Positive word of mouth is essential if you own a business. There are many ways to use your mouth in positive ways to ensure your business employees communicate effectively. This can have a large influence on the environment in which your employees work. If your employees are not happy their work will not be done to the best of their ability therefor having great effects on the success of the company. Not only will word of mouth affect your business directly, but it will influence the way other small businesses view your company.
So what can you do to get and keep that good word of mouth spreading? These 10 ways to promote positive word of mouth in the workplace will help you and your business increasingly succeed in the future.
- Provide good customer service.
There is no secret to this one! Work continuously at maintaining a good relationship with your clients. Make your customers feel like the well-being of their business is important to you. Provide them with the utmost respect and courtesy that you would want to experience in their position. These pointers are not tricky, but can make a huge difference in the positive word of mouth you receive whether you run a retail store, a manufacturing company, or a website. - Make it easy for your customers to contact you
Not only will customers feel frustrated when dealing with businesses with poor communication, but this frustration will travel from business to business warning companies of the poor treatment they are receiving, and poor publicity will result. Make sure that your answering machine is set up and that your website is fully updated with proper contact information. Get all of the necessary phone services installed and have someone by the phone making sure that each call is being answered and directed appropriately. - Maintain a positive image
For small businesses specifically, remembering that your actions will most likely always have some kind of effect on the company you work for. It is important to treat everyone who you encounter on a daily basis with the respect they deserve, not just clients. If you have a big logo on your car with your company’s website, and you’re driving like a maniac and cutting people off, chances are that this will not reinforce good publicity for your company. People love sharing stories about the jerks they came across that day, and bad publicity is definitely something you want to avoid! - Make sure that the areas where people visit are clean and tidy
Appearance is the first thing people see when visiting your store or office. If your shelves are messy and unorganized and there is garbage everywhere, potential customers will not be eager to work with you, nor will they say anything nice about your business. Although this is true, positive word of mouth also occurs in this circumstance. People will talk about how neat your shelves are, how clean your bathrooms are and how pleasant your waiting area is. Your customers must have a positive experience in your facility to ensure that the positive word of mouth continues to grow. Another way to spread positive word of mouth is on the web. Make sure your website is clear and concise and make it easy for people to find information about purchases, shipping and returns. - Ask for testimonials
Testimonials are short written statements praising your service, products, or both. Testimonials from satisfied customers are powerful endorsements that can really trigger positive word of mouth. Post these testimonials with the company name that wrote it on your website or Facebook page to ensure that people are viewing them. Wherever these testimonials are advertised, the growth of positive word of mouth for your business will progress. - Give lessons or seminars
Although time and money will have to be dedicated to achieving these seminars, it can really make a difference in how your customers feel they are being treated and in turn what they tell other people about their experience with your company. Make sure that your presentation fits in the time slot provided to ensure that potential customers don’t leave annoyed because the presentation went too long, or did not provide enough information. This approach can work towards growing positive word of mouth and increasing good publicity. - Engage clients within social media (twitter, facebook)
Word of mouth is all about people saying good things about you and your business. Social media is one area where people communicate a lot more these days. Set up a twitter page or a business account on Facebook. This will get your name out there and make it easy for other businesses to learn about you. Develop a social media strategy that will let you engage customers and entice them into saying good things about your small business. - Monitor your online reputation
Many conversations about your businesses service and product are occurring all over the internet within Twitter, Facebook, and blogging, and it is vital for your company to know what is being said. Independent online reputation monitoring tools such as Social Mention, lets you receive free daily email alerts about your small business. - Get positive publicity for your business
Whether a picture of you is taken handing over a check to a local charity, or your name is listed as a sponsor for the Brain Tumor foundation, when people see this they will be more likely to think of your company when deciding where to take their car for their next oil change. They will also most likely suggest your company when their neighbor is also looking to get work done on their car. - Visibly contribute to your community
Community building and social responsibility and involvement in your community can be a good tactic to promote positive word of mouth. Sponsoring community or charitable events is one way of doing it. Another is to take an active role in community organizations, such as sitting on hospital, school or other boards. Be a person who’s willing to work to get things done and support community organizations and others will take notice.
Word of mouth will happen whether you pay attention to it or not. It is however, an extremely helpful marketing tool and would be silly for any business to ignore it. You’ll gain more clientele and achieve more success in all areas of your business.