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This pass-along effect—when customers tell your story almost involuntarily, turning themselves into volunteer marketers—is what makes word of mouth so delightfully impactful for companies that possess a talk trigger.
Word-of-mouth impact is usually higher when the information exchanged is specific.
“A USP is a feature, articulated with a bullet point, that is discussed in a conference room. A talk trigger is a benefit, articulated with a story, that is discussed at a cocktail party.”
Regardless of the size, shape, category, and the history of your business, the reality is that half your customers do not believe you. Author and keynote speaker David Horsager says trust is “a company’s most important asset.” He’s right, but the best distribution vehicle for that trust is not the company itself but rather its customers. We’re in an era where trust matters more than truth, and the truth is that your customers simply don’t trust you as much as they trust each other.
We’re in an era where trust matters more than truth, and the truth is that your customers simply don’t trust you as much as they trust each other.
1 percent or less of all businesses have a written plan for creating chatter. One hundred percent of businesses care about word of mouth, but less than 1 percent have a plan for achieving it.
It’s a challenge for people to think about how to buy word of mouth, because you can’t necessarily buy it. You can shape it, you can encourage it, you can drive it, but you can’t buy it. So I think that lack of control has made some companies and organizations feel like it’s more challenging to acquire.”
“Word of mouth spreads from an influencer’s mouth at a rate of eight factorial annually: 40,370 people each year.”
“Social media is great for speed, but it’s just a tool. Word of mouth is hard. Earning respect, earning recommendations, or launching deep ideas require a genuinely good company to provide a talkworthy experience,” Sernovitz
advertising is a tax paid by unremarkable businesses.
“Customers will always find a point of distinction. Therefore, if you fail to outline one for them in compelling fashion, they will go to the worst possible distinguisher for you: price,” wrote keynote speaker and differentiation consultant Scott McKain in his book Create Distinction.
sense, talk triggers are not marketing. They aren’t a stunt or a campaign or a slogan. They are you.
This is the difference between word of mouth and word-of-mouth marketing. As Ted Wright told us, “Word of mouth is just talking. Word-of-mouth marketing is the organizing of that talk and driving it in a particular way. It’s doing something intentional.”
available. But being very good—even being the best—isn’t inherently talkable. It’s not a story; it’s just an attribute—a bullet point on a brochure.
If your talk trigger is too hard to execute, or is allowed to become optional, it won’t be consistently repeated and will devolve into a random surprise and delight stunt.
