Word of mouth (WOM) is a powerful thing there is no doubt about it.

BUT is it enough to keep your business going strong well into the future?

Sure your business reputation goes a long way, but the notion that you can simply sit back and wait for the customers to come rolling through the doors is wishful at best.

When our Pocket Books sales staff hear the words ‘we don’t need advertising – just word of mouth’ they feel a sense of dismay.  

It often turns out that these are the businesses that we contact the following year to see how they’re going and it turns out they’re not going at all.   In fact quite often they are out of business.

So here are some reasons why you shouldn’t just rely on WOM as your only strategy to maintaining a profitable business.

1) WOM is Slow

The method of advertising by word of mouth is often slow to spread. It takes time for you to build a rapport with customers who will then recommend you to their contacts.

B2B research from last year found that the average length of lead-to-revenue cycles had increased by 32% with many professionals looking at an average sales cycle time of more than 100 days, and total lead-to-revenue time exceeding 500 days.

2) Your connections must be making connections

Without this your business will lack any growth.

3) Unhappy customers tend to talk more than happy customers

In a survey by Marketing research organization, Colloquy,  75% of participants said they would share a negative experience with friends and family members, but only 42% said they would recommend a product or service they particularly like.

4) Tracking Issue

It is almost impossible to thoroughly track the amount of business generated by word of mouth marketing. While you can ask incoming customers if they have been referred and, in general, how they heard about your company, this gives you only information about people who responded positively and the information is generally scant.

So, is WOM enough promotion of your business?  The answer is a loud and unequivocal no.

Any word of mouth for your business will work better if you include your name in the tens of thousands of Pocket Books that are distributed throughout your region each year and on our fully searchable online directory.

Make sure you’re in the next edition of your local Pocket Book – Print & Online.