Today’s post is a story about how little things can drive your word of mouth and referral marketing.

About ten days ago, I attended my first ever yoga class and a Bikram yoga class no less. Bikram Yoga, otherwise known as hot yoga, is reputedly one of the hardest forms of yoga as you go through 26 postures or (asanas) and two breathing exercises in a room that is heated to temperatures of around 42-45 degrees centigrade and about 40% humidity.

I’ve never been to a yoga class before so I went to Bikram Yoga Brighton with Hana (my other half). This is a usual haunt of Hana’s and I was treated to a great class by Carolyn Jikiemi-Roberts (see picture).

The reason that I went along was that I thought it’d be interesting to try, that it might benefit my rock-climbing (my main sporting pastime these days) and improve my flexibility. I must admit that I was a little nervous about doing the class, which I thought would be hard enough, but doing it in a ‘hot’ room. Well, I was ready for an ‘interesting’ experience.

What I found was that I did better than expected. Although I was completely soaked by the end, I found that having lived through summers in the Middle East in the 1990s (40-45 degree centigrade heat) really helped me deal with the heat and the fact that I was wet from head to toe during the class.

However, that’s not what I wanted to point out.

It’s what happened after the class that is worth noting. As I was a first-time visitor, after the class I was asked how I found it and then debriefed and told that I should drink lots of water throughout the day and that it’s quite normal for first-timers to feel a little weak or light-headed afterwards. After thanking them for that, I mentioned that I had enjoyed the class and had some climbing friends that might be interested in trying out the classes too. So, I was furnished with a few special offer ‘postcards’ to distribute to my friends as appropriate. Nice!

But, there’s more.

A couple of days after the class, I received a message on my mobile phone from Lucy at Bikram Yoga Brighton asking how I was after the class, if I had experienced any ill-effects and that they be glad to see me again.

It was this little touch: A quick phone call to see how I was and to say that they’d really like to see me again that was the catalyst for me to distribute and recommend the class and centre to 4 of my climbing friends. And, I’m pretty sure that I won’t stop there. Their actions mean that I will go again and will try and fit hot yoga into my routine. But, more importantly, it has meant that I have now put them on my ‘I like this company and these people and I’m going to recommend them’ list.

What this experience showed me was that building better relations, delivering a great customer experience, word of mouth marketing, referrals and the amount of repeat business that you do with your customers does not have to be hard or complicated. As Malcolm Gladwell says in his book The Tipping Point, it’s the little things that can make the big difference.

What little things do you do in your business that make the big difference?

Thanks to Carolyn Jikiemi-Roberts for the image.