Think word-of-mouth marketing is enough? Think again

I want you to think back to your high school or university psychology class. Do you remember learning about Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs? I always remember that the first level is physiological like: breathing, food, water, sleep, etc.

After that my memory is fuzzy. I’m thinking beer, pizza and Monday Night Football — but that may be a little off. 

You may be wondering “What is the hierarchy related to referrals?” Because I have a B.A. in sociology and a B.S. in referrals, I’ve created my own hierarchy. I hope you find these distinctions helpful so you take more effective action.

Word of mouth

If you owned a restaurant, you would probably thrive with great word-of-mouth marketing. However, for most businesses, word-of-mouth marketing simply isn’t enough to keep the lights on, let alone grow at a nice pace. 

With that said, I sure hope that you are garnering some word of mouth that generates unsolicited business. If you aren’t, you may not be as referable as you think.

Referrals

The word referral can actually encompass a pretty wide range of related activities. Heck, I named my business Referral Coach International. So for me, I use the word referral as a large concept under which these five terms reside. 

For the purpose of this hierarchy, I’m using the word referrals in the context that is often referred to as referred leads, meaning your referral source tells you “Give George a call and use my name. That should be all you need.”

Guess what? That’s usually NOT all you need. These days, it’s just so darn hard to reach people, dropping their friend’s name into your message (voice or email) simply doesn’t work as well as it used to.

If this is all your referral source is willing to do, all is not completely lost. You can still do some warm research where you learn as much as you can about your new prospect from your source AND you can do some cold research on the internet, such as finding George’s company’s website and his LinkedIn profile. This research might help you leave a very well-informed and compelling message for this prospect.

Recommendations

Now we’re getting into more productive territory. We have the referral source reaching out to their friend or colleague in the spirit of recommending you and the valuable work you do. A recommendation comes with a sense of endorsement — that having a conversation with you is worth the investment of their time.