Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Word-of-mouth recommendations: they're a win / win / win

Last week we asked about how you select vendors for your business.

When it comes to identifying and selecting business-to-business vendors, it seems that most business owners rely on word of mouth more than any other method. And that makes sense.

Word-of-mouth recommendations typically come from people you know and trust. Someone you know is sharing their experience with you, directly and in a way that meets your specific needs. By doing so, they are helping you avoid mistakes, which, when you're running a business, can be costly. (They are also adding value to your relationship, for which you may want to reciprocate by offering your recommendations in the future.)

So everybody wins with word-of-mouth recommendations: You get the right help; the referrer earns your good will; and solid companies get more business.

But what do you do when:
  • You don't have time to ask people for recommendations
  • The people you know have no experience with the type of vendor you're seeking
  • You're not aware of all the choices that are available to you
  • You're not even sure what you need

Wouldn't it be great to have a huge database of B2B business performance and recommendation data, searchable by your specific criteria?

That's exactly what we're assembling here at Inside Up.

We've developed a sophisticated but easy way to track businesses' reputations, and deliver bits of that data to you, so you can confidently find the vendors who are the best choice for your growing business.

Think of it as a word-of-mouth recommendation engine, on steroids. With a lot more features added to help you get the information you need to grow your business faster.

By the way, check out this nice third-part validation we received this week.

Word is getting out – Inside Up is the place to go to find trusted vendors for your business!

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