by Ken Ellsworth
Generating word of mouth and referrals are two completely different marketing strategies. Where agents get confused is when they blend them together in their minds and start applying the same tactics to both.
Is there a difference between word of mouth and referrals? Do you consider word of mouth to be the same as referrals?
Word of mouth is when people are talking about you. It can be positive or it can be negative.
Good word of mouth is when someone mentions to a friend, relative or associate what a good job you did finding them the perfect house. Or when they take your newsletter in to work and share it with everyone and talk about how great the information and articles are.
Negative word of mouth on the other hand is just that….negative and bad for your business. We see examples of negative word of mouth on the television every night; when the massage therapist is arrested for sexually abusing clients that is word of mouth, especially when people talk about it the next day at work. That is probably word of mouth that that massage therapist would rather not have. An example more close to home is when people discuss how poorly their transaction was handled by their real estate agent or how the agent did not listen to them and they finally fired the agent and found the house on the internet by themselves.
Word of mouth is simply people talking.
Referrals are when someone specifically tells someone else that they should give you a call or that they should use you as their real estate agent.
Knowing the difference between word of mouth and referrals is important to your marketing. Knowing how to specifically promote both in a positive manner is critical to your business.
As consumers, we are bombarded with advertising everyday. We are inundated with so much information that we start to automatically tune it out. That is why word of mouth and referrals are the most effective forms of marketing. People trust other people’s recommendations. They will believe it if someone else is talking about you.
Generating word of mouth and referrals are two completely different marketing strategies. Where agents get confused is when they blend them together in their minds and start applying the same tactics to both.
Often when teaching I ask agents how do you get someone to refer you to their friend and family? They respond by using words such as like, liking, trust, etc. All of those are good words, but they aren’t what motivates someone to refer to you.
The major reason someone will refer to you is because they consider you an expert. They will refer to you if you are an expert because it will make others feel good about them.
Understanding the psychology of referrals is important if you want to generate more referrals.
Getting more referrals is all about your strategy. It is about positioning yourself, what you say and how you say it. It is about getting people to think of you as highly competent and the expert.
Word of mouth is more about interest. It is more about being unique and unusual in a positive manner.
For example, if I am driving home from work and I see a green polka dotted cow by the side of the road I would notice it. I would probably talk about seeing a green polka dotted cow to all my friends. Why? Because green spotted cows are unique and unusual. Now if I were to see a brown cow I doubt it would even register and I know it would not be a topic of conversation when I get home.
There are dozens of ways to generate word of mouth. They all involve something of interest, something unique or unusual. In another article we will talk about some ways you can demonstrate this to your clients.
For example if I drove all of my clients around in the Oscar Meyer wienermobile I would probably generate word of mouth. But I might not generate any referrals. I doubt people would say to their friends “ohh you just have to give ______ a call to list your house, they drive you around to look at houses in the weinermobile”
However, there is one way that you can use the same tactic for both strategies. The best way I know of to consistently generate word of mouth and referrals is a really good newsletter. And I am not talking about the newsletters that most of you are currently using.
Most newsletters are, well to put it gently… garbage. They aren’t worth the money you spend to send them out. They don’t get people talking. Most people don’t even read them let alone take them to work and share them with their friends.
In order for a newsletter to accomplish what you want it accomplish, people have find it fascinating, interesting and full information that is important to them and not what you the agent feels is important to you. An article on “ten ways to tidy your desk” is not something I can’t wait to share with others.
In order for it to generate word of mouth it must contain “green polka dotted cows”. Articles so interesting and unusual that people can’t wait to get to work to talk to others about them.
In order to generate referrals it must subtly position you in a way that causes people to think, “I’d be an idiot to use anyone else as my real estate agent”. It must generate the statement “you have to use this agent because _______”. There are many psychological ways to generate this thought.
Can you even fill in that statement “you have to use your name because …”. And no it should not be filled in with because they did a good job, or because I liked them, etc. Those statements don’t make you any different than a thousand other agents and aren’t a real reason someone will call you after being referred to you.
- Is your marketing full of “green polka dotted cows”?
- How are you getting people to talk about you right now?
- How are you proving you are an expert?
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