Every year I’ll buy the latest, best-selling marketing books to see if Great Harvest is on the right track. I look to see if there’s something new, exciting, or innovative being pronounced. I love that strong marketing fundamentals never go out of style!
My latest read was John Jantsch’s book “The Referral Engine.” Jantsch is also the well-known blogger/author of “Duct Tape Marketing.”
In both books he emphasizes the importance of the fundamentals for a successful business.
Big picture – there are no short cuts!
1) The product you are selling must be incredible. Why else would someone return for more? Why else would anyone whole-heartedly recommend your product?
2) Customer service must be genuine and inspired by a desire to delight customers.
3) The shopping experience must connect with the target audience’s values through all touch points – staff, products, store ambiance, displays, promotional materials, community outreach and more.
Jantsch outlines the dynamics behind referrals, and they are:
1) People are hard-wired to make referrals…it’s part of our social nature.
2) Referrals involve risk, so educating customers about the emotional and logical uniqueness of your product is important.
3) Nobody talks about a boring business.
4) Consistent excellence builds trust and referrals.
5) Delighted customers love to provide testimonials.
6) Most businesses don’t have a systematic approach to encourage referrals.
Jantsch tells readers to stop crossing their fingers and hoping all will go well. He stresses the importance of meeting people’s expectations, keeping promises, and owning up to mistakes and correcting them.
My favorite part of the book discussed a business strategy focused on employees. We’ve all worked for employers who made us feel valued and who never doubted our potential to succeed. Those are the type of employers that nurture top performers.
Jantsch recommends treating your employees like a valued 
customer because, in turn, they will represent the brand in a positive manner.
Step one: hire the right people – “find people for fit, shared values and a passion for excellence,” and then train them correctly and create standards. Every employee should understand their performance is directly tied to the generation of referrals from customers by providing over-the-top awesome products and service.
There is a cool profile in the book about New Belgium Brewing Company, the third largest craft brewer in the United States. New Belgium’s CEO Kim Jordan created an open-book approach to employee management and offers employees an ownership stake in the company after one year of employment. She educates employees about ALL aspects of the business. She’s proud of the corporate culture because employees are empowered to care about the products, the costs and each other. As a result of her “open book” policy, Jordan’s employees became less wasteful, more efficient and inspired.
I did some research on New Belgium, and it is a truly remarkable company! I especially love that the brewery is powered by wind. That definitely fits in with my values. New Belgium also produces my favorite beer “Mothership Wit” -- an organic wheat beer infused with coriander. It tastes amazing, and I know the ingredients are excellent and inventive. My husband and I always make a special stop at the Good Food Store in Missoula, MT (a mere 175 miles away) for our favorite brew. I also proudly serve it and recommend it to friends.
This is referral marketing 101 – I find an interesting product, I try it and it exceeds my expectation, I now actively seek it out and tell others about it, and I feel the company shares my values and the values of my friends. Did I mention the product is a bargain? No. Because it isn’t. It’s priced as I feel it should be…as a premium, high-quality, enjoyable product. .
This brings me to the last take away from this outstanding book. People are not incredibly motivated to refer a business on price comparison, in fact prospects often anticipate paying more for a referred product. So a low-price strategy can actually reduce referrals.
Mothership Wit is not the least expensive micro-brew beer in the grocery store, but I just happen to think it’s a
cut above in taste and quality.
Similarly, Great Harvest breads and sweets are not priced to compete with Wonderbread and Hostess Ding Dongs for the same reason. Great Harvest attracts customers who LOVE the taste of scratch-made bread made with the freshest ingredients.
So is there a product out there that you will go out of your way to purchase and refer to others? I mentioned New Belgium. Another company I support and refer others to consistently is Aveda.
How about you? Share your stories about businesses that delighted you and motivated you to tell others about their products and/or services!
