Word-of-mouth and its oh-so-up-to-date cousin, “viral marketing”, rely upon
your business doing something that is worthy of comment, that is interesting enough to earn a place in social intercourse, and that is a compelling message to share.
There must be an emotional engagement. While matching hangers and color-ordered merchandise and neat displays are nice… are they a compelling message to share etc?
Social sharing/ viral marketing/ word of mouth is more rampant when the individuals develop intense feelings like fear, disgust, sadness, joy, anger and surprise.
Surprise occurs when something breaks the habitual pattern of thoughts we have. (Shades of our Sharing discussion on “consignment store feel” !) To surprise your particular clientele, you have to understand your audience’s schemas…what is “normal” to them, what they expect. In addition, you have to cook up a surprise that is joyful, fun, and/or amusing. Yes, you could surprise your clientele by sticking rubber spiders in the pockets of all your jeans…but that might not achieve the word of mouth that will lead to a positive reinforcement of your business! (On the other hand, it could be just right…after all, it’s YOUR clientele’s schemas, not mine!)
Our everyday reactions to our environment is habitual. Going through the same shop in the mall, we select and purchase items with more or less neutral emotions. Buying a pair of shoes does not involve ’disruptive’ or ‘intense’ emotions. Nothing here encourages us to share this experience with others. But this can change if you add the element of surprise.
To read the full entry (I warn you, it’s pretty dull stuff!) you can visit How ‘Surprise’ Helps Word-of-Mouth and Viral Marketing.
Andy Sernovitz comes to the same conclusion, and adds some important points:
- Surprise! An unexpected gift is 10x more powerful than an earned reward. Earn=work. Gift=fun.
- After, not before. They thanked me after I made the referral, they didn’t tell me to do it*. I never would have signed up for an affiliate program or a referral program.
- Thanks, not incentives. Thanking fans is different than paying for referrals. No one wants to be a salesperson, everyone appreciates being recognized.
- You get the behavior you encourage. Reward those who do what you want and they’ll do it again.
- Choose your talkers. Encourage people who have an audience. I’m not an everyday customer but I talk to lots of people.
* Kate’s emphasis. I couldn’t agree MORE. I never ever sign up for “do this like we say and we’ll give you XYZ”…of course I do have a real problem with people telling me what to do, so that might be a psychological quirk of mine. 😉
Auntie Kate The Resale Expert 
[…] Your customer’s secret passion […]
Hi, I am so enamored of your website. My partner and I are opening a consignment store next month. I myself, was one of the first people to open a consignment store in the city of Pasadena, California way back in the early 70’s. I was quite a time, since I spent most of my time educating potential customers about the benefits of consignment. I had a blast though, and am eager to do it again. Your site in invaluable, and we really appreciate the knowlege you share and your kind words of encouragement. Keep it up!
[…] Your customers’ secret passion […]
I’m also posting this on sharing at tgtbt but I thought this may fit in this discussion too.
Last Saturday, we had a new customer come into our store and she was really interested in a high chair that we had but she didn’t have enough money to get it that day. She asked us if we could hold it until Thurs which was no problem even though we normally only do a 24hr hold.
Wed morning, a consignor of ours, who was in the store that Sat, heard the woman talking about how she really wanted the high chair and how she doesn’t have much money working at MCD’s. She asked us if she could use her store credit to purchase the high chair for that woman, a total stranger to her. We of course said yes and thanked her for being so kind.
So Thurs morn this woman comes back to buy the high chair and was thrilled to learn a total stranger had already paid for it. She then used that money to purchase much needed clothing for her daughter.
Not only will this woman love our store and definately return, she will talk, talk and talk about how some sweet lady in our store bought that for her.
We decided to suprise that consignor with a personal thank you card with a gift card to a local resturant. I’m sure she will also talk about what we did for her.
Word of mouth is great!