Customers show their appreciation for great service

Was your business ambushed in the recent WOMOW Hug-a-Business promotion? These were!

Annie, from Annie's Dog Grooming, getting a heartfelt hug from customer Kerrie. See their customer reviews on WOMOW... http://www.womow.com.au/biz/Annies-Dog-Grooming-Altona/


Happy customer, Lyn sharing the love with Ann from Klawz (recently reviewed as one of the best Hairdressers on the Gold Coast). Check out their customer reviews... http://www.womow.com.au/biz/Klawz-Nerang/

Jodie hugging the owner of Universal Seafoods - her favourite shop for quality seafoods. See their customer reviews...
http://www.womow.com.au/biz/Universal-Seafoods-Canning-Vale/

Zak hugging Shakil - one of the very talented chefs at Bukhara Indian Restaurant! See there reviews... http://www.womow.com.au/biz/Bukhara-Indian-Restaurant-Double-Bay/

More businesses are getting hugged!

The people of Australia are getting behind the Hundred Hugs promotion in force! Business owners - brace yourselves! Customers - if there's a business that gives you great service, give them a hug (there's a voucher in it for you - see details here!)

Here's the latest hugs just in...

Natasha hugging her chiropractor - Anthony from Feel Amazing Wellness Centres. Check their great reviews on WOMOW here - http://www.womow.com.au/biz/Feel-Amazing-Wellness-Centres-Chatswood/


Valentina (on the left) hugging Michelle - the owner of Oyster Bay Massage Therapy. Valentina credits this business for keeping her out of hospital - see her full rating here - http://www.womow.com.au/biz/Oyster-Bay-Massage-Therpay-Oyster-Bay/

One happy customer! Gail (in the middle) with Dominic and Kate from Hair On Como. Check her customer review here - http://www.womow.com.au/biz/Hair-On-Como-Parkdale/

Kate with Carmen from Simply Strandz - http://www.womow.com.au/biz/Simply-Strandz-Of-Redcliffe-Redcliffe/ "I wouldn't let anyone else touch my hair!"


Why are we doing this?
Call us crazy (you won't be the first), but this promotion is to celebrate WOMOW reaching 100,000 reviews for Australian businesses. We're looking for 100 HUGS for 100,000 Ratings and we're rewarding the members and businesses that participate (we think you all deserve a hug!). So, the first 100 members to send in pics will get a $20 voucher to spend at the business they hug, and for those that also share their pic on Facebook or Twitter, we'll make this a $50 voucher. That way we're giving more business to the businesses that people want to hug. So everyone's a winner!

Get Hugging!
If you're a business owner/manager, why not ask a customer for a hug (we dare you!). And if you're a customer, give your favourite business a massive HUG from us. There's a voucher in it for you and its a good thing to do anyway!

Click here for the promotion details.

Word-of-mouth is driving my Cleaning Business

Sandy from Let Us Do It For U - Residential and Small Office Cleaning recently joined WOMOW's Happy Customers Program and says she's thrilled with how well it's working. She admits that she only joined after finding that some of her competitors were doing well on WOMOW but says she hasn't looked back since. In fact, her business has gone from doing 50 bookings a month to over 200 bookings a month! She says, "WOMOW is fantastic - I get so many calls from it and I don't advertise anywhere else."

"We've now got 6 good reviews and people love it because they get a really personal insight into what we're like to deal with. When they call us, they feel like they've done their research and they know us - which means they're ready to make a booking!"

"We also love getting the feedback - it keeps us in touch with customers and helps us understand what's important to them. We want to make sure that our service continues to be spot-on because keeping customers is even more important that getting them in the first place. Plus, we love hearing how we're helping to make our clients' lives easier."

"Our reviews on WOMOW also helped us win a sizeable contract which has made a big difference to our business. My problem is no longer 'how to get new customers', but has changed to 'how to find great staff'!"

You can see the listing and ratings for this business here - www.womow.com.au/biz/Let-Us-Do-It-4-U-Residential-and-Small-Office-Cleaning-Moorabbin/


If you would like to be featured in a WOMOW case study, please write to us telling us how word-of-mouth works for your business - support@womow.com.au

WOMOW's Hundred Hugs have begun

We're looking for a Hundred Hugs for businesses - because we think great businesses deserve a hug! The first pics are in - don't they just make you feel all warm and fuzzy?

Jo with Fab from Food for All Seasons www.womow.com.au/biz/Food-For-All-Seasons-Warrandyte/

Charlotte hugging her favourite hairdresser - Kylie from Capelli Hair & Beauty Studio www.womow.com.au/biz/Capelli-Hair-and-Beauty-Studio-Ferntree-Gully/

Heather hugging Dr Maltby (she said he deserves a hug as he's recently made her daughter's smile even more beautiful) http://www.womow.com.au/biz/Kawana-Dental-Buddina/%20%205%20days%20ago%20from

Teresa giving her singing teacher a beautiful hug. She says Kane's given her confidence and insight into the correct way to sing (and lots of others agree) www.womow.com.au/biz/Kane-Wheatley-Marrickville/


Jan giving a hug to Jenni Kate Beauty www.womow.com.au/biz/Jenni-Kate-Beauty-Baxter/


Martine hugging Renee (on the left) who is the owner of the The Beauty Pavillion in Mt Waverley
www.womow.com.au/biz/The-Beauty-Pavillion/

Jane hugging her vet, Rob from Eureka Veterinary Hospital in Ballarat
www.womow.com.au/biz/Eureka-Veterinary-Hospital-Ballarat/

Why are we doing this?
Call us crazy, but it's all about celebrating the fact that we're about to reach 100,000 ratings. We're looking for 100 HUGS for 100,000 Ratings amd we're rewarding the members and businesses that participate (we think you all deserve a hug!). So, the first 100 members to send in pics will get a $20 voucher to spend at the business they hug, and for those that also share their pic on Facebook or Twitter, we'll make this a $50 voucher. That way we're giving more business to the businesses that people want to hug. So everyone's a winner!


Want to participate?
If you're a business owner/manager, why not ask a customer for a hug (we dare you!).

And if you're a customer, give your favourite business a massive HUG from us. There's a voucher in it for you and its a good thing to do anyway!

Click here for more information about this promotion.

"My customers have become my sales force!"

Elaine Daher from Bluebell Conveyancing explains how word-of-mouth can work for professional services...

“When someone first told me there were customers rating my services online – I panicked and raced to the nearest computer! What if I’d done something wrong, what would they be saying? I need not have worried though, as the ratings were very positive and now play a big part in driving my business forward. In fact, we’re consistently getting several new clients a week because of our ratings on WOMOW.”

“It’s made me realise that when you’re genuine about providing a good service, customers are more than happy to let others know about their experience – it seems to be their way of thanking you. The flyers are an easy way to encourage them to do this on WOMOW and the system works really well. But the best part is that these reviews are helping my business get found online and are bringing in lots of new clients. My customers have effectively become my salesforce!”

“I’ve been really surprised to find how many people search online for recommendations when they need a new business. We’ve always had a lot of new clients from traditional word-of-mouth, but I never imagined that putting that feedback online would generate so many more enquiries. When people buy or sell property, they often don’t have a preferred conveyancer, so it seems that a lot of them go hunting on the web. With so many ratings, I’m lucky because often their searches will lead to my WOMOW listing and I’ll get a call.”

“The clients that come to us this way are impressed from the outset and feel confident in choosing us. I think we’ve represented almost every WOMOW enquiry we’ve had.”

Bluebell Conveyancing's listing on WOMOW can be seen here - www.womow.com.au/biz/Bluebell-Conveyancing-Williamstown/

Want to be trusted? Use consumer reviews...

People buy from businesses they trust. Whether it's an expensive B2B purchase or a simple dinner out, there are risks involved in every transaction and consumers choose to deal with businesses they believe minimise their risk. If they feel that a particular restaurant has less chance of disappointing them and embarrassing them in front of their friends, that's the one they'll choose. And if it makes sense for this type of transaction, think about situations where there's more money involved, more permanent repercussions of the purchase, or more personal services being selected. Trust me, trust is the holy grail...

So, if you're a business owner or marketer, how do you build trust? Well, there are 3 pieces of research that show how online consumer reviews can go a long way towards building a reputation people trust...

1) Almost two-thirds of people read consumer-written reviews on the internet (Deloitte & Touche)

Yes we all know that the world has gone online but did you know that all kinds of people are looking online for all kinds of businesses? We don't just research our electronic purchases online, these days people use the web to search for and scrutinise all types of businesses. One case in point is ADM Motors - a mechanic that joined WOMOW a couple of months ago. It's owner Adam says that he "never thought so many people would be looking online for a mechanic - boy was I wrong!" Since joining he knows of at least 10-12 new customers that have come to him after reading reviews about his business online - some driving all across town just to use a mechanic they feel they can trust (without ever having met Adam or used his services previously).

2) 78% of people trust other consumers' recommendations above all other types of advertising and marketing (Nielsen)

So, given that people are looking at online reviews, how much impact do they have? Well according to a recent Nielsen Golbal Online Survey of over 25,000 consumers from 50 different countries, people trust online reviews more than any other form of marketing or advertising. That's right, people don't need to know who has written the reviews, they believe what they read. The only source of advice found to be more trusted was a personal recommendation from someone they know.

Some of the businesses on WOMOW have experienced this heightened trust first-hand with Greg Mulroy from Body and Scents Perfumery saying "when people read our reviews online it gives them confidence that they'll get exactly what they expect and not a fake copy". Similarly, Nicole Seagren from Vision Finance encourages prospective clients to check their reputation on WOMOW "it gives them a positive mindset so they come to us expecting a good result and we get off to a good start".

3) People that read reviews are 30% more likely to purchase (Coremetrics)

So how does trust relate to sales? Well, studies by Coremetrics show that when businesses make online reviews easily acccessible, sales jump by an average of 30 per cent! Again, plenty of businesses on WOMOW are finding a fairly direct relationship between the number of positive reviews they have and the new clients they get from WOMOW. Misty's Diner has lots of positive ratings on WOMOW as they've been encouraging customers to enter reviews for almost 2 years now. This effort is paying off as Misty now attributes around one third of her revenue to customers that read her reviews online.

But are consumer reviews a short-term phenomenon that will go away sometime soon? Well, Trendwatching.com has labelled this the "Transparency Triumph" and predicts that even though review sites have been around for some time now, "we ain't seen nothing yet". They note that the trend is empowering consumers as never seen before - something that people aren't likely to give up without good reason. They also see the trend helping savvy businesses build inspiring brands and say that those that embrace consumer reviews are set to benefit as (in their words)...
"Reviewing is the new advertising".

Click here for more information on using WOMOW to build a bank of online reviews.

Word-of-Mouth: the Marketing Heavyweight in a Downturn

While many businesses are suffering in the current economic climate, our research shows that businesses that use online word-of-mouth are coming out stronger than ever.

When times are tough, consumers seem to be placing even more weight on word-of-mouth referrals. WOMOW's usage trends, coupled with the findings of qualitative research carried out on a sample of the businesses on the site, revealed that;

1. Consumers are now much more likely to rely on word-of-mouth referrals before parting with their money, and
2. Businesses listed on WOMOW with several positive ratings had seen an upward surge in business, instead of the plateau or decline economists predicted.
   

“Our research suggests that buyers are more discerning about how they spend their money right now, and are turning to word-of-mouth recommendations before trying a new product or service.” In the period from September last year to now, WOMOW’s members have tripled and traffic has increased by over 270 percent.

The trend towards more reliance on word of mouth is having an amazing impact on the businesses that have several positive ratings, with many attributing a good part of their recent success to the site.

For example, Albert Square dentist Joanne Flaessas said that her business had “boomed” during this recession due to word-of-mouth referrals, many found on WOMOW. “In December we were doing about two teeth whitenings a week and now we’re doing five times that amount,” she said.

Vision Finance director Nicole Seagren said the firm relied purely on word-of-mouth referrals from satisfied customers, often through the WOMOW site, for new business. “We’ve just had our best year in quite a few years – probably up about 15 percent.”

Christina Stamatopoulos from Body & Bronze said that “since we joined in February, we've had at least 25 new clients that have found us through WOMOW. Customer service is a huge part of our business - and now it's paying off! We've had a bigger year this year than any other year! I don't think we've been affected by the downturn at all.”

Adam from ADM Motors said that “WOMOW has been really great for us. In the last few months, we've had 10-12 new customers from it - and they're just the ones that mention it to us! We've got people travelling more than 20kms - just to get a roadworthy done! I guess they see our reviews and they know that we won't rip them off.”

To help people recognise the businesses that take customer satisfaction seriously, WOMOW has recently introduced stickers which are free to all businesses that repeatedly get great customer reviews. “With people now taking word-of-mouth recommendations so seriously, we want consumers to know when they’re entering a ‘dodgy–free’ service zone - and we also want the businesses that provide good service to get the recognition they deserve.”

If your business is on WOMOW with 3 or more ratings and an overall rating of 4or 5 (out of 5), please contact us for your free "WOMOW Badge of Approval" stickers.