We came across this research conducted by AT&T Labs and wanted to share it with you as it illustrates the power of both endorsements and peer pressure.
Tompson Tours recently did some investigating into how people research their holidays. While these findings are specific to the UK, I am sure there is quite a bit of correlation with the SA market. Here are the findings:
Nine out of 10 people said they tell family and friends about their trip when they return from their holiday.
While only a quarter write online reviews, about half of the public use them to research their holiday.
Increased reliance on the internet has not been at the expense of traditional methods - 70% of First Choice and Thomson customers rely on brochures for advice, compared with 30% of the public.
How do you research your holiday and what is your biggest influence in where you go? Post a comment and let us know!
John Goodman wrote a great paper, based on Case Studies, on why your existing base of customers should be your focus for generating new business. Have a look at the 3 pages paper or read the highlight below.
Referral based new business ranges from 20% to 70% of all new business - depending on the industry.
A customers opinion of a Financial Institution is impacted between 21% and 29% through personal interaction, and only 1% by advertising!
When Financial Institutions offered proactive education, they increased Customer Retention by 12%, whilst decreasing customer complaints considerably.
Customers said that 1 in every 4 referrals they gave for Motor Financing, led to action.
If you have happy customers, rather spend money on leveraging their passion and recommendations than on advertising - as it is very much more effective. Also so some sums on your expected Return-on-Investment - what is the cost of a new customer through leveraging your happy customers versus launching new ad campaigns. This may shock you!
Last week - 7th July - Nielsen released the results from their Global Online Consumer Survey - interviewing 25 000 users, over 50 countries.
Here is a sum up of the overall findings:
Ninety percent or consumers surveyed noted that they trust recommendations from people they know, while 70 percent trusted consumer opinions posted online.
“The explosion in Consumer Generated Media over the last couple of years means consumers’ reliance on word of mouth in the decision-making process, either from people they know or online consumers they don’t, has increased significantly,” says Jonathan Carson, President of Online, International, for the Nielsen Company.”
You can click on the image to go to the original article.