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Succeed in the New Economy: Customer Testimonials
Featured Author:
Colleen Francis
For over 15 years, she has studied the business habits of the top 10% of sales performers in organizations of all sizes and shapes-from Fortune 500 companies to small businesses. Through her company, Engage Selling Solutions, Colleen has condensed that winning formula into an internationally acclaimed sales-training approach, helping sales and marketing professionals everywhere achieve their maximum potential.
Colleen provides sales seminars and training, in addition to her popular coaching program, and delivers immediate and lasting improvements to sales results and the bottom line. See how Colleen can help you sell more in less time at www.EngageSelling.com
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Colleen Francis
So far in this series on boosting your sales and thriving in this new economy, we’ve looked at the importance of leveraging who you know and of considering carefully what you say and how you say it. Let’s turn now to what your customers have to say about you, and why it is vitally important that you harness the power of word-of-mouth in sales.
Customer uncertainty during difficult economic times can make any sales person’s job harder, especially when pitching to new prospects. In an environment of elevated risk, it’s human nature to stick to what you know and what you’re sure of…and that certainly applies to customers when facing a choice between buying from you or one of your competitors. As a sales professional, you already know how important it is to first sell the benefits of your product or service so that a prospect or existing customer can make a decision with confidence to buy from you. However, there’s still much more you can do to help influence and boost a buyer’s confidence, and that’s where testimonials come into play.
Testimonials Can Transform Selling Benefits
Let’s face it, there is a whole lot of fear out there today. Among the many things companies are worried about is whether they’re making the right choices when it comes to suppliers. Will you be able to deliver on your promise? Are your fundamentals strong or could you be out of business soon? Are you stretching the truth with the unique benefits you are offering, simply to secure a sale? No matter how polished a sales presenter you might be, those questions are the kinds that your prospects will be asking themselves until they are given a good reason to feel differently.
Whether you’re trying to persuade one person or a room full of people, testimonials provide your audience with something tangible and solid: someone else’s positive experience, their satisfactory results and their glowing praise. On the face of it, these are opinions, but when they are seen as credible opinions, testimonials have the potential of taking on the similar weight as facts. Here’s why. Because they give your prospects something they can measure against their own needs and expectations. Testimonials are especially powerful when they come from a peer or from someone in the same industry as your prospect. It’s meaningful when you’re able to say: “We’ve been doing business with your colleague, Phil, in accounting, for over ten years, and here’s what he has to say about that experience.”
