What brings customers to your company? Do they find you through advertising? Or do coupons and special offers bring them to your door? The international economic crunch has businesses all over the globe wondering how to attract customers more frugally. With revenues and consumer spending on the decline, few businesses can afford to spend on traditional advertising, as the recent 30% drop in newspaper advertising sales indicates. Fortunately, PeopleMetrics’ research shows that the best kind of advertising is free. Your current engaged customers are already spreading positive word-of-mouth, so why not make their recommendations the center of your next sales drive? As PeopleMetrics’ 2009 Most Engaged Customers (MEC) report states, “If a brand or service is recommended to a [new] customer by a trusted source, this recommendation goes a long way toward building goodwill and Customer Engagement, even if the organization fails to meet expectations.” In other words, positive word-of-mouth from current customers is a highly effective method of attracting new loyal customers.

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