Who gets heard? Talking at meetings References Index
Re: I'm Back - Welcome Back! Hope you are doing great and looking forward to hearing from you.. Jude
Social Media Marketing Category... - I agree that a social media marketing category would be useful and added my vote. I would include "bookmarking" sites in the mix as well. Such a category would be useful for several reasons: 1. Talking about SMM, its purpose and networking strategies and tips. 2. Discussion of the various SMM sites. 3. New about new sites and developments. 4. Helping to build each others SMM networks.
Re: $8 website turns into a million-dollar empire - This is great inspiration for all of us. I would love for Ashley to come to the forum as well. Maybe give us the scoop on why she started and how she made it successful. Back to StumbleUpon. I also use it and find that I'm getting a decent amount of traffic from it. Alan
Show the Benefits - Offer a free test drive of the Product or Service with a Money Back Guarantee - Take the Risk out. This will help them make the decision but you have to work with them to realize it by explicitly state the benefits they are receiving.


Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.

Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.

Tweet

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

The Importance of Master Data Management (MDM)

10 Things To Improve Decision Making

In the Year 2020 . . . Process

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.