One of the criteria for your
marketing is "Does it demonstrate value?" In particular does your marketing
demonstrate more value than the marketing of your competition?
Keep in mind that everything you
do is compared to the competition by your prospects. If your marketing doesn't
position you as offering more value than the competition then it might be
wasted.
How can you demonstrate the value
of your product or service?
Customer
Testimonials
One of the best ways to
demonstrate value is with customer testimonials. This works best when you quote
real customers to whom your prospects can relate.
The testimonials are most
believable when they show the full name of the individual. If you sell to
business, then it helps to include the title and company name of the person
vouching for you.
For example, "Leslie Williams"
looks better than "LW" or even "Leslie" because you are building trust by
showing that you have nothing to hide.
When you only identify the person
as LW - the questions that are bound to enter prospects' minds are "I wonder if
that is a real person? If LW really loved the service why is she afraid to use
her name?"
For a business-to-business
testimonial use the person's name, title and company name.
Bilbo Baggins
VP Operations
The Shire Group
The above conveys more
credibility and believability than "BB Corporate Vice President".
The next step is to proudly
display your testimonials where your customers and prospects can easily see
them. Treat these words from your customers with respect and pride; this
suggests that you treat your customers with respect and value their
feedback.
I knew I would enjoy the meal
when I saw the lobby of the restaurant covered with framed letters and notes
from satisfied customers.
Some of my clients keep binders
of testimonial letters in protective plastic pages. These binders are tastefully
displayed in the lobby or customer lounge.
It's curious that today's mail
included several flyers yet not one contained a customer testimonial. Two of the
flyers claimed to offer luxury grade service but failed to provide comments from
satisfied customers. What might that suggest?
Put testimonials on your website.
You might list them on a Customer Feedback page and also place at least one
testimonial on every page because every page must demonstrate value to your
prospect - especially the home page.
For business testimonials you
could add the corporate logo next to the testimonial especially if it's a well
known and well respected organization. For retail testimonials you
might include a photo of the person.
Naturally you want to request and
receive the individual's permission with any use of their words or image.
If you want to demonstrate
superior value, display your amazing testimonials in a superior way.
George Torok Keynote Marketing Speaker Co-author of Secrets of Power Marketing Get your free copy of "50 Power Marketing Ideas" Power Marketing on FaceBook Marketing Zoo on Twitter
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