I was invited to speak at the Frederick County Chamber of Commerce's annual volunteer recognition breakfast on July 24, 2012. More than one-third of businesses that joined the Chamber in the last 18 months found the organization through word-of-mouth. Many of the best referrals come from members, volunteers, and stakeholders. In this talk, I acknowledge the Chamber's volunteers and give ideas for increasing word-of-mouth referrals for your own businesses ... Starting with your most important audience: Current customers. (I don't typically prepare scripted remarks for my presentations, but I had less than 10 minutes for this presentation, and I wanted to make sure I didn't go over my allotted time!)

1. Frederick County Chamber of Commerce
General Membership & Volunteer Recognition Breakfast
July 24, 2012
"Your Word-of-Mouth Dream Team: Turning customers into advocates for your
business"
Full remarks by Jessica Hibbard
© 2012 Stories and Ideas LLC http://www.storiesandideas.com
I'm getting ready to leave my job at the Chamber, and have spent a lot of time
over the last month or so going through papers and files and boxes in an
effort to make the office habitable for Lauren, our new communications
director.
In doing so, I've come across a number of old Chamber newspaper ads,
including one from 1980 where our organization boasted a membership of
350 organizations.
In 2010, we had just over 750 members, which means we doubled our
membership and grew by 400 over 30 years. Not too bad. But it pales in
comparison with the growth we've experienced over the past two years,
during which time we added almost 300 members.
That's right -- as I'm sure you've heard -- we're now well over 1,000 members.
If your marketing brain is as inquisitive as mine, you're probably asking what's
behind this rapid growth?
Over the last 18 months, we collected data from 481 companies on their new
member applications. One of the questions we asked was "How did you hear
about the Frederick Chamber?"
If you've studied marketing, you know that we rarely purchase something until
we've heard about it multiple times before they finally buy. In this case, most
new members are telling us the first time they heard about the Chamber, or
maybe the most memorable referral.
41% said Chamber Staff -- Way to go, Team Chamber!
Coming in at a close second, 34% said Word-of-Mouth -- in many cases, they
named a specific board member, ambassador, or other volunteer.
When I saw how many Chamber volunteers popped up as answers to that
application question, I started thinking about the diversity of our committees,
and how each one contributes to this idea of a "Word-of-Mouth Dream Team."
So, let me ask, would you like to have a 37% increase in your number of
customers or donors or investors over the next two years?
You can start by assembling your own word-of-mouth dream team. In an
effort to inspire you, let me introduce you to the Chamber's volunteers.

2. Our Board of Directors are well-respected influencers and tastemakers in
the local community. If you want to achieve word-of-mouth success, it's
critical that you win the approval of this group.
Our Ambassadors are evangelists and mentors. They light the word-of-
mouth fire and keep it stoked with their endless enthusiasm.
The people on our Marketing Council are creative and critical thinkers.
Every organization needs customers who will challenge the status quo and
bring great ideas to the table. It's one of the best ways to make sure your
company continues to grow and excel.
Our Public Policy Committee has a deep understanding of the systems
and structures in the community where we operate, and they keep an ear to
the ground so we'll be aware of critical issues and be proactive in our
response.
Leadership Frederick County volunteers have a desire to connect with
the who's who of our community. If you're having trouble connecting with
influencers and tastemakers, you need a group of people like this to help you
establish partnerships.
The Frederick Nonprofit Alliance has a deep commitment to the
community, and helps us by advocating for audiences that may be
underserved.
Generation Connect's steering committee is a relatively new group of
volunteers, at least considering our 100-year history. But they're doing
something amazingly critical: Cultivating future audiences and helping us
connect with people who don't have experience with the Chamber.
Our Golf Scramble volunteers help us put on what's arguably the most fun
event on the Chamber calendar. 100% of your customers are human, and
humans are intensely social animals. It's essential for us to connect with
people on a social level and show our organization's personality.
This year, a number of volunteers helped us with the Centennial Gala, truly
a once-in-a-lifetime event. It made us realize how important it is to celebrate
milestones, and this group has helped us commemorate our history while
keeping an eye toward the future.
How do you keep your "dream team" engaged? Your toolbox should be deep
and diverse, and every organization's audience needs something different.
But I want to close with a few suggestions that will help almost any company
increase their word-of-mouth referrals:
Don't have a crappy website. Let's say someone tells you about an
awesome product, service, or organization. What's the first thing you do?
You're going to Google it to learn more. So when someone arrives at your site
from a Google search or a link that someone shared with them, make sure
you're making a good first impression.

3. Along the same lines, be social. Not using social media is no longer an
option. If you don't know how to use it, ask someone who does to show you
the ropes. Your ability to connect with customers will increasingly depend on
your ability to use technology in an informative, authentic way.
Empower your customers. Let them know it's not only okay to share, but
that you encourage it.
Here's a great example of what NOT to do: Last November, I was shopping
downtown and I was at a store I really like. I took out my phone and started
taking some pictures so I could post about it on Instagram and Twitter. Within
seconds, an employee was scolding me and telling me that they don't allow
photos because people might steal their business plan. It was really awkward,
and I was so embarrassed that I didn't go back to that store for months and I
bought Christmas presents for my family from someone else.
So here's the lesson to take away from that experience: It's highly unlikely
that an enthusiastic customer will duplicate your business model after taking
a couple of crappy iPhone pictures. So please don't treat your customers like
criminals when they're just trying to give you some free advertising.
If you do things right, people are going to post photos and videos and tweets.
Always be on your best behavior and give every customer a great experience
-- You can never tell from looking at someone if they have thousands of
Twitter followers. And you can't tell who might be your next board member,
ambassador, or committee volunteer who's just waiting to convince their
friends to join the Chamber.
Thank you to the Chamber for letting me speak at my last event as an
employee, and thanks to FCC for hosting us. In the fall, I'll be back here at
FCC teaching a four-week class on marketing as part of a professional
development partnership with the Chamber. FCC's continuing education
catalog just came out, and it's full of terrific opportunities for you and your
employees. If you're looking for more details, I'm sure someone on staff here
at the college will give you a copy.