I just finished reading Talk Triggers by Jay Baer and Daniel Lemin. The book offers a complete guide to creating customers through word of mouth. It totally exceeds my expectations.
Jay and Daniel provide what they call the 4,5 and 6 systems.
They talk about the 4 requirements for a talk trigger which gets your customers to spread the word for you. Then they identify 5 types of talk triggers that you may be able to use for your marketing outreach, and they end the book with 6 steps that you can take to implement a complete word-of-mouth strategy. A solid framework for a book!
According to them, repeatable, differentiated and relevant word-of-mouth is not a gimmick, but a business decision. Jay and Daniel used the DoubleTree Hotel as an example. Presenting guests with chocolate chip cookies when they check in at DoubleTree hotels is unique and repeatable customer experience and relevant to their brand. The simple and delicious chocolate chip cookies give their guests an opportunity to talk about the treat and their experience. A chocolate chip cookie which is reasonable, repeatable, relevant and remarkable is a trigger to get their guests to share on social media. And it’s a business decision.
Talk triggers can also be implemented by small businesses. Lockbusters, a locksmith in New York City, offers a fair and fixed price and sticks to it. Whey they fix your lock, they will also oil all the other locks, not just the lock they fixed, for free. Also, they’ll perform a complimentary security audit. Who doesn’t appreciate a free service like that? Again, this is repeatable, reasonable, relevant and differentiated enough to entice their customers to talk about Lockbuster.
Jay and Daniel share many such examples in their book.
Whenever I read a business book, I always think how I can apply some of the authors’ ideas to what I do. When I was reading these examples, I was thinking about what strategies I can implement as repeatable, reasonable, unique enough to my brand and relevant to my customers. I came up with one idea that ties to my book launch: If you read my book and can’t find anything useful, no problem, schedule a call with me. I want to hear your challenges and come up with a solution or even a template for you. Seriously, if you are a marketing manager or salesperson that read my book, but you can’t find anything useful, just reach out. I want to help.
Their book, especially the 6 steps how to implement WOM, inspired me to share examples in the book with my teams and dig deep into our understanding of our customers and our digital purchase journeys to see what we can improve and how we can generate talk triggers. We came up with several ideas that we want to implement in 2019. We will see how it goes. Not everything we implement will generate word-of-mouth, but it’s important that we keep trying and testing.
Several memorable quotes that I want to share with you from the book:
“Talk triggers aren’t gimmicks; they are business choices.”
“Experiencing your business firsthand, just as a customer would, can help you identify potential talk triggers.”
“Same is lame.”
I really enjoyed the read. The book is structured in a logical flow and packed with solid case studies and research data. Check out the book on Amazon.
One more note: Jay and Daniel talk the talk and walk the walk. When they sent their book out to industry influencers and peers, they add a little-stuffed alpaca, a tin can of Hilton Double Tree Cookies, and an Uberflip headband. A big package. Many people took videos and photos of unboxing the package they receive from Jay and Daniel. They created a talk trigger and generated millions of free impressions to help them build buzz for the book.
Well-done, Jay and Daniel.
Send me your marketing questions via @pamdidner. If you have a book that you want me to do a review, let me know.
Keep hustling, my friends. You got this.
What can Pam Didner do for you?
Being in the corporate world for 20+ years and having held various positions from accounting and supply chain management, and marketing to sales enablement, she knows how corporations work. She can make you and your team a rock star by identifying areas to shine and do better. She does that through private coaching, keynote speaking, workshop training, and hands-on consulting. Contact her or find her on LinkedIn and Twitter. A quick note: Check out her new 90-Day Revenue Reboot, if you are struggling with marketing.
