“We started offering each of our customers a chance to win $250 in pet supplies if they referred another pet owner. We call it “Refer a Pet Pal”. We have had over 100 entries/most of which are new users since we started the promotion on September 1st.Evan L, Topeka, KS Pet Store

“Our downtown main street is very busy on Saturday mornings with bike riders.We set up two tables in front of our restaurant and fill cups with ice water. I had a banner made for “Bike Rider Rest Station—Free Water.” We probably have 50 to 60 riders stop.I’m happy that at least 5 customers a week come in to eat and thank us for doing this.”Michelle M, San Clemente, CA Vegan Cafe

“Kim has been blogging lately about the "Six I's" to effectively plan and execute better Word of Mouth by retail store owners. She just blogged about the importance of "inviting" your customer to participate in WOM. It begins with a conversation with customer.But how do you start the conversation? You certainly don't just ask them to go out and talk up your store.What are some key conversation starters to make it easier to engage your customer?I find it helpful to ask questions that let the person talk about their favorite subject---THEMSELVES.Better to ask them questions they can answer easily and are open-ended encouraging a longer answer. For example,"I recognize you from shopping here before. I'm interested to know, what items do you hope to find here, and are disappointed that you didn't find? Is there a favorite product or a brand that I don’t carry that you wish we did?Is there one employee here who has been helpful to you? How did they help? Is there any experience you had here that was disappointing? How should we have handled that? I'm looking for ways to improve how we serve you. What is one thing I should tell my staff that could make us a better place to shop?While these questions can run from positive or negative points of view, I think it best to ask open-ended questions that encourage more conversation. Asking questions that require a single-word answer are conversation barricades, not conversation starters. I don’t learn a thing when I ask, "Did you find everything?" "How are you, today?" .And just for one day, please don't tell you customers to "Have a nice day."Try, "Thank you. I'm glad you came by today. It's nice to see you again."Mary Pat, Racine, WI

“We like to reward our customers by giving them recognition in our store. We have a list in our store where we put the names of any of our customers who recommend/refer another customer to us. We also print up a monthly newsletter and we give credit to our customers that make suggestions to our store by listing the suggestion of the month. Our customers say they like being included and they look forward to see what someone new has contributed to our store.”Todd H, Cedar City, UT Fitness Center

“Door hangers. For the last several years, I didn’t have to “farm” an area. With the housing market the way it is, I decided to go back to some areas that I had sold homes in before and re-introduce myself with some information about what’s happened to this particular area in terms of home prices. I got 3 leads for listings because the people wanted me to evaluate their home for sale before the market moved again.”Linda G, Las Vegas, NV, Real Estate

“I get a lot of newsletters from craft shops with information about new products and services. The newsletter provides an opportunity to give the dates the products will arrive and some information about price, color, etc that will be of interest to consumers. The manufacturers often will provide you this information to put into your newsletter.Also, I like it when email newsletters have special offers and discounts that are available for a limited time only, and only for customers who receive email. You don’t need to have an offer in every email, once every two months could work to keep people interested.Mary Jane, Salt Lake City, UT homemaker

“We partner with the local animal shelter for their Adopt-A-Pet program each Spring and Fall. We put together a “Welcome To Your New Home” bag of food, treats and toys, which are handed out at the shelter when a pet is adopted. We include a discount coupon for their next total purchase at our store as well as their first grooming appointment.Karen D, Portsmouth NH, Pet Shop

“At our store we ask the customer for their phone number when we are taking their order. Our POS system allows us to collect that piece of data which we can later reverse append to get a land address. This is somewhat effective but can become expensive. More recently we are working on building our list of email addresses so we can communicate with our customers that way. We run different promotions to incent people to sign up (a contest where one person will win a $25 GC or 5 free lunches or something), but mostly we just try to have a consistent presence in our store letting people know about the online program and also tagging everything we do with our web address.”Jackson T, Miami, FL Café Owner

“Last summer we decided to focus on Children in Art. We took all items that even remotely seemed like something a child would like to work with and put them on sale. We have had weekly contests for children to participate in...a different theme each week....awarding them a small gift certificate.All of this naturally brings in parents...and we endeavor to engage them in buying THEIR OWN supplies!.” Hannah Y, Elsmwood, CT Teacher Supply Store

“We always have a large drop-box for the Toys-for-Tots drive in November and December. We post a running total the number of “full boxes” donated during the drive. Every donor receives a free ice cream cone. Our store is one of the largest collectors of toys in town for this worthy cause.”Kelly P, Baton Rouge, LA Ice Cream Store

“We work with the local American Red Cross to host a “blood drive” twice a year.We hold an Open House” on the day their equipment and volunteers are in our parking lot. We also provide the juice and snacks for the donors.”Barry V, Pittsburgh, PA Fitness Studio

I’m really focusing on referrals…I make a point to mail a postcard to former clients and ask for referrals, and send a gift certificate to a nice restaurant to every client who gives me a referral.Patrick O. Rapid City, SD- Real Estate

“Newsletters can provide good information about the store: for example, give subscribers first notice of any in-store events, and they will have ‘first dibs’ on signing up to attend events. Also you communicate changes to your store hours or policies, to make their shopping easier and more convenient.”Larry N, Dearborn, MI Ice Rink Owner

“We use newsletters to get information from our customers. Have a poll or a survey. It can be short, and even fun: where are you going on vacation? What TV show are you enjoying this summer? Then post results in a future newsletter. People love taking polls.Of course, always best to use a poll topic that is of interest to your audience.Our customers are into new bands, especially hip-hop. We like to poll about "Who's Hot" in order to let them chime in about their favorites, and it also let's us get a sense of trends.”Anson L , Natchez, Miss Clothing Store

“We’re focusing our efforts on the neighborhood: distributing leaflets on cars at parking lots near our business, and dropping off menus and local businesses to increase our lunch traffic. I personally visit a few local businesses every day and drop off my card, and offer to create a special ‘in office lunch’ for local businesses.”Flo K, Jonesboro, KY Diner

As far as comments on products or service we need to get better about getting out from behind the counter and interacting with our customers and creating a dialog. One of the things that helps is doing role plays with the staff on a regular basis and coaching them on how to converse with customers. Most of the information we get from this is anecdotal, we don't capture it, but it can help to identify trends.” Jackson T, Miami, FL Café Owner

“Some in our center used post it notes as flyers that they put on cars. We asked them about it and they said that they got better response than before with normal flyers. Plus they had no complaints from the landlord about flyers all over the parking lot. They used the local printer and had 500 of the post it notes printed. One thing that they said was important is that they put the note on the driver’s side door not on the windshield.”Alexis V, Newport Beach, CA, dress boutique

“Our downtown main street is very busy on Saturday mornings with bike riders.We set up two tables in front of our restaurant and fill cups with ice water. I had a banner made for “Bike Rider Rest Station—Free Water.” We probably have 50 to 60 riders stop.I’m happy that at least 5 customers a week come in to eat and thank us for doing this.”Michelle M, San Clemente, CA Vegan Cafe

“We’ve been very focused in our targeting, and are now emailing and mailing only to teachers and parents with kids under 12 to promote our store as a place for art supplies for school. In November, we’ll switch to stay at home Moms and promote the store as a place to buy supplies to make Christmas gifts.”Kevin J, Bangor, ME Gift Store

I’m really focusing on referrals…I make a point to mail a postcard to former clients and ask for referrals, and send a gift certificate to a nice restaurant to every client who gives me a referral. Patrick O. Rapid City, SD- Real Estate

“I have started going to some of our local community events and using them as a chance to meet new people and promote my business. I always have a pocketful of business cards with me, in case I talk with someone who has pets, and many people do. The local weekend farmer’s market has been great. I also got a lot out of participating at a local Cure for Cancer walk. Met a lot of people, particularly those walking with their dogs, and in several cases, the conversations got around to “what do you do?”, and it gave me a chance to tell them about my shop.”Maria M, Los Angeles, Pet Store

We've started to give away bookmarks with the name, address, web and phone number for the store, and we drop several in a bag so people can share with their friends. We're trying to think of other low-cost freebies too, including book club reading lists, for customers.Tom T., Bookseller, Spokane WA.

“I never really cared for the painted signs on the front of stores I felt like it cheapened your image. However, business has been so bad that I decided to try it. We put a sign on the window that said special weekend sale. Free Restretto with Any Best Seller. It worked we did 35% more sales of NY Times best seller list than we had done on any weekend in the past 6 months.Mandy C, San Francisco, Book Store & Coffee Boutique

“We’re scheduling more ‘try me nights’ where people can come in and work out for free. We schedule these on the slow nights of the week and let our ‘regulars’ know that they’ll be a few more people here on those nights. We give our regulars who are in on the ‘try me’ nights a free juice drink to make up for any inconvenience.”Todd H, Cedar City, UT Fitness Center

“We use newsletters to get information from our customers. Have a poll or a survey. It can be short, and even fun: where are you going on vacation? What TV show are you enjoying this summer? Then post results in a future newsletter. People love taking polls.Of course, always best to use a poll topic that is of interest to your audience.Our customers are into new bands, especially hip-hop. We like to poll about "Who's Hot" in order to let them chime in about their favorites, and it also let's us get a sense of trends.”Anson L , Natchez, Miss Clothing Store

We are really focusing on enhancing value with consumers, so for Fall we’re putting together and promoting product combo bundles such as football jersey and pads for kids, bike helmet and water bottle, etc. To promote this we wanted to reach families, so we advertised in the weekly newspapers, which tend to be less expensive than the big daily paper in town. This allowed us to advertise more often and look at geographic specific circulation runs to reach our immediate area better.Bobby Joe C. Springfield, IL Sporting Goods

Two food giants...General Mills and Kraft...have just started WOM communities. GM is called psst...and Kraft's is called First TasteAndrea K, Virginia Beach, VA, Shoe Store

"Word of mouth spread offline is more positive and more likely to be interpreted as credible than WOM spread online, according to a recent research study from WOMMA member company the Keller Fay Group. Fifty-nine percent of those surveyed indicted they found WOM transmitted face-to-face and on the phone was "highly" credible, versus 49% for online WOM. The study also found that 66% of face-to-face WOM communication was "mostly positive" versus 57% of the impressions on blogs and chat rooms. Offline WOM was also found to be 7% more likely to lead to purchase intent, according to the research." Marsha T., Advertising agency, Baton Rouge. LA.