Hows is your ‘Word of Mouth Marketing’ …?

Word of mouth marketing is an easy-as-pie strategy to bring in business and is sadly underutilized by many security installers.  Think of the many places you have gone and the items you have purchased based on a friend’s/relative’s/colleague’s suggestion. A recent survey of US executives in Forbes Magazine cited that improving word of mouth marketing strategies is a top priority on their companies’ marketing agendas in 2009.  Notice the functioning word in the above sentence is STRATEGIES.  Word of Mouth is not a one time effort.  It’s an all-encompassing, ongoing set of strategies that make word of mouth a highly effective and virtually free component of your overall security marketing plan.

The key to any word of mouth program is frequency.  You need to develop a routine or program that makes word of mouth security marketing a part of your everyday business life.  Make it visible and, participatory to everyone involved….this includes your technicians, too. Following are a few ideas you can incorporate into your word of mouth marketing strategies.

1) A Monthly Security Newsletter—now I know this sounds like I’m soft-selling you my Service That Soars Newsletter (and I am), but I can’t stress enough how effective- and easy to implement because I’ve done it all for you! – a  monthly newsletter is.  It is the single most powerful tool you can use to prospect, stay in touch and promote word of mouth marketing on the planet.

2) A Referral Program.  Having a referral program in place that offers your customers $50 in cash  or a $50 donation in their name to a charity of their choice (shows you got a heart) for every referral that turns into a sale.  I have made tens of thousands of buckaroos doing this.  I also send out a hand-written thank you card to my customer, with a surprise gift (Hint doesn’t cost a lot) inside, once the referral is made.  The note also lets my customer know that I will send along the $50 once the sale has been made.

3) Technicians:  All your techs should be treated as mini-sales reps and provided with the proper marketing material for the job.  My vans are not only stocked with tools, but my marketing stuff as well.  One popular marketing item I designed is  a door knob hanger that the techs hang on doors around a job site.  It has a blank space that the techs fill in with the company name where they are presently doing a job. The hanger basically says that if XYZ company in your neighborhood trust us with their security needs, then you should give us a shot too!  There is also a 10% discount with a 3 week expiration date stamped on it. The techs love to hang these babies because they get $50 cash money for every call that comes in from their efforts. A few advantageous technicians of mine even hang them on the weekends!

4) Business Card:  My 8 panel business card does my selling for me.  All my security maverick coaching members and Smokin’ Newsletter subscribers have a copy of this baby. You ain’t never seen a biz card that positions you at the top of the heap like this one! But if you’re not a member in one of my programs yet, the next best thing  I can tell you is to create something for the backside of your card. I use all the real estate I can—blank space can’t sell for you. Comprende, Amigo!