The holiday shopping frenzy is past – but savvy retailers are planning ways to attract shoppers back into the stores. Maybe the key is to ramp up their dialogue with their customers. A GFK Roper Consulting Poll on the trustworthiness of sources used to make purchasing decisions reports that word of mouth was rated the highest.

In fact, 81% of consumers reported that word of mouth was “the most trustworthy source for purchase ideas and information.” (Source GFK Roper Consulting, Global Word of Mouth Study.) This was reinforced by a DoubleClick survey that reported that a friend’s recommendation was the most important influence when it came to buying a product or service. This was true for both males (92%) and females (95%)

According to a Bain and Company study based on an analysis of actual purchasing and referral patterns “Likelihood to recommend” most highly correlated with customer loyalty across seemingly disparate industries.

Why is this important to healthcare? Healthcare is moving from a patient-centric to a consumer-centric market. And in early 2008, hospitals will be required to report the results of patient satisfaction data publicly. The HCAPHPS survey includes the telling question, “Would you recommend this hospital to your friends and family.”

So, I want to suggest a new year’s goal for all of us – let’s put the systems in place to engage in a dialogue with our customers. Let’s not rely solely on patient satisfaction data to find out what our customers are thinking. Let’s talk to them immediately after an encounter – and find out what it would take to make them likely to recommend us.

At The Beryl Institute, we want to join this “word of mouth” conversation. I look forward to the discourse in 2008.