Technology means we all now buy from recommendations

That may be the most obvious headline you’ll read this year, but bear with me as it may not be quite what you think.

By Mike Holman, executive director, BNI

Earlier this year, my wife asked me to book a hotel for a long weekend to Venice. Having never been there before I did what millions of other people do and turned to TripAdvisor to check out other people’s reviews and recommendations. Now I’m unlikely to ever meet these reviewers, but if Mary from Morecambe said she didn’t like a certain hotel then it was immediately scrubbed off my list, but if she loved it, I was there! That’s the power of a review.

But how does this have anything to do with creating business by referral? These days, we are so conditioned to buying goods and services based on online reviews and recommendations that our future customers, beyond online shoppers, will also be coming to us in the same way.

Whilst I encourage you to explore all means to promote and market your business, it’s important to still invest time and effort into marketing by recommendation.