Getting Customers To Sell For You
I have my cars fixed by an establishment called Don’s Repair. Although this place was a little out of the way for me, Don’s prices were good and when Don fixed something, it stayed fixed. So I started referring some of my friends to Don. They were also impressed with the quality of Don’s service and began referring their friends. As a result, Don’s business began to grow rather nicely.
One day, I was driving around town when my car started making a chugging sound and began to lose power. Gently, I nursed my car over to Don’s Repair. It was a very busy day and I could see when I arrived that he had a lot of work backed up. However, when Don saw me get out of my car, he immediately dropped what he was doing and came over to see what I needed. I raised the hood and started the car so Don could hear the chugging noise. After listening for about fifteen seconds, Don informed me that I had a disconnected hose and that my carburetor was sucking air. He reached down and reconnected the hose to the carburetor. Sure enough, the chugging noise went away. Don, however, burned his hand slightly on my hot engine during the process. Then he put a clamp on the hose so it wouldn’t pull off again in the future.
The whole process took about ten minutes of Don’s time. As he slammed down my hood, I pulled out my checkbook and asked Don what the charge was. Don told me that as I was a regular customer, and it really hadn’t taken him very long, there would be no charge. I argued that his time and inconvenience had to be worth something and reminded him that he did put one of his clamps m my hose. At this point Don looked up at me and said, “You don’t understand, do you?” Being somewhat puzzled, I said, “Understand what?” Don answered, “You are the cheapest advertising I can buy. I know what you are going to do when you leave here—you’re going to tell your friends, and that’s what makes my business grow!”
Don was right. To this day, I carry around a stack of Don’s business cards in my briefcase. And when anyone asks me if I know a good place where they can get their car repaired, the first thing I do is hand them one of Don’s business cards. Then I spend a few minutes telling them how great it is to do business with Don. I am one of Don’s best salespeople and I don’t cost him one cent!
I get the feeling that I’m not the only unpaid salesperson working for Don. During the last three years, Don’s business has grown 600 percent and he has never advertised. It’s strictly word of mouth on the part of excited and satisfied customers. – Ross Reck
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