Marketing, as we traditionally think of it, is paid advertising and social media. These mediums are only effective IF it’s easy to communicate the value of your offerings through words and imagery. This is only possible IF you have a very clear (who it’s for, what the outcomes are, how it works) and unique (clearly differentiated from the many alternatives) offering.
Unfortunately, although we all think we are different or better and communicate it well, it’s rarely the case. This is especially true for many service businesses, whereby clients only best understand the value and quality difference in our offerings by experiencing it first-hand.
Words and imagery aren’t sufficient and convincing enough to capture and articulate experiences. Hence, organizations with these types of offerings tend to get most of their deal flow through referrals or word-of-mouth instead. Put yourself in your prospect’s shoes. How would you choose between product A or B, or consultant A or B? They all toot their own horn and claim to be the best, but you still wouldn’t trust them. You would make your decision based on:
- Reviews or testimonials, especially if you see something positive said by someone you know and trust.
- Being referred or recommended by someone in your network.
- Having “tried” before you buy, such as attending an event, workshop, or booking a consultation session run by the organization that left you with a positive impression.
The former 2 are indicative of you making your judgment based on the experience of others, and the latter on your personal experience. Ergo, show, don’t tell. Instead of trying to communicate the value of your offerings, consider how you can give people a means to experience it.
Stop wasting your time (and money) on traditional paid marketing. You might be sticking to it because you believe it is predictable: The more money you put into it, the more leads you get. That’s not always true. You could make a lot of noise and it will get you noticed, but the # of leads you’ll get isn’t proportional to your spend. This approach only works well with physical products or unique solutions that can be easily communicated with imagery/text.
Instead, focus more on fostering word-of-mouth and referrals. Doing so does not mean that you lose control of deal flow. You might believe you can’t control the volume of referrals you get. That’s also not true; there are direct activities you can do that will predictably generate regular referrals.
For instance, if you sell entrepreneurship training courses or programs: events, workshops or webinars, panel discussions, fireside chats, demo day, info sessions, and free consultation or strategy sessions are some of the different ways to expose prospects to what working with you is like, the energy of your community, the strength of your network, the knowledge of your experts. These offer a sample of your experience.
Even though these aren’t the paid advertisements or social postings that we’re used to, they all still cost time and money and result in predictable sales. It’s still a form of marketing/sales.
Here are more ideas and examples:
Proactively solicit reviews/referrals
When was the last time you left a positive review? We’re a lot more inclined to leave negative reviews. Instead of waiting for customers to review or refer organically, a sincere, personal, and unpressured solicitation at the right time (see: Positive “Milestones”) will greatly increase the number of reviews and referrals for your organization.
The best advocate you can find is someone who has already experienced your solution.
Share their stories
Instead of tooting your own horn, actively share your customers’ stories and their transformations. Better yet, have them do the sharing. Not only speak about their transformation but also what they learned and how your offering helped them in their journey.
Explore ways to integrate referrals directly into your offerings
For a detailed example, you might have heard of personal development, life-changing, or leadership programs like Landmark or PSI. They are highly experience-driven, as participants walk away with something different depending on their initial circumstances, how they interpret the lessons, how they apply them to their personal situation, and what actions they take. Many of these programs even come across as somewhat “cult-ish” because participants who experience eye-opening transformations are overly enthusiastic about encouraging their friends and family members to go through the same.
I’m not a fan of how they design word-of-mouth, but there are some elements worth learning from and some improvements that could be made to make it less cult-ish.
Disclaimer: Many of the lessons and frameworks they share are truly valuable. Often, the impact is greatest for those who are “broken”. Although I use the word broken, it would be incorrect to describe these individuals as flawed or damaged. Many relationship issues or our sense of self-worth stem not from personal flaws but instead from an incorrect mindset or misattributed meaning to events that have occurred to us. The fewer problems, misconceptions, blindspots, incorrect beliefs, etc., you have, the less life-changing such a program will be for you.
Worth mimicking: They build open sessions directly into their program. There’s an evening where participants can (and are encouraged to) bring guests to join the program. This allows guests to hear what participants have learned and listen to the real life-changing impact that it has had on their friend, his or her family, and other participants. Not only does this provide prospects with a chance to get a taste of the experience, but it’s also designed to facilitate and encourage word-of-mouth.
Another thing done well here is how they manage expectations and build trust. It’s made clear for program participants to maintain confidentiality regarding the sensitive and very personal things that others share. The organizers also make it clear that participants should only share what they’re comfortable with in this open session, as they’re exposing themselves to outsiders who have not committed to the same oath of confidentiality.
What they could change: They do a lot to encourage participants to invite and share the value with others; however, they don’t provide much guidance on how to properly share without coming across as overbearing.
Another idea that I’ve yet to have the opportunity to implement is to do something similar for mastermind groups. In groups that I facilitate, we have hotseats for each session. These hotseats are 30-minute presentations designed to give a single company room for a deep dive into their problem and to receive detailed feedback. To encourage word-of-mouth and to expose outsiders to the experience, we could run occasional open sessions whereby existing members could invite a friend whom they believe might benefit from being on the hotseat. This also gives members of the group an opportunity to be creative and work on solving new problems. By looking at someone else’s problem, it helps them put their own in perspective and come up with new ideas.
Community Events
A rising tide lifts all boats. Instead of promoting your events solely for your own agenda, explore collaborative events that aim to collectively excite and educate the greater community.
Vancouver Startup Week is one such example. It’s a week-long event with workshops, startup open offices, competitions, and even parties. It exposes and elevates the entire sector whilst promoting collaboration and referrals between the various organizations that serve similar customers.
Enable your offerings to sell themselves
Ultimately, if you have something amazing, there’s no substitute for letting prospects experience it first-hand.
- We don’t need to look far to see how Apple has reengineered their retail space to prioritize the prospect’s shopping experience.
- The Jet Business is another great example. Instead of relying on selling directly to CEOs or wealthy decision-makers, they’ve found success by designing an immersive retail experience that welcomes both influencers (not social media influencers, but individuals who sway a prospect’s decision) and decision-makers to experience first-hand what’s special about the planes they sell.
(Life-size fuselage mockup in their retail showroom. Photo credit: Oliver Pohlmann) - BabyLand General Hospital for the Cabbage Patch Kids dolls leveraged retail to create an immersive storytelling experience for their toys.
Build strategic partnerships
Look for other organizations that also serve your prospects. Find ways to add value to them, refer to them, or amplify their message. They will gladly reciprocate if your offerings are a fit for their customers. Just like reviews and referrals, it’s also a good idea to proactively solicit for them (in moderation, of course).