Why will people positively recommend your business?

Photo / iStock

I was thinking recently about the various businesses I know that I'm happy to recommend to other people.

And I realised that I'm happy to recommend these businesses for a number of different reasons.

Reason 1: They are simply outstanding at what they do

A good example is a fish and chip shop in Whitianga that I had the pleasure of visiting recently. (For Herald readers outside New Zealand, Whitianga is a delightful little township on the Coromandel Peninsula.)

I was in Whitianga after doing a few hours of training for an upcoming cycle event.

I asked for the name of a great fish and chip place and was told the best in Whitianga is a place called 'Snapper Jacks.'

I sat down with a friend who I had been cycling with and we ordered a burger, chips and fish each.

I was amazed because the burger, fish and chips was the best that I had ever had.

The burger was a beautiful sour dough roll with a huge meat patty, lovely salad and dressing. It was also a huge size and every mouthful was delicious.

The fish was fresh and tasted amazing. And the chips came in their very own white card board box and were equally as nice as the burger and fish.

I'm going back to Whitianga in a few weeks for my cycle event and I'll definitely be visiting Snapper Jacks again.

Marketing Lesson 1:

If you are very good at what you do it makes it very easy for your clients and customers to recommend you to other people they know.

Reason 2: The business solves a pressing problem that you have.

A number of years ago I purchased a delightful little Honda Prelude. I bought it from the local Honda dealership and found it a great car to drive.

One morning I had a small glitch with my driver's seat. Something in the seat broke and it kept falling backwards. It was very difficult to drive like this.

I phoned the Honda Dealership to see if they could fix it. Unfortunately their service department was fully booked for three days. So they couldn't help.

I then phoned a business colleague who was part of a BNI group that I belonged to. (BNI is the largest business networking group in the world.)

He suggested a vehicle servicing business called Marcus Motors.

The owner of Marcus Motors was more than happy to help and a couple of hours later my seat problem was fixed.

Since then I've used Marcus Motors many times and have recommended many people to them as well. (I like their reasonable prices and great service.)

And it all started when they solved a pressing problem that I had.

Marketing Lesson 2:

If you solve a person's pressing problem you make it very easy for them to remember you positively and also recommend your business.

Reason 3: The business makes you feel special in the way that they treat you

A few days ago I got a courier delivery of a large parcel addressed to me. I opened it up and found a delicious chocolate cake inside.

The cake came with a small note that said 'Thanks for the referral to Jeff. Kind regards Stephen.'

Stephen is the owner of a business called Virtual Staff and I had recommended his services to one of my clients who was looking for an assistant to do a lot of admin type things in his business.

He decided to use the services of Stephens' company and Stephen sent me a lovely chocolate cake to say 'thank you' for the referral.

The chocolate cake was baked by a local company called Mummys Yummys and it was beautifully presented and looked and tasted great.

I felt very special after receiving this chocolate cake and have already told a lot of people about my positive experience. (Including Herald readers like you.)

Marketing lesson 3:

When you do something unexpected to make people feel good it makes it very easy for them to positively recommend your business.

Summary:

There are many ways to get people positively recommending your business.
Three ways worth considering are -

1: Become very good at what you do

2: Solve a person's pressing problem

3: Make people feel special

Think about how you could use any (or all) of these strategies in your own business.

'It is not your customer job to remember you, it is your obligation and responsibility to make sure they don't have the chance to forget you.' - Patricia Fripp

Take Action:

Think about your own business.

What can you do to make it easy for your clients and customers to recommend your business to other people they know?

Could you become outstanding at what you do?

Could you solve pressing problems that people have?

Could you make people feel special and appreciated?

Graham McGregor is a consultant specialising in memorable marketing. Download his 396-page Unfair Business Advantage ebook at no charge from theunfairbusinessadvantage.com.