The Referral Engine

John Jantsch, the marketing expert behind Duct Tape Marketing, argues that word-of-mouth referrals now drive business more than glitzy advertising, because people trust a recommendation from a friend or colleague over anything a faceless company says. Referrals, he contends, are not out of an owner's hands: the urge to recommend is wired into the brain, and a business can tap it. His practical techniques include talking with customers rather than at them, treating the sales team as central to marketing, and teaching customers whom to refer. The core model is what he calls the Customer Referral Cycle, in which referred customers go on to bring in still more.

Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh tied the personal connections Zappos builds to what people tell friends, and praised the book for showing how to give people reasons to talk. Seth Godin endorsed Jantsch as one of the most knowledgeable and generous voices on small business marketing.