Why Testimonials Are The Only Proof You’ve Got?

It's obvious, your satisfied customers are your best sales people, and they will outsell you by 100 times. You can say how good you are, until you are blue in the face, but a 2 minute conversation between a potential customer and a satisfied customer will close the deal very quickly.

Now you can't send a satisfied customer with every sales piece, so their testimonials are the only proof you've got.

When you say how good you are, you're blowing your own trumpet, you're bragging, but when someone else says the same thing, it's proof, it has clout.

So if this is true, why do I see quotations, proposals and sales material being distributed without any proof? If the credibility is so much higher, when someone else says how good you are, why are quotations, proposals and sales material not laden with testimonials?How do YOU market and quote?Is your sales material and proposals currently laden with testimonials, like a fruit tree, with branches dragging on the ground from the weight of the fruit?If yes, then well done! But if not, then WHY NOT?A simple strategy of collecting a testimonial from every customer, and displaying them in all your sales material, is guaranteed to immediately increase your conversions. It will magnify your credibility and will be the most read part of your sales material.

You can never have too many testimonials, but don't get the wrong kind of testimonial. Like:

"I would recommend XYZ Computers as they provide outstanding service. I have used them for 5 years."

from Joe Bloggs (ABC Trading)That testimonial may make you, as the business owner, feel good, but its too general. A great testimonial should be written in a way that is focused and specific.

"I was wasting up to 10 hours a week trying to overcome computer glitches. Within 24 hours of calling XYZ Computers they had not only solved my problem but provided a solution that would prevent this from ever happening again. I paid less than $100 to solve a problem that was costing me $600 a week in down time and causing a lot of stress. If you have any doubt about using XYZ computers, just give me a call."

from Ian McConnell (ProfitFitness.com) tel – 7777 7777 7777

Now that's a specific testimonial. Note the option for potential customers to call. You need to convince your customers to insert their phone numbers, as it is free advertising for them. Explain to them that less than 5% of people will call. It will make the testimonial 10 times more powerful. However if a potential customer does call your customer, make sure you reward the customer for this, it's well worth it.

But how do you get testimonials like that? Well first you need to EARN them and then you need to ASK for them. It's ok to prompt the customer to get a more specific outcome, but be truthful and don't exaggerate!A feedback questionnaire, that is well thought out, could not only be used to improve your service, but also parts of it could be extracted and put together to make up the testimonial, with the customers permission of course.

Testimonials are a great tool for closing sales. They remove any doubt, reduce the risk, confirm the value and smooth the way to a sale. Great testimonials will sell much more product or services than you ever could!So if you don't have any testimonials, you need to correct this now! List your 10 best customers, call them, offer to buy them lunch and get those testimonials. And if it feels awkward to ask them, then your relationship is weak, to the point that you could lose them to your competitors at any time.