In today's fast-paced digital world, traditional marketing techniques are becoming less effective. Consumers are bombarded with advertisements and have become increasingly skeptical of promotional messages. This is where "Talk Triggers" comes in – a powerful strategy that can help businesses stand out from the competition and generate organic word-of-mouth marketing.
Daniel Lemin's book "Talk Triggers" explores the concept of creating unique, memorable experiences that customers can't help but talk about. These experiences, or "talk triggers," are designed to spark conversations and encourage customers to share their positive experiences with others. By implementing effective talk triggers, businesses can harness the power of word-of-mouth marketing and drive growth without relying on expensive advertising campaigns.
The Power of Word-of-Mouth Marketing
Word-of-mouth marketing has always been one of the most effective forms of advertising. People are more likely to trust recommendations from friends and family than they are to believe traditional advertisements. In fact, studies have shown that personal recommendations are the most trusted form of advertising, with 92% of consumers saying they trust recommendations from people they know.
Lemin argues that in today's digital age, word-of-mouth marketing has become even more critical. With social media and online review platforms, customers can easily share their experiences with a wide audience. This means that a single positive experience can potentially reach thousands of potential customers.
However, simply providing good service or a quality product is no longer enough to generate significant word-of-mouth marketing. Customers expect good service and quality products as a baseline. To truly stand out and get people talking, businesses need to create unique experiences that go beyond the ordinary – this is where talk triggers come in.
What Are Talk Triggers?
Talk triggers are strategic, operational choices that create a notable customer experience. They are designed to be different from what customers expect, and they compel people to tell others about their experience. A good talk trigger should be:
- Remarkable: It should be worth remarking about and sharing with others.
- Relevant: It should be closely tied to your brand and what you offer.
- Reasonable: It shouldn't be so over-the-top that it seems gimmicky or unsustainable.
- Repeatable: It should be something you can offer to every customer, not just a select few.
Lemin provides several examples of successful talk triggers throughout the book. One of the most notable is the Cheesecake Factory's enormous menu. At over 5,940 words long and featuring 85 chicken dishes alone, the menu is so extensive that it becomes a topic of conversation among customers. This talk trigger has been so effective that the Cheesecake Factory spends just 0.2% of its revenue on advertising, significantly less than its competitors.
The Five Types of Talk Triggers
Lemin identifies five main types of talk triggers that businesses can use to create memorable experiences:
- Empathy: Showing genuine care and understanding for customers.
- Usefulness: Providing something unexpectedly helpful or convenient.
- Generosity: Offering something extra or unexpected.
- Speed: Delivering service or products faster than expected.
- Attitude: Presenting a unique personality or approach to customer interactions.
Empathy as a Talk Trigger
Empathy involves going above and beyond to show customers that you truly care about their experience. An excellent example of this is Dr. Glenn Gorab, an oral surgeon in New Jersey. Dr. Gorab calls each new patient a week before their appointment to introduce himself and answer any questions they might have. This simple gesture of empathy helps ease patients' anxiety and creates a memorable experience that they're likely to share with others.
Usefulness as a Talk Trigger
Usefulness refers to providing something that makes customers' lives easier or more convenient. Air New Zealand's Skycouch is a perfect example of this type of talk trigger. The airline introduced a row of seats in economy class that can be converted into a flat surface, allowing passengers to lie down and sleep more comfortably on long-haul flights. This unique feature has generated significant buzz and positive word-of-mouth for the airline.
Generosity as a Talk Trigger
Generosity involves offering something extra or unexpected to customers. Holiday World and Splashin' Safari, a theme park in Indiana, provides unlimited free non-alcoholic drinks to all visitors. While this might seem like a potential loss in profits, the talk trigger has actually led to increased visitor numbers and reduced complaints. Customers are so impressed by the unexpected generosity that they can't help but tell others about their experience.
Speed as a Talk Trigger
In today's fast-paced world, speed can be a powerful differentiator. Paragon Direct, a Honda and Acura dealership in New York City, has created a talk trigger around their speedy and convenient service. They offer to pick up customers' cars, service them, and return them anywhere in the city, often overnight. This time-saving service has helped the company grow by over 20% since its introduction.
Attitude as a Talk Trigger
A unique personality or approach to customer interactions can also serve as an effective talk trigger. Canadian software company Uberflip demonstrated this at a tech event by giving out bright pink headbands. When some attendees didn't show up, they sent a playful follow-up email saying, "You forgot your headband at the party." This fun and unexpected approach generated significant buzz and led to people referring to Uberflip as "the headband company."
Creating Your Own Talk Trigger
Developing an effective talk trigger requires careful planning and input from various departments within your organization. Lemin suggests using the "Triangle of Awesome" approach, which involves bringing together representatives from marketing, sales, and customer service to collaborate on creating a talk trigger.
The Triangle of Awesome
Marketing: Provides insight into your market position and starts the conversation about your trigger by looking at your customer base, employees, and stakeholders.
Sales: Offers information about your unique selling proposition (USP) and understands what customers are lacking in the current marketplace.
Customer Service: Interacts with customers daily and knows their specific concerns, providing valuable input for developing a durable talk trigger.
To begin the process, have each department present data on who uses your products and what customers are saying about your company and market segment. Look for patterns and write them out in bullet points. This might include information like "X percent of our customers cycle to work" or "Customers want a bigger size range."
Next, create a "because" statement to explain your talk trigger. Ask yourself what kind of story you want your customers to tell each other and how this connects with your company's core values. For example, DoubleTree hotels chose to offer warm cookies at check-in because they wanted to communicate their desire to make guests feel welcome.
Testing and Implementing Your Talk Trigger
Once you've developed a potential talk trigger, it's essential to test it thoroughly before full implementation. Here are some steps to follow:
Simplicity test: Explain your talk trigger to a child. If they understand it, it's likely simple enough for your customers to grasp and share.
No strings attached: Ensure your talk trigger doesn't have any complicated conditions or limitations. It should be straightforward and easy to communicate.
Quantitative analysis: Monitor online conversations about your talk trigger, including social media mentions, tagged customer uploads, and reviews. At least 10% of all conversations about your business should focus on your talk trigger during the test phase.
Offline monitoring: Use surveys, comment cards, and feedback from your sales team to gauge the impact of your talk trigger in offline conversations.
Set targets: Aim for at least 25% of conversations about your business to mention your talk trigger once it's fully implemented.
Be flexible: If your talk trigger isn't generating the desired results, be prepared to go back to the drawing board and develop a new one.
Measuring the Success of Your Talk Trigger
To determine if your talk trigger is effective, you need to monitor its influence on customer conversations. Here are some key metrics to track:
Mention rate: The percentage of conversations about your business that include your talk trigger. Aim for at least 25% after full implementation.
Social media engagement: Track likes, shares, and comments related to your talk trigger on various social media platforms.
Review content: Analyze customer reviews to see if your talk trigger is mentioned and in what context.
Sales impact: Monitor any changes in sales or customer acquisition that can be attributed to your talk trigger.
Customer retention: Track whether customers who experience your talk trigger are more likely to become repeat customers.
Net Promoter Score (NPS): Measure changes in your NPS after implementing your talk trigger.
Remember that the effectiveness of a talk trigger can change over time. What was once novel and exciting may become expected or even outdated. Continuously monitor the impact of your talk trigger and be prepared to evolve or replace it as needed.
Common Pitfalls to Avoid
While creating and implementing talk triggers can be a powerful marketing strategy, there are some common mistakes to avoid:
Gimmicks: Avoid creating talk triggers that are flashy but lack substance or relevance to your brand.
Inconsistency: Ensure that your talk trigger is consistently delivered to all customers, not just a select few.
Overpromising: Don't create a talk trigger that you can't sustainably deliver on in the long term.
Ignoring feedback: Pay attention to customer reactions and be willing to adjust your talk trigger based on their feedback.
Focusing on short-term gains: Remember that talk triggers are about building long-term customer relationships and brand loyalty, not just quick sales.
Neglecting employee buy-in: Ensure that your entire team understands and supports your talk trigger strategy.
Real-World Success Stories
Throughout the book, Lemin provides numerous examples of businesses that have successfully implemented talk triggers. Here are a few more to inspire your own strategy:
Five Guys: The fast-food chain is known for giving customers extra fries with every order. This simple act of generosity has become a widely discussed feature of their brand.
Hilton's DoubleTree: As mentioned earlier, the hotel chain offers warm chocolate chip cookies to guests at check-in, creating a memorable and comforting experience.
Skip's Kitchen: This California burger restaurant gives every customer a chance to win a free meal by drawing a playing card. If they draw the joker, their meal is on the house.
Westin Hotels: The hotel chain offers a "Heavenly Bed" in all their rooms, which has become so popular that they now sell the bedding to customers who want to recreate the experience at home.
Zappos: The online shoe retailer is known for its exceptional customer service, including surprise upgrades to overnight shipping at no extra cost.
These examples demonstrate that talk triggers can be successful across various industries and can take many different forms. The key is to find something that aligns with your brand values and resonates with your target audience.
The Future of Talk Triggers
As technology continues to evolve, so too will the opportunities for creating and spreading talk triggers. Lemin suggests that businesses should be prepared to adapt their strategies to take advantage of new platforms and changing consumer behaviors. Some potential future trends in talk triggers include:
Personalization: Using data and AI to create highly personalized experiences that customers will want to share.
Virtual and augmented reality: Creating immersive experiences that go beyond traditional customer interactions.
Voice-activated devices: Developing talk triggers that work well with smart speakers and voice assistants.
Sustainability: Implementing eco-friendly practices that resonate with environmentally conscious consumers.
Hyper-local experiences: Creating talk triggers that are specific to particular locations or communities.
Conclusion: The Power of Being Remarkable
In a world where consumers are bombarded with marketing messages, creating a talk trigger can be the key to standing out from the competition. By giving customers something truly remarkable to talk about, businesses can harness the power of word-of-mouth marketing and create organic growth.
The most effective talk triggers are those that are closely aligned with a company's core values and brand identity. They should be simple, repeatable, and genuinely valuable to customers. Whether it's through empathy, usefulness, generosity, speed, or attitude, the goal is to create an experience that customers can't help but share with others.
Implementing a successful talk trigger requires careful planning, collaboration across departments, and ongoing monitoring and adjustment. It's not a one-time effort but an ongoing strategy that should evolve with your business and your customers' needs.
By following the principles outlined in "Talk Triggers," businesses of all sizes and across all industries can create memorable experiences that turn customers into brand advocates. In doing so, they can reduce their reliance on traditional advertising and instead let their satisfied customers do the talking for them.
Remember, in the words of Daniel Lemin, "Word of mouth is the most powerful form of marketing, and talk triggers are the best way to harness it." So, start thinking about what makes your business truly remarkable, and create a talk trigger that will get people talking.