Word of Mouth Can Work Against You
Summary
- People often understand the importance of positive word of mouth, but negative referrals are much more common.
- Negative feedback can stop potential customers from buying your product based on what they hear from others or find online.
- This can lead to a decrease in your conversion rate over time.
- You might think your ads aren't working, but it could actually be that your product isn't good.
- If the cost to acquire a customer rises faster than the average cost per impression (CPM) in your market, it's a sign that negative word of mouth is hurting your business.
- Focus on improving your product to avoid negative word of mouth and lower customer acquisition costs.
Video
How To Take Action
I suggest implementing a few key strategies to turn things around for your small business or personal growth efforts:
Solicit Feedback Early and Often: Reach out to current customers and ask for honest feedback. This can be done through email surveys or even quick phone calls. The goal is to understand what’s working and what’s not. Low-cost and high-value for sure.
Act on Negative Feedback: Once you gather feedback, take immediate steps to fix recurring issues. For example, if people are saying your product is hard to use, invest time into simplifying it. Improvements here can go a long way in reducing negative word of mouth.
Create a Positive Experience: Make sure your customers have a great experience from start to finish. It can be as simple as ensuring your product works well, your customer service is friendly, and your communications are clear. These things all add up to a better overall experience.
Monitor Online Presence: Regularly check what people are saying about your business online. Sites like Yelp, Google Reviews, and social media can be valuable. Respond quickly to any negative reviews with solutions and thank customers for positive ones.
Quality Control: Before launching any new product or service, do thorough testing to make it as good as possible. A top-notch product or service doesn't just prevent negative word of mouth—it generates positive word of mouth.
Customer Support: Ensure you have a solid customer support system. People will talk about their experience with customer service, whether good or bad. If you resolve issues quickly and effectively, more people will talk positively about your business.
By following these strategies, you can improve your product, reduce negative feedback, and lower customer acquisition costs. This will help your business grow and succeed over time.
Full Transcript
everyone understands positive word of mouth did you know that you have far more negative referrals you have way more detractors you have way more people that when they see an ad of your business what do they do they reach out to other people to ask about you and then people who would have purchased choose not to based on information they get online or asking someone they know and so your conversion rate decreases over time you complain that ads aren't working when in reality all of this is the Invisible Hand of your product sucking if you on advertisements and your cost to acquire a customer increases at a faster rate than the average cost of cpms the cost per impression in your market then it means you have Word of Mouth working against you