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Word of Mouth Marketing Works 2

Written by: John Finegan

Article Overview: ustomer Relationship Management (CRM) has beenaround long enough to have experienced cycles. With anearly emphasis on managing times and touches with customers,CRM later evolved into information technology (IT) term, or thecomputer mechanics that track those touches with customers.Some young executives even are unaware CRM is more thansoftware

Word of Mouth Marketing Works 2

Two companies focus on relationships to grow
sales, increase customer retention.
ustomer Relationship Management (CRM) has been
around long enough to have experienced cycles. With an
early emphasis on managing times and touches with customers,
CRM later evolved into information technology (IT) term, or the
computer mechanics that track those touches with customers.
Some young executives even are unaware CRM is more than
software.
Now, two innovative agrimarketing firms are putting the rela-
tionship back into CRM. Beck Ag Com, Inc., based in Wayne,
NE, is the leading U.S. provider of Word of Mouth marketing and
sales strategies in agriculture. AgCall, headquartered in Calgary,
Alberta, Canada, is the market frontrunner in designing and
implementing CRM solutions that include on-farm sales calls
with contract sales professionals, managing in-field research,
handling performance inquiries, telemarketing and other related
services – the focus is on providing a personalized brand experi-
ence.
At first glance, the two could be competitors. However, com-
pany leadership realized commonalities and envisioned how each
complements services the other offers. That vision is now reality
as a strategic alliance between Beck Ag and AgCall, created to
provide unique, complete marketing and sales solutions for
clients and their customers.

"This partnership between AgCall and Beck Ag provides mar-
keters with one source for fully integrated WOM marketing and
sales strategies designed to accelerate adoption of products
and/or service offerings," Gordon Butcher, president of AgCall,
says. "The two sales and marketing consulting organizations now
can provide marketers with even stronger sales and marketing
solutions."
"It's rather revolutionary," John Finegan, CEO of Beck Ag,
says. "We saw we had clients in common and opportunities to
complete the circle. Clients tell us it takes five to seven calls to
close a sale. We know this can be condensed into one to two calls
when you engage peers in a Beck Ag forum and have a follow-
up sales call from a client's sales representative or from Ag Call's
sales professionals.
This alliance comes as WOM marketing is becoming a larger
part of the overall marketing and sales strategy inside and outside
of the boundaries of agriculture.
"Marketing in general has been moving to a more personal-
ized approach since the advent of customer relationship manage-
ment," Finegan says. "And, more agrimarketers are becoming
aware of WOM marketing. Effective WOM marketing and sales
strategies strengthen a company's relationships with its customers
and develops the loyalty marketers desire. That's what creates
long-term profitable business relationships."

HOW'D THEY DO THAT?
AgCall and Beck Ag have built their businesses on knowing
and engaging customers and their experiences. These two com-
panies seem to acquire in-depth customer connection effortlessly.
How do they do it?
WOM marketing is defined as, "communication about prod-
ucts and services between people who are perceived to be inde-
pendent of the company providing products or services in a medi-
um perceived to be independent of the company." The Word of
Mouth Marketing Association (WOMMA) presents a simpler
definition: "the act of consumers providing information to other
consumers."

Beck Ag and AgCall create the strategies that make these def-
initions come alive. Using patented AgTelePanels, AgTelecoms
®
and other tactics, all designed in unique, voice to voice forums
Beck Ag creates an environment where shared experiences help
prospective customers verify the value of the product or service
discussed. The dialogue, professionally moderated and some-
times featuring experts, accelerates the decision-making process
to buy, resulting in faster and larger purchases. Focusing on
building customized solutions, AgCall develops one-on-one, peer
sales, marketing and service strategies typically resulting in an
ROI of 3-10X. Butcher says many AgCall specialists are produc-
ers themselves.
"This heightens credibility of our representatives and lowers
prospects' resistance because they're dealing with peers," Butcher
says. "When you multiply this with the power of Beck Ag's peer-
to-peer or WOM strategy, successes for our clients greatly multi-
ply.
"We're bombarded with upwards of 5,000 promotional mes-
sages a day," Butcher adds. "It's critical to have prospective cus-
tomers ready to receive – and act – upon a marketer's call to
action. We help make that happen."

COMMUNICATION COMPLEMENTS
SALES SOLUTIONS
Finegan and Butcher quickly point out the solutions they pro-
vide strongly complement marketing communications plans.
"Agricultural marketers are stellar at awareness building,"
Finegan adds. "Especially with new products the need to verify is
greater. Our strategies help prospects to verify their purchase
decisions.
"In order for a WOM strategy to work, we must have the
awareness and familiarity that marketing communications gener-
ates," Finegan says. "We all go through an awareness and verifi-
cation phase before we buy anything, especially higher ticket
items. Beck Ag and AgCall's approaches provide the needed
forum for validation and verification, which results in accelera-
tion of the decision making process and ultimately adoption.
"Forward-thinking agencies realize the need to engage
experts," he says. "Their core competency is building and main-
taining awareness, while ours is driving the adoption process and
carrying those strategies through retention."
Ross Harvey, director, strategic services, of AdFarm in
Calgary, Alberta, says the results generated by strategies Beck
Ag and AgCall implement reach far beyond a single event.
"We've implemented a variety of approaches, from grower
roundtables to AgTelePanels," he says. "We like word-of-mouth,
or peer-to-peer marketing because it diversifies how we deliver
our messages. It's measurable. It creates spinoff opportunities in
channel communications, direct mail, and point of sale, as well as
others. More importantly, WOM marketing fills a tactical void. It
complements, rather than replaces advertising and sales.
"Our clients appreciate the ability of WOM marketing to tar-
get. By sharing experiences between users and non-users or, even
users and users, a huge amount of credibility is added to the mes-
sage," he says.
It also builds awareness and sales. Research conducted by
Beck Ag shows participants in WOM programs consistently rec-
ognize marketing communications materials such as ads and
brochures at a higher rate than prospects and customers who are
not a part of a WOM program.
More importantly, sales continue to increase after a WOM
marketing event. Purdue University research shows increased
sales of $26.70 for every $1.00 invested over a three-year period.
(See sidebar about Purdue study)

WOM FITS VARIOUS STAGES OF THE
PRODUCT LIFE CYCLE
WOM marketing strategies can apply during any stage of a
marketing cycle:
a) Launch phase – when there is a need to build a low advo-
cacy base
b) Growth phase – when the advocacy base is stable, yet
sales increases are needed
c) Maintenance phase – when the product/service is prof-
itable, but there is a need to stave off competitors
d) Repositioning – when an older product needs to be
revived or a new use for an existing product is to be intro-
duced)
e) Issues management/crisis management – when there is
an opportunity to educate customers with facts about
issues such as labeling, environmental awareness or when
media attention that has been raised
f) Product Performance management – typically crop
protection and seed offerings generate some performance
related inquiries from customers. AgCall and Beck Ag
have combined to offer a turn-key solution for their clients
to manage these potentially negative situations and turn
them into sales opportunities that can retain and even
grow customer business. Their approach integrates on
farm visits with opportunities to learn from experienced
product advocates.
Whatever the stage of the product life cycle, Butcher says
fully understanding the situation at hand is paramount to creating
strong WOM marketing and sales call strategies.
"The real strength of our partnership lies in the fact that both
companies first work to realize client needs and challenges, then
we custom build a solution," he says. "This can be from pre-
launch stage through advocacy building and to retention. The
strength of this approach allows clients to have the tools needed
to acquire customers and retain them for a long time."
Finegan concurs. "We provide a hybrid of marketing and
sales. We can come in toward the end of the marketing phase
(awareness building) and right at the beginning of a sales strate-
gy," he says. "If a customer/prospect participates in one of our
forums and receives a follow-up call from the client's sales force
or an AgCall sales professional, there's a much higher probabili-
ty the sale will close at that time. It is an effective way to drive
adoption."
Specific approaches range from the peer-to-peer AgCall on-
farm sales and service calls, to Beck Ag's AgTelecom small
group peer influence selling forums, to large group programs fea-
turing a keynote speaker or expert panel, to TeleSpecialists and
TeleExperts with extensive backgrounds who engage prospects
in one-on-one consultative discussions.
Finegan and Butcher emphasize no program is ever duplicat-
ed as each client's situation is different. Beck Ag and AgCall con-
sultants and program facilitators specialize in specific markets, as
well as industry segments, such as crop protection/seed, animal
health, pest control, equipment, etc.
In addition to innovation in marketing strategy and sales tac-
tics for their clients, WOM affords new opportunities to BAC and
AgCall.
Butcher concludes, "Because we are willing to further explore
the market and are truly dedicated to helping customers succeed,
and succeed via word of mouth, our partnership will allow our
customers to realize the power of word of mouth through the syn-
ergy we jointly offer."
BECK AG COM, INC.
Beck Ag Com develops customized marketing and sales solu-
tions designed to accelerate prospect decision making and
increase client revenues through the use of word of mouth strate-
gies. These include peer influence selling, advocacy building,
and education through facilitated experiential dialogue.

Related Articles
  Talking Behind Your Back is Good
  The Power of Word of Mouth
  They're Talking About Your Competition
  Word-of-Mouth: The World's Best-Known Marketing Secret
  Viral Marketing vs PR

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Measuring Word of mouth - [quote="jvprosperity":2l2ujat4]I couldn't find the Part 1 Doctrine on the site but I believe from reading the blog posts it had to do with the distractions entrepreneurs and their customers face daily. He may have also talked about Word of Mouth and the true way of measuring it.[/quote:2l2ujat4] Hi Andy, So how can one measure "Word of Mouth" marketing then?
Re: What's Up With Word Clouds? - I would like to see Word Clouds used in conjunction with a Survey. I've been experimenting with Word Clouds within Google Docs forms using the advanced Word Cloud Widget.
Word of Mouth - Word of Mouth marketing by its very nature takes time. You need to develop relationships before people will refer you. Why not boost it a little by making a few partnerships? You could partner with a gym or put on seminars. Think who else targets the same people and how you can work with them and help them. You can also write articles and become and expert in your field - put them online, write a column for a community paper on health, etc. Even a door to door flyer drop with a simple one pager can help drive some clients. Good luck!
Re: What is your Business? - We are running a Online Marketing Firm and we have some good clients to which we are offering a complete Digital Marketing strategy like Search, Mobile Marketing, Branding and Design. I think in Online Marketing company online presence can be a wining factor for the success of the company.
Re: Let’s talk about the ways of marketing your products, servic - I agree with some of the others who responded it depends on what your selling... but to answer your questions here are some of the methods I use. Forum Marketing Yahoo Answers (I need to use more of) SEO (Search Engine Optimization) Bum Marketing or Article marketing P-P-C (Pay Per Click) Marketing Online Directories Hope this helps.


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