John Jantsch, the small business marketing expert behind Duct Tape Marketing, has done it again. This time, he shares a valuable lesson about how to get your customers to market for you through the power of word of mouth. But this isn’t a typical business self-help book…

For starters, The Referral Engine begins with a physiology lesson about how the hypothalamus, a tiny section of our brains, is hard wired to make referrals in order to build credit in the community and connect with others. The book then goes on to explain how you can leverage this psychological need to grow your business.

But the book is so much more than a psychology lesson. It also offers a systematic approach for growing your business through word of mouth marketing, including proven strategies for establishing a referral program and practical tools for putting the system in place. Some of these strategies include:

• Talking with your customers, not at them. Thanks to social networking sites, companies of any size have the opportunity to engage with their customers on their home turf as never before—but the key is listening.
• Leveraging your sales team as a marketing tool. Sales people are the company’s main link to customers, who are the main source of referrals. Getting them on board with your referral strategy is critical.
• Educating your customers. Referrals are only helpful if they’re given to the right people. Educate your customers about whom they should be talking to.

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