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Article Title: Are You Getting "Testimonial Letters...?"
Author: John Hirth
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Testimonials are a strong selling tool and a resource that most
sales people under utilize. Your reference sources are highly
valuable to you, a "prized possession" that you want to use to
your best advantage. Having a better understanding of the
different types of testimonials might help you to not only use
them better but get more "leverage" out of their value.
The best and most powerful testimonial is a live face to face
conversation with a satisfied customer. This can happen during
a tour of one of your customers facilities or possibly you have
a customer that might go to lunch with you and one of your top
prospects to provide feedback on their experience in working
with you and your company. Powerful, yes, but time consuming as
well and a finite resource. Realistically, how many times can
you impose on your customers for this type of interaction?
Creating "reference accounts", customers willing to provide
information to your prospects via telephone calls is the second
best reference tool. You should work to create agreements with
three of your best customers that would be willing to be a
reference account for you. Make sure they understand that you
will not "over use" them and that a phone call from one of your
prospects will only occur after they have been well qualified.
Always report back to them with your successes and thank them
for their assistance.
The third type of reference tool and easiest to get and
leverage is the testimonial letter.The greatest value of the
testimonial letter is it can be used over an over again without
requiring any additional time from you, your prospect or your
customer. This "leverage" allows you to often shorten your
selling cycle and save time. Also, the letter by itself is
often enough to satisfy your prospect regarding your
capabilities and might completely eliminate the need for a
telephone call or personal face to face meeting.
So, what's the best way to get a testimonial letter, or even
better multiple letters? It's really quite simple... the next
time you are with a satisfied customer ask them how using you
and your company has benefited them. After they tell you how
much you have helped them, simply ask "would you be willing to
put those words into a short testimonial letter?" Most people
will say yes and you have just gotten your first, of what
should be many testimonial letters. Make it easy for them and
offer to write down what they have told you and provide it in a
"Word" file that they can edit and then print on letterhead.
As you continue to constantly work on your testimonial letter
file, it can become a historical record of consistent
performance. We have testimonial letters dating back from our
inception (1990) and have them laminated (after photocopying or
scanning for reproduction) and hanging in our lobby. They become
"silent salespeople"
re-selling your customers! They can also be on your website,
too.
So, are you getting testimonial letters? Start this week and
make it a habit of getting and using this powerful and
"leveraged" selling tool!
About The Author: John E. Hirth, is President and founding
principal of Selling Dynamics, a sales force development, sales
training and sales process consulting firm dedicated to
increasing sales revenue and corporate profits. Email:
jeh@sellingdynamics
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