The best way to grow any company is for the customers of that company to do the growing for you. Word of mouth is the most effective (and cost-effective) method of customer acquisition and growth.
In B2B, word of mouth is exceptionally important:
91% of B2B purchases are influenced by word of mouth.
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Why is word of mouth so vital in B2B companies? The relative expense of most B2B purchases outweighs B2C buys. Thus, there is a greater risk associated with B2B decision making. And when risk is higher, customers seek to avoid mistakes. And a primary way buyers avoid mistakes is by seeking the opinions of current customers, via online and offline word of mouth recommendations and referrals.
But what’s fascinating to me is that we know this to be true, in our gut. OF COURSE, word of mouth is important for B2B. Yet, very few companies have an actual strategy for generating customer conversations.
Word of mouth just may be the most important element of B2B success, but scant attention is actually paid to it. Remarkable!
Last week, I had the pleasure of conducting a half-day workshop on Talk Triggers and B2B word of mouth marketing, in cooperation with our friends at Desantis Breindel… Read More