Word of Mouth Marketing

Psst! How to Use Word of Mouth Marketing

As almost every businessperson knows, the best lead or referral is often the one that comes straight from the mouth—a satisfied customer’s mouth, that is.

In marketing parlance, that’s referred to as “word of mouth” advertising. And you can’t get any better business testimonial than one that’s from a customer or client who raves about your product or service—then tells someone else about their experience.

Those “someone elses” can result in customers who tell prospective clients who tell other prospective customers.

“That kind of �word of mouth’ advertising is invaluable for building a business,” says Larry Marscheck, president of the Mandarin Council of the Jacksonville Regional Chamber of Commerce, and senior adviser with the Marscheck Advisory Group, a local estate planning and retirement advising firm.

“Just the other day I had an example of that,” Marscheck recounted. “I showed one of my clients how he and his wife could set up a guaranteed income stream for themselves and their heirs using a solid, fail-safe strategy that didn’t involve setting up a trust that would have to be managed. Plus, they will receive a tax-deduction for doing it. They were ecstatic!”

“From that one satisfied customer, I have gotten new clients simply because that one customer told his friend about me, who told one of his older children about what I did for them.”

According to Marscheck, there are numerous stories about Mandarin Council members having similar experiences. And at every Mandarin Council meeting, there is a time for businesses to share their experiences in doing business with other council members.

“The Mandarin Council provides an avenue and forum for business people in the area to do business with each other and to tell others about it. That’s �word of mouth’ marketing at its best,” he says.