In the last post we started our series on word of mouth and talked about how to make your customers’ purchasing experience short and easy. We are going to continue with that theme a bit today. We’re going to talk about the power of word of mouth and how to mold it to your advantage.

The reality is that everyone needs an advisor to guide them to make a decision. We rely on the expertise of others to make the right decisions as they are explained to us. When you take the time to understand exactly what and how word of mouth works, you’ll see all the great advantages it has to offer you. Remember this path when working to understand word of mouth:

• Accelerate the decision making process for increased profits.
• You can accelerate product making decisions by making the process easier.
• Instead of low-ball advertising and the used car salesman approach, try delivering on your word of mouth promises.

Traditional advertising draws about one response for every thousand ads, and most of those are only to seek out more information before the customer even considers purchasing. When you get information from a friend, you are more likely to take their word for it and act. On average customers purchase two out of every five recommendations their friends make. That’s a HUGE difference.

So, what exactly is word of mouth? We know how powerful it can be, but to define it: Word of mouth is a communication that occurs between a customer and a potential customer. There is usually a relationship of some kind and an established level of trust between these two people.

Now, compare this to advertising where you are providing a message to a potential customer in which they have not established a relationship or level of trust with you. Who are they more likely to take advice from? The answer is clear!
We talked above about the benefits of word of mouth, now let’s take a look at some of the reasons it works:

• The information is custom tailored to the potential customer because of the friendly relationship of the referrer.
• It is more personal, relevant and believable.
• It is customer driven.
• It is self-generating and can take on a life of its own, especially with the information age of the internet.
• It becomes part of the product’s description.
• The source of word of mouth can be important and more effective when coming from an expert.
• Word of mouth saves you time and money.

To fully utilize word of mouth you need to understand:

1. Where is your word of mouth coming from?
2. What products are being affected by word of mouth?
3. How is your word of mouth traveling?

Once you know these things you can work out a plan on how to trigger more word of mouth.

This wraps up this lesson on word of mouth. If you need help understanding word of mouth and how it can impact your business, feel free to contact us.

Next time we’re going to dive into the nine levels of word of mouth. These levels help you understand which word of mouth is positive and which is not.

Stacey Sagues              Stacey@pegcoaches.com       404-951-9023

Philip Lewis                 Philip@pegcoaches.com        713-823-8253

Over the past year or two we have introduced a unique concept to help save your self-funded plan on retiree healthcare costs. This is NOT Medicare Advantage or some other type of retiree plan, it is pure cost savings!

Here are some things to consider:

• Pre-65 retirees have average costs 40% higher than employees of the same age.
• Disabled retirees have average annual costs 70% higher than healthy retirees.
• Retirees with Medicare reduce the cost to an employer plan by more than 80%.
• Average spending by Medicare on inpatient and outpatient care per year is $10,350.
• By identifying just one Pre-65 retiree as eligible for Medicare, the plan will save, on average, $52,000 in future medical costs (assuming 5 years until age 65).

Profit Enhancement Group’s one of a kind process in conjunction with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid has saved our customers Billions.

No upfront fees and we are not selling anything. We are coordinating customers’ benefits with Federal benefits to shift cost liability WITHOUT negatively impacting the retirees!

Want more information on our Medicare Coordination Services, or to discuss strategies?            WWW.PEGBENEFITS.COM

Stacey Sagues               Stacey@pegcoaches.com 404-951-9023

Philip Lewis                 Philip@pegcoaches.com   713-823-8253

Over the past year we have met with hundreds of brokers around the country. Most of them are struggling with their business in light of the ACA law and are looking for ways to transform their business to keep up with the changing environment. DAS (Disability Advocacy Service) has been viewed as a great fit for their portfolio and has allowed them to differentiate themselves from others in the market place.

A few brokers have even decided to purchase DAS themselves as a value add to their health care and other voluntary products (Broker paid!) as a way for them to bring more value to their clients. The brokers are now calling DAS the “Blue Collar” LTD plan, and it opens up terrific new sales opportunities for them. With DOUBLE COMMISSIONS right now!

If you are looking to add a new product to your portfolio that addresses a large segment of the working population, DAS may just be the thing!

To learn more, just give us a shout!             WWW.PEGBENEFITS.COM

Stacey Sagues                        Stacey@pegcoaches.com               404-951-9023

Philip Lewis                           Philip@pegcoaches.com                713-823-8253