Word of mouth: What will they talk about?

A few weeks ago, I introduced you to Andy Sernovitz's Word of Mouth marketing book and his five T's.

The first T = Talkers
The second T = Topics

You've got to give your customers something to talk about. And guess what…doing a good job is not enough. Customers don't even notice when you meet their expectations. You've got to grab their attention.

This isn't about force-feeding them your tagline. This is about doing something they don't expect or going far beyond their expectations.

We serve warm, homemade cookies at every client meeting. At the first meeting — our guests are floored and delighted. And then, when they become clients…they love the smell of those cookies baking as they walk into our space.

On average, about the third time they're dining on our cookies, they realize that the M&M colors match our logo colors. Purple, green and orange. And that's it. Now…they can't stop talking. And they begin to understand that building a brand is filled with little details that take it to a new level. (It's fun to watch them realize we special order the M&Ms just for their cookies.)

Another excellent topic is anything that lets your customer look like they're connected or the big man/woman. How about a "give your buddy twenty bucks" coupon (make it easy to pass along..maybe they just enter in e-mail addresses)? Or a special invitation that allows them to bring a friend to an exclusive event.

Make your customer look like a star…and they'll take you right along with them.

What do you think your clients are saying about you? What about your business or product gets them talking?