Robyn is rarely in the office, but she's found a way to maintain high levels of customer service and keep her online homewares business, Lifestyle Ensemble, growing strongly using word-of-mouth.
In fact, there are four ways she uses customer feedback to fuel growth and manage the business… 

"We rely on our staff and a number of external suppliers to provide our clients with a high level of service. By simply making sure we include a 'Review-Us' Flyer in with every order asking customers for feedback, we can be sure we'll hear about any problems with delivery, presentation, or the products we've sent. This gives me the ability to keep tabs on things when I'm not physically there." 

"My staff are often working independently so its really important that they feel good about themselves and take pride in their work (especially being an online business where we often don't have direct contact with customers). Receiving positive feedback from customers reinforces how valued their efforts are. Whenever we receive a review we make a big deal of it and pat ourselves on the back!" 

For an online business, in fact for most businesses, getting found online is half the battle! "WOMO is the only online advertising we do, and really the only regular advertising we do full stop. Yet, more and more people are finding us every day." 

"There is still some skeptism in Australia towards online retailers so building trust is a really important part of what we do. We display our customer reviews on our website using the WOMO Widget – that way people can see the reviews are independent, and they're extremely convincing." But for Robyn, using reviews is not just about showcasing some testimonials, "we use the review process to show that we're a transparent business and that we literally have nothing to hide. We make it clear that when someone buys from us, they can leave feedback which is publically available – so it shows people that we're confident in our service. It's personable like a conversation and the world gets to see it." 

 

"Using word-of-mouth to grow our business fits our philosphy of basing our business around our customers and earning our growth. We're very happy and proud of our success – we continued growing right through the GFC and have just had our best Christmas ever!"