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Use Testimonials to Attract Prospects
and Win Sales By Kendra Lee
Testimonials are your clients’ stamp of approval. They provide an independent perspective that gives prospects insight into how you work, how effective your solutions are, and the results others have experienced through engaging you. Recently, a client we’ve worked with over the past 5 months was at a conference where I was speaking. He’s highly respected among the community and people stop and listen to his suggestions. He’s been so pleased with the sales training and consulting support we’re providing his sellers and managers, that every time he saw me, he walked up and expounded on it to the people nearby. He went on and on about his team’s comments and results he’d seen. He ended by telling people that they needed to hire us, too. The business his testimonial drove was huge, all because of his effusive endorsement. You can get the same results by exposing your prospects to your delighted clients. They’re dying to sing your praises, and see you and your company excel, if only you’d ask. Here are 4 Quick Steps to adding exuberant testimonials to your sales kit: QuickStep 1: Identify
those key influencers who are happy with your offerings Getting through prospect filters requires building their confidence in your past successes and current promises. Use your delighted customers to tell their stories, share the results they’ve experienced, and promote the value of working with you. QuickStep 2: Capture
quotes and examples, validate, and gain approval to use them With emails, I’ll frequently respond to a client with thanks for their kind words, then ask if I can quote them. I’ll let them know how I want to use the quote, and if it isn’t clear, will paraphrase the quote I’d like to use. Consider capturing quotes for email signature lines, podcasts, webcast stories, article bi-lines, press releases, blogs, and social networks as you use them. QuickStep 3: Integrate
testimonials into your sales kit Mention them in a first
meeting to demonstrate credibility and create interest. Introduce a
specific testimonial or two early in conversation when you recognize
similarities between a client and a prospect. Use them as examples to
help uncover potentially hidden needs. QuickStep 4: Leverage
your testimonials to attract new prospects Add them to emails, cold calling scripts, marketing materials, or an upcoming event. Make one or two an offer after a webcast. I often refer to testimonials during prospecting calls, picking out the results or a good quote. They become my stories when I’m delivering a webcast, and examples when I talk about how we help other clients. Strong testimonials make prospects long to engage you – especially when times are tough and companies are cutting expenditures. They see you as the answer to their prayers. Add them to your sales kit and you’ll soon find prospects asking you to engage with them. Kendra Lee is author of the award winning book “Selling Against the Goal” and president of KLA Group. Specializing in the IT industry, KLA Group helps companies rapidly penetrate new markets, break into new accounts and shorten time to revenue with new products in the Small & Mid market Business (SMB) segment. Ms. Lee is a frequent speaker at national sales meetings and association events. To find out more about the author, read her latest articles, or to subscribe to her newsletter visit http://www.klagroup.com or call +1 303.773.1285. |
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Sabio Information Technologies
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In
today’s economy you need every advantage in your sales kit. Prospects
are scrutinizing all requests for their time and each purchase decision.
You want to pass their piercing investigation but the sales tools you’ve
used in recent years aren’t cutting it. You need something more, and
testimonials are the answer. They can be the difference maker in not
just winning opportunities but also in attracting attention in the first
place.