Over the past 30-plus years of working closely with small businesses of all sizes, from “Mom-and-Pops” (some were so small they were just “Pops”) to businesses with several locations, one of the proclamations I fielded with great frequency was, “Word-of-mouth is the best form of advertising.”
“Word-of-mouth doesn’t cost a dime” they would boast.
“Word-of-mouth brings in customers.”
“Word-of-mouth is the only advertising that we get feedback on.”
Or, “Word of mouth gives me better results than all the advertising we’ve purchased.”
What could I say? I couldn’t argue with any of their claims.