Mr. Bob asked her what she had done in the past. She replied that she had spent $2,000 on advertising. Mr. Bob asked, “ Did it work?” A blank look came over her face. “What do you mean by did it work? When you buy advertising there are no guarantees. You place an ad and hope that it works. It is just part of doing business.”

“Well, lets try and work out what results you got from the advertising. Let’s determine how you measure what you do.” She said, “I earn $45 a month from each client per month. I have 39 of these clients.” Mr. Bob now asks, “Out of those 39 clients, how many became clients as a result of your $2,000 of advertising?” “Oh, that’s easy, one client.”

Mr. Bob then asked, “Do you think that advertising is a good way to build your business?”  She replied, “It does not, but it is just part of doing business.” Mr. Bob asks, “Who says so?”

Mr. Bob offers a thought. “Where did the other 38 clients come from?”

She said, friends, family, word of mouth and referrals!”  “So you did not have to spend any money on advertising to get these clients?” “No”, she replied.

So Mr. Bob says, “Let’s look at how to best build your business. Is your greatest success in gaining new customers by word of mouth referrals?” “YES “

“Then what do you think would happen if you developed an incentive program for your clients?” “What do you mean?” “Well, when one of your customers gives you a referral, you say “thank you” and you then give the customer a gift like flowers, a dinner out, a free cleaning. Up to the value of $45 or if it was a larger contract, a larger gift. What do you think would be the result of that type of advertising?

Word of Mouth Marketing Ideas gets you re$ult$