Enhancing word-of-mouth referrals

Overall, the effects of word-of-mouth referrals on client purchasing behaviour has been well documented over the last thirty years. From the perspective of a professional services firm the value of word-of-mouth referrals is through the number of additional clients an existing client can bring to that firm. This importance is reflected in the increased attention in the marketing literature directed at word-of-mouth (WOM) referrals and word-of-mouth communication in the last decade. This attention is deserved given the importance of word-of-mouth referrals for both practitioners and academics involved in the marketing field. For example, word-of-mouth referrals may be the most effective form of marketing and advertising and have the most impact of any communication channel. WOM's effectiveness is due to the significant effect of such referrals on consumer purchasing processes, influencing both short and long-term purchasing judgements and has been described as the ‘greatest of all brand messages’. In this exploratory study clients of a professional service provider, an Australian accounting firm, were interviewed using the convergent interview process. These interviews led to the development of an activity matrix showing those activities that have gained positive word-of-mouth referrals from these clients. Further, discussion on activities the accounting firm could implement or activities that could be restructured to encourage word-of-mouth referrals were also discussed with clients. In order to improve validity a series of convergent interviews were held with business people in Johannesburg, South Africa. These results were incorporated into a final descriptive table of referral generating activities a professional services firm could undertake. Finally, implications and future research directions were also identified.