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I received a press release this morning that put in physical terms the way the relationship between businesses and customers is changing. Here’s the gist of the release:

A new poll has revealed that 35% of Brits no longer want to receive printed business directories at home - preferring instead to look up information on the Internet or better still receive recommendations from friends. The results of the poll commissioned by local search website http://www.welovelocal.com and conducted by YouGov revealed that 67% trust word of mouth more than advertising.

Max Jennings, founder of local listings web-site http://www.welovelocal.com, commented: “more than 17.5 million(i) unwanted directories are produced every year, the waste is staggering, particularly when this survey demonstrates that 51% of all British adults are now using the Internet to find local businesses.”

The most telling number in the poll, however, is this: 67% of the British public trust word of mouth more than an advert when trying to find local businesses. Think about that when you next wonder about the ROI of placing an ad in your local directory or free newspaper. It’s no longer even about reaching an audience off-line: it’s about reaching an audience that trusts what it reads or hears.

Word of mouth is fine for small businesses with low capacity in a local market. As this scales - or as your business grows - you still need the trust factor of word of mouth but you meed more voices, more ears, and a wider geographic spread. That’s where on-line conversations take over. That’s when word of mouse begins to make a real difference to your business. Now, and in the future.

Tags: bpodr, conversation, online