Talk is cheap
Few Colorado Springs residents had heard of Silpada jewelry four years ago when Sarah Sperber became an independent sales rep for the company.
“It didn’t have the name recognition of Mary Kay or The Pampered Chef,” she said.
So Sperber joined local networking groups and started talking up the line of handcrafted sterling-silver jewelry. And people started getting the word, she said.
Sperber has grown from a sole operator to having 125 representatives working for her.
“Word of mouth is about building relationships and trust. When someone speaks highly about your company and refers you, that speaks millions,” she said.
Word-of-mouth marketing — giving consumers a reason to exchange information about a company’s products or services with other consumers — is an old concept that’s being revived as a way to promote and get business.
Because consumers are bombarded with commercial messages every day on television, radio, in print and on the Internet, word-of-mouth marketing is becoming popular, said Paul Rand, president and chief executive officer of The Zocalo Group, a word-ofmouth and customer-evangelism agency in Chicago.
“What typically has been done in the market isn’t working anymore. The ability for the marketer to get his message through the mess is becoming more difficult, and there’s a lack of trust in com- panies’ paid messages,” said Rand, who handles communications for the Word of Mouth Marketing Association. The national group started three years ago and has 400 members, including Motorola and General Motors Corp.
Word-of-mouth marketing encompasses dozens of techniques, such as using high-profile entertainment or news to get people to talk about a brand, providing product samples to influential consumers and promoting a brand over Internet discussion forums.
While costing “a fraction” of traditional newspaper and television advertising, word-of-mouth marketing is harder, Rand said.
“You’re truly listening to consumers and engaging them, rather than counting on the one-way dialogue of an ad,” he said.
Another form of word-of-mouth marketing is networking — when a businessperson shares information about his or her product or service with other businesspeople.
“Women especially are natural networkers. If something works well and has helped them in some way, they share it with other women,” said Mary Pearsall, executive managing director of the local chapter of eWomenNetwork, a professional women’s networking group. “We consciously and intentionally look for ways to share information, leads, contacts and business.”
In Colorado Springs, several new networking groups have sprung up recently.
The Greater Colorado Springs Chamber of Commerce’s speed networking and eWomenNetwork’s accelerated networking events are designed to help business owners make contacts to get business. “We call it networking espresso-style,” said Jenifer Furda, the Chamber’s vice president of events.
At a recent eWomenNetwork luncheon, about 70 women — financial advisers, home party-product reps, personal shoppers, fitness trainers, Web designers and independent saleswomen — each introduced herself, her company, and her personal and business needs. Each woman has 60 seconds to give her pitch at a table of 10 before a bell rings and she moves to another table to repeat the process.
“The idea is to build relationships. That spreads referrals,” said Kimberly Templin, branch office administrator for Edward Jones.
“When people have a positive experience with you, they will pass your name on to someone else. It works very well — it’s much more effective than a cold call,” Templin said.
To successfully cultivate business through word of mouth, business owners have to be prepared to give, not just take, she added.
“It’s not about being hungry for that lead — people can sense that. You have to be a giver, be ready to help partner up other business owners,” Templin said.
At the Chamber’s quarterly networking session, participants get two minutes one-on-one with another participant before a bell rings, a whistle blows and they rotate chairs to meet the next person. Furda said each attendee can talk with 20 people in an hour.
“It absolutely works to get new business. You can meet more people in one hour than you can in six months. A local disc jockey attended a session and got three jobs out of it,” she said.
After the March session, John Holdren, a community manager with Classic Homes, was sold on the idea.
“It was the most incredible prospecting experience I’ve ever had,” he said. “Typically with cold calls you get a cold reception. Today was hot calling. I met people who’ll make money for me and I’ll make money for them.”
At the more informal monthly gathering of A.N.E.W., Becky Hume was working the crowd, introducing the PartyLite line of candles she sells.
“Even though we live in a world of technology, we need a face. We need assurance of who we can trust. Networking works because it shows I’m serious about my business and my customer service,” she said.
Hume said she’s been shopping around for networking groups, after not getting the results she wanted from traditional advertising.
“This is a beneficial way to meet people in the community,” she said, “but you do have to pick and choose your groups.”
COFFEE CHATTER
Some local business owners are promoting their products and services through Let’s Coffee Chat, a referralbased marketing concept that started last year.
Patti Delmonte, one of six Chatter account executives in the Springs, meets personally with owners of small and medium-size businesses interested in connecting with other business owners.
During the coffee chat, Delmonte asks questions about what the person offers and is looking for. She shows fliers and talks about local businesses, such as insurance brokers, real estate agents, interior designers. Each pay about $260 to have their companies profiled during 80 separate coffee chat sessions.
She only connects businesses if there’s a need. “We’re able to convert 70 percent of our sessions into new business. Word of mouth really is the best form of advertising and represents the best way to build clients,” Delmonte said.
Hairstylist Ellen Jackson, who works at Miran Salon & Spa at the Antlers Hilton hotel, hired Delmonte to present her services. “I’ve seen a 20 percent increase in business from it,” she said. “I’ve done other types of advertising and found that they don’t work as well.”
TECHNIQUES
Word-of-mouth marketing encompasses several techniques:
- Using high-profile entertainment or news to get people to talk about a brand
- Providing product samples to influential consumers
- Promoting a brand over Internet discussion forums
- Participating in networking events to make contacts with possible buyers or partners
- Cultivating advocates to spread the word on your behalf
- Supporting social causes to earn support from like-minded people
SOURCE: Word of Mouth Marketing Assoc.
GATHERINGS OFFER CHANCE TO PARTICIPATE IN WORD-OF-MOUTH MARKETING
Networking is the most basic kind of word-of-mouth marketing because it gives people a reason to talk about a particular product or service and can generate referrals, experts say.
“The trick to networking is that you do as much listening as you do talking,” said Paul Rand, president and chief executive officer of The Zocalo Group, a Chicago agency that specializes in word-ofmouth marketing.
Membership is growing in local networking groups:
- eWomenNetwork, a national organization for women in business, in five years has grown to 90 chapters nationwide, including one in Colorado Springs. Contact Mary Pearsall, 596-1771.
- Attendance at a quarterly “speed networking” event offered by the Greater Colorado Springs Chamber of Commerce has reached a sold-out capacity of 75. Contact Jenifer Furda, 575-4313.
- A Network of Exceptional Women, or A.N.E.W., attracts 40 local businesswomen every month to its free after-work events. Contact Patti Delmonte, 884-1201, ext. 12.
- “Let’s Coffee Chat,” a locally conceived referral-based marketing concept, has six representatives citywide who chat about hundreds of local businesses. Contact Patti Delmonte, 884-1201, ext. 12.
