If you are the leader of your organization, this question is for you…
“Are your CUSTOMERs, PARTNERs, SUPPLIERs, and EMPLOYEEs “proactively” talking about you and acting as your “Advocates” and “Evangelists”…either one-on-one or one to many (on their social channels)?
Over the past 15 years, I have learned that less than 20% (the actual number is closer to 9%) of a company’s customers are acting as Advocates and proactively talking about their company.
Here are the average numbers for where customers fit for the majority of companies…
- Advocates – 0% – 20% … Your Advocates _______
- Loyal Customers – 15% – 60% … Your Loyal Customers _______
- Satisfied Customers – 25% – 75% … Your Satisfied Customers _______
- Dissatisfied Customers – 2% – 40% … Your Dissatisfied Customers _______
Where do you fit…put your own numbers next to these averages…be honest with yourself as the leader of your company…what is your “gut feel” for what these numbers look like for your organization?
Once you have filled in the numbers, hold a meeting and have all your top officers do the same exercise, without sharing their answers. Then have them hand them to you and go through them…they won’t match…guaranteed!
THE RISK:
Essentially, according to the numbers above, 80% of your customers aren’t “actively” telling anyone else how wonderful you are! If someone happens to ask them about you, 40%+ won’t tell them anything great about you. And according to the numbers, up to 75% are at the risk of leaving you at any time for “the next best deal” that comes along!
THE OPPORTUNITY:
You have the makings of a “groundswell” within your existing customer base…your Advocates. Regardless of how small this number is, there are some that could create a groundswell of wonderful comments about you in the market. And with the power of Social Media today, this small groundswell of people could reach thousands of others…many of which could be potential customers or even customers who are “on the fence” about you…they could push them over into someone who is Loyal or even into being an Advocate. This is a HUGE opportunity!
The reality is that most of you won’t take advantage of the opportunity, just live with the risk and hope it gets better. The numbers show it won’t…with the market pressures the odds are more of your customers will be at risk in the future. Being the “top dog” in the organization gives you the ability to make the choice of which way you want to go…reduce risk and increased opportunity or do nothing.
This is a decision leaders make every day. The ones that want to lead their industry or space decide to create a “Word-of-Mouth” business strategy that focuses on getting more “Advocates” and less of everything else. It is not just a commitment, it is a passion. If you would like to know more about what a Word-of-Mouth strategy looks like…just ask…I would be happy to share with you what some of the leading companies are doing and some of the leading thinking in this area. They are taking advantage of the “OPPORTUNITY” and minimizing their “RISK.” In the end, it’s your decision as a leader which direction you want to head and how much risk you can balance against the opportunity. It’s just your job…
