Chris Ramey
By Chris Ramey
I found myself in a fascinating discussion about ‘word of mouth’ marketing; often defined as ‘referrals’ while visiting Manhattan last week. One executive, who works for a magazine you probably read, told me that he was embarrassed for “any person who says most of their business comes from referrals.” The second, a woman who works for an iconic brand in the D&D Building, said that word of mouth is code for “I don’t know how to advertise.”
My experience is similar. Too many executives promote networking and word of mouth to deflect their inability to create effective marketing. It’s challenging, time consuming and expensive. In luxury, we don’t drop coupons for immediate response. And when it comes to networking, well, you can’t shake enough hands to drive the revenue necessary to thrive. And sadly, as the two colleagues I mentioned above, people are laughing at you.
Let’s change that.
The general rule in shelter and design, including design resources, is if you depend on referrals for more than one-third of your business, then you’re missing most of your best prospects. And it’s likely because neither of you know the other exists; they never found you online — which may be the point of my two New York City colleagues.
There is an incontrovertible truth to marketing today: your digital presence is the ultimate lubricant or barrier to your success. More than 85 percent of your best affluent prospects explore online before deciding where to shop for a big ticket item.
The questions affluent prospects ask themselves include:
1. Does this company sell the quality of products I desire? Are they a Chevy or Mercedes Benz?
2. To whom does this company associate? They look for context. Do they perceive you as isolated or local yokels, or do they find you have relationships with other brands they recognize? They’re looking for clues if you possess the bandwidth necessary to reflect their tastes. For example, if you’re found in a design district then they’re more likely to assume you’re of their ilk. Conversely, if they find you on Houzz then they may think you’re too plebian for them.
3. Is this company trustworthy? Association and collaborations mean other brands trust you. If they can’t find association with other luxury brands then may assume they can’t trust you either.
4. Will this company make the transaction simple and hassle-free? This is often visceral; it’s how all your touchpoints make them feel. The answer is dependent upon how the first three questions are answered. Luxury is still about status, experience and emotion.
You need fail only one question to never hear from the prospect. And the sadder truth is you never know that prospect existed.
No brand can afford to mismanage their online presence by allowing themselves to appear isolated. Mercedes Benz ran a commercial asking if you were “loading Noah’s Ark today, what would you bring?” Their answer includes animals and Steinway, Apple, Bach, Mozart, Roman statues, jazz music and Hemmingway. If Mercedes, anytime in recent history, needed to define itself by the brands with whom they associated, then you probably have to do so today.
Chris Ramey is president of The Home Trust International and his consultancy is Affluent Insights. He can be reached at cpr@affluentinsights.com.