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| A Note from the Editor |
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| The Power of Word of Mouth |
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I spent much of last week with 125,000
of my closest friends at Comic-Con the biggest comic book/pop
culture event in North America.
Saturday morning Tim Kring, the creator of NBC's hit show
Heroes, greeted 6,500 of us and dramatically unlocked
the briefcase that was chained to his arm. With all eyes
focused on his next move, he removed a DVD of the first
episode for next season and inserted it in the player.
Why did he let us watch it – all of it – weeks
before it airs in September? Word of mouth. He was confident
what we tell others about the show would be more persuasive
than anything the network marketing execs would come up
with.
In this issue, Colleen Francis shows you how to harness
the incredible power of word of mouth through customer
testimonials. It's a good read.
Learn the art of closing the sale. The ability
to close is what separates top achievers from wannabes.
Sales pro Jim Meisenheimer shares real-life tips gained
from 30+ years in sales and sales training in a free e-course.
I'm two-thirds of the way through it and had to tell you
about it now – it's that good. It's the kind of stuff
you wish your more experienced and successful colleagues
would tell you. Get
it here.
Is it worth it? Is it worth my time to jump through
all of this particular prospect's hoops to get the account?
That's a question you might be asking yourself at least
once a week. In these difficult economic times, it's more
critical than ever that you use your selling time wisely.
Our friends at Sales Concepts have a formula for determining
if all that added work is really worth your time. Check
it out. |
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| To your success, |
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Tina LoSasso
Managing Editor, SalesDog.com |
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Harness the Amazing Power of Testimonials
By Colleen Francis
Testimonials allow prospects to discover the real-world benefits
of using your product or service from your customers. Few sales tactics
are more compelling or persuasive. Colleen Francis shows you several
ways to get and use testimonials to sell more.
For any sales professional interested in selling more to more people
in less time, testimonials are a vital part of the formula for success.
If you're not using them in your business right now, you are missing
out on one of the most useful sales tools ever!
Consider the story of legendary businessman W. Clement Stone. He built
what would one day become a multi-billion dollar empire by selling
fire-insurance policies door-to-door during the Great Depression.
There's no denying Clem's knack for people skills was a big part of
his success. But, he also had a little something extra––a
binder overflowing with testimonials from his customers. Legend has
it that binder never left his side when he was knocking on all those
doors. It was chock full of stories––and not just happy
accounts from people who were satisfied. It also told painful stories
about how people had lost houses, husbands and wives to misfortune...and
how relieved they were that, thanks to Clem, they had signed on the
dotted line long ago, and now were covered. Frankly, after reading
stories out of that binder, it's hard to imagine how anyone could
ever say no to him!
That's the amazing power of testimonials. They work because they reaffirm
for others what you already know is true.
Show 'em the steak
When you meet with prospects, it's likely you talk about all the great
things you do for your clients. You might also talk about how often
you go the extra mile because service matters to you. But let's face
it: in sales, no one ever becomes successful and stays that way for
long if all they ever do is talk about the sizzle without ever showing
the steak.
That's where testimonials come in. They back up what you say with
what noted psychologist Robert B. Cialdini calls social proof.
If we drill down a little deeper into human psychology, we also learn
that testimonials have amazing persuasive powers. That's because they
touch on both the fact-based and emotion-based motivators that drive
people to buy things. They reaffirm that your claims are credible
and your services are the real deal. They validate the feelings that
a prospect has for you. And they do so with a message that is unmistakably
authentic and sincere.
When you combine all those motivators together, it helps you make
a very convincing case to prospects. You can say "Don't just
take my word for it, have a look at what my customers say..."
It deepens the confidence people will have in your message and it
can dramatically reduce the barriers you face in closing the sale.
Let's look at how you can harness the power of testimonials to help
you sell.
Keep your ears open wide
When you're talking to your customers, does anyone ever share with
you a little story about how they were able to make great use your
product or service? Check your email. Has anyone ever sent you a note
just to say "thanks for the great work" on the last job
you did for them? Or have you ever received glowing feedback from
a client who responded to a survey you sent out? Each of those is
a testimonial, just waiting for you to act on it.
Ask and you shall receive
Remember our friend W. Clement Stone? He once famously said: "If
there is something to gain and nothing to lose by asking, by all means
ask!" When a client says great things about you, about your work
or the products you sell, give them the opportunity to turn that praise
into a testimonial. Simply ask: "I'd really love it if I could
include what you just said in my client testimonials. Would that be
okay?" People generally like to be helpful, but they'll never
get the opportunity to give you that all-powerful testimonial if you
don't ask.
Newer customers are passionate
Get on the phone and call your newest customers. No matter what industry
you serve, the most passionate praise you'll find for your work and
the service you sell tends to come from customers with whom you have
only recently started doing business. Andy Sernovitz, the author of
"Word of Mouth Marketing: How Smart Companies Get People Talking"
explains why: they are the ones who are most excited about having
found you. Your repeat customers, on the other hand, are already accustomed
to the great service you provide.
Repeat customers are wise and insightful
Your repeat customers provide people (and that includes you!) with
important insight about what makes your product or service worth coming
back to-again and again. So make a point of calling up those you have
been doing business with for a long time and ask them why it is they
call on you. The answers you get will often include a great sentence
or two you can add to your testimonial collection. Again, all you
have to do is ask.
Make it easy for people
One of the most common comments you'll hear from clients when asking
for testimonials is "Well I'm really not much of a writer, so
it's hard for me to put it in words." The real power of testimonials
comes from the fact they're not polished...they're authentic and from
the heart. A marketing professional I know quite well recently shared
with me his secret about how he addresses this issue in his business.
"I borrowed an idea from John Caples––one of the great
copywriters of the 20th century. When asking a client for a testimonial,
he'd simply say 'Finish this sentence in 25 words or less: I really
like (product/service/person) because...' This really works because
it gets right to the point about the feelings people have for you,
for what you do and for what you're selling."
Make testimonials part of your strategy for cold calls
Turn a testimonial into an opening statement you can use when making
your cold calls. It's a great way to get the conversation started
on the right note because it's one (or more) of your customers talking
about all the great things you can do for that prospect at the other
end of phone. This strategy can be really compelling when the testimonial
is one the person you are calling can relate to specifically in their
line of work. Let's say I'm calling a prospect in the tourism industry
and I share with them a sample of the great feedback I received recently
from a client who works for that industry's national association,
I'm making it clear that I understand the challenges they have to
deal with in their work. There's also a deeper message being processed
by the person I'm calling: "If Colleen has worked with them,
then she understands what we need and if she understands what we need,
then she understands me."
Do unto others
Write testimonials for others with whom you do business and whose
services have impressed you. It's a good thing to do. It also helps
to deepen those all-important reciprocal relationships. Plus testimonials
you write about others send an important message to everyone about
the high standards you have not only as a supplier but as a buyer,
too. The social networking site, LinkedIn is a handy tool for
doing this. Not only does it encourage reciprocity, it also helps
you become part of a trusted network of professionals.
Make testimonials noticeable
As you build your collection of testimonials, you'll need to find
a place where people can read them. Lucky for you, you have a lot
more choices than W. Clement Stone did back in the Depression-era.
Not only can you put them all in a binder to show prospects, you can
also include testimonials in other products...and most won't cost
you much more than a few minutes of your time. Here are some examples.
Create a special web page devoted to testimonials. Consider ways that
you can include sample quotes from that collection and feature them
in steady rotation on the main page of your site. Another approach
that I've seen is to include a new testimonial on the signature line
of every outbound email. The possibilities are endless and the potential
benefits to your sales record can be quite amazing, even lucrative.
Colleen Francis, Sales Expert, is Founder and President of Engage
Selling Solutions. Armed with skills developed from years of experience,
Colleen helps clients realize immediate results, achieve lasting success
and permanently raise their bottom line. Start improving your results
today with Engage's online Newsletter Engaging Ideas and a FREE
10 day intensive sales eCourse.
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| Praise for Top Dog Sales
Secrets |
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"One of these top dog secrets can earn you a fortune."
– Jeffrey Gitomer
"It's like reading the best ideas from 50 sales books
all in one book."
– Michelle Nichols, Savvy Selling International
"I HIGHLY recommend it for the inspiration AND the skills
that one will learn or ‘re-learn.' It is easy to read,
entertaining, and very broad in topic selection."
– Lori Richardson, Score More Sales
Order
your copy of the book today to learn an effective
strategy that will help you take back control of the sale. |
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