Fire your salespeople. Energize your Advocates.
That sounds extreme. But consider these three points.
- Prospects trust your Advocates more than your salespeople. 53% of business executives say colleagues’/friends’ Word of Mouth is the #1 influencer of their purchase decisions compared to 39% of sales representatives, according to a study for events management firm Jack Morton by Keller Fay, a leading Word of Mouth research firm.
- Advocates actually get their friends and colleagues to buy. According to Comscore and Yahoo!, Advocates actually convert prospects two to three times more often than non-Advocates.
- Unlike paid salespeople, Advocates evangelize you for free. They go out of their way to recommend you because they’ve had a great experience with your product or service and want to tell others.
