Hartford Business Journal

www.HartfordBusiness.com • July 22, 2019 • Hartford Business Journal 25 EXPERTS CORNER How to get testimonials that boost your credibility By John Graham "I want to believe you, but I'm not sure I trust you" is the unspoken question customers ask salespeople. The devil in every sale is customer doubt. Specifically, a salesperson's lack of credibility. Slow down. Forget about "updating" your "professional profile." Why? To put it graciously, too many are being "massaged" by salespeople who think they need to "enhance" them- selves. But, customers aren't fooled; bad experiences make them suspicious and they back off from saying "yes." The tool that helps bridge the "cred- ibility gulf" is the customer testimonial. But wait a minute; don't role your eyes and stop reading just because testimoni- als haven't worked for you. Here's why: All testimonials aren't equal; most are lacking credibility. Even though some testimonials may be genuine, they're dull, boring and lack impact. In other words, they're ineffective. For testimonials to do the job of en- hancing someone's integrity, they must tell a compelling story (not make a sales pitch) in a few carefully crafted words. Here's how to go about obtaining testimonials that are believable and enhance credibility: Step 1 — Selecting testimonial candidates Forget about your sister-in-law or your best friend. Be selective about who you ask for testimonials. Choose situations where you've made a difference or saved the day. These are testimonials that resonate with prospects. For example, it was during a review of a prospect's business insurance program that a broker discovered several gaps in coverage that could do serious financial damage to the company, should a loss oc- cur. When the agent was awarded the account, he asked the owner for a testimonial. Need- less to say, the new client readily agreed. Powerful testimonials often come from using a PSR or Problem-Solution- Results format. Present the problem, followed by your solution, and then drive the message home with the ac- crued results. Whether it's a testimo- nial or a case history, identify people with their full name, business and location. Otherwise, it isn't credible. Here's the key: The right moment to ask for a testimonial is not when you want it, but when you have demon- strated your competence. Step 2 — Obtaining testimonials that have value Asking someone to write a testimo- nial can be a major mistake. If you do, the chances are you won't get what you expected — or wanted. Most people want to be helpful, but they don't know what to say or how to say it. So, they fall back on trite words and phrases that fail to convey a meaningful message. A more successful approach is having someone who can ask questions that get a person talking to conduct a phone interview and write up a concise and compelling narrative. Then, have the person interviewed re- view it and make any changes and approve the final content. They will appreciate the help in giving it a professional touch. Step 3 — Putting testimonials to work Once you have a portfolio of several testimonials, what are you going to do with them? How are you going to make them work for you? Take this seriously. There is nothing more persuasive than having a customer tell your story. Here are ways for you to get the most out of testimonials: • Include in newsletters • Showcase on websites and in videos • Feature in sales letters • Turn into handouts for meetings and events • Highlight on social media • Send when asked for references • Display on banners at trade shows • Make seminar presentations Obtaining interesting and captivating testimonials is exciting. But there's one more step: Obtaining permission to use them. In fact, tell those interviewed you will send them the proposed wording, along with a testimonial release form (ask a lawyer to make a recommenda- tion). Don't use a testimonial until you have a signed release in hand. Testimonials can be one of the most powerful influencers available to mar- keters and salespeople. But get them right and using them effectively to maximize their benefits takes thought, planning and expertise. John Graham of GrahamComm is a marketing and sales strategy consultant and business writer. BIZ BOOKS How to leverage relationships to achieve your business goals By Jim Pawlak "Success is in Your Sphere — Lever- age the Power of Relationships to Achieve Your Busi- ness Goals" By Ziv Band (McGraw-Hill Education, $26). Companies spend lots of money on customer rela- tionship management (CRM) systems designed to create and build customer connection. They know that CRMs not only increase customer loyalty but also create a continuous feedback loop, which produces valuable product and service information. Yet, the same people spending the money on CRMs usually don't apply its principles to managing their per- sonal networks. As a result, they don't utilize the power of relationships to maximize their productivity. Like a CRM, developing a personal relationship management (PRM) system takes a long view. Why? Social networks change. They evolve as you and those who helped you change jobs, change employers, relocate, die, etc. People who helped you get to point A may not be available, or may not have what you need to get to your point B. How do you keep your PRM fresh? Follow Band's CAPITAL strategy for relationship marketing: C — "Consistent execution": We live by our calendars. Block out time to de- vote to contacting people (email, phone, face-to-face, social media comments) in your PRM and those you'd like to add to it. Building this new habit into your daily routine "could be as easy as memorizing: "Every ____ after I _______, I'll spend ___ minutes working on my network." A — "Aggregating": Buy a contact- management system. Within its templates, include information about the contact interests, what connects you to them, birthdays/anniversaries, hobbies, etc. Also use it to batch infor- mation to share with "contact email groups"; various Google extensions, Evernote and Dropbox make it easy to share web-based information. Appen- dix C provides messaging templates. Creating files for their email respons- es that you can connect to your data- base and notes on conversations helps you decide what's next and when. P — "Prioritize": Constantly evalu- ate where you are on your path toward your goal and what's needed to continue your progress. Review your database to identify those in the best position to help you now. Focus on contacting them more frequently. Note that now will change over time. Appendix B provides information on contact-frequency times. I — "Investigate": This is a corollary of "aggregating." The more information you have, the greater the opportunity to amplify and solidify the relationship. Every time you make contact probe for "what's new." Add it to your contact notes and begin looking for information that the contact would find of interest. You'll probably find that such in- formation exists with other contacts in your database. This presents an occasion to contact these others for "I want to learn more about … " input. It also leads to a new/revised batch mes- saging and cross-contact pollination. I've found LinkedIn groups a good source of information, too; it's infor- mation can lead you to new contacts. L — "Leverage": Make it easy to act on what you need to do to build, maintain and adjust elements of your PRM. Band stresses that your database should always be accessible (much like the old days when you carried the Franklin Planner wherever you went). Ready access cues a prompt update after an interaction. Having a database that provides when-to reminders helps work the contacts into your calendar. Subscribing to RSS news feeds helps keep track of topical information from different websites in a single news aggregator. Making your PRM system work: Band advises scheduling your 100 most-important contacts for quarterly interaction. This shows them that they're on your radar and helps ensure you stay on theirs. People do business with people they know — especially those who maintain an ongoing inter- est in them. John Graham Jim Pawlak Book Review There is nothing more persuasive than having a customer tell your story.

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