How do people feel about your product or service, about you as a business owner? Do they trust you? Value your stuff? Trust builds foundations for ongoing relationships and a successful and sustainable business. How can you encourage that trust?
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Let’s say you’re an historical doorknob expert. There’s a bit of market scarcity there, because while there are a lot of historical restoration experts out there, you’re the doorknob expert, and you have the knowledge, tools, and sources to match any doorknob from any era prior to 1972. So, a little bit of scarcity, but not enough to build a business on.
Because really: who needs a doorknob expert? You’ve put an ad or two out there, and you’ve had a few referrals from happy customers, but there’s just not a lot of demand for your expertise.
So what’s missing? Value and trust.
Testimonials from customers about how your doorknobs make a difference, and how you not only deliver on your promises, but wow them in the process. Links to doorknobs you’ve restored that have been featured in historical restoration magazines, so they can see that you really are the expert you claim to be.
Because people aren’t buying your doorknob expertise. They’re buying a higher home value, the details of a perfectly finished home, the prestige of being featured, the knowledge that you will follow through.
It’s up to you, though, to demonstrate that value. It’s up to you to provide opportunities for connection and trust. Trust helps people decide where to put their money…and perceived value determines how much money there is to spend.
So how do you do that? Show and tell.
Tell them, with words, on paper, online, or out loud. With pictures, if they accurately express the sentiments you’re trying to get across. With multimedia (audio, video) if thatg works for you. It’s the message, not the medium, that matters. The most common example of telling is sales copy—the content on your website, in your brochures, in your advertising. In these, we all have the opportunity to tell folks how what we’re doing can do stuff they need. And that’s great, and pretty easy.
But as anyone who’s ever sat through a creative writing course can tell you, showing is so much better than telling. If you can show the end result—the happiness, the success, how your competitive advantage has made the difference for someone else—that will resonate with your Right People like you won’t believe! (The current buzzword for this sort of thing is “social proof”.)
So how do you do that? Testimonials!
Customers, clients, people you’ve interacted with; anyone whose life or business has been impacted by your brilliance. The best testimonials are targeted and focused on your key value statement or offering—you don’t need testimonials about your amazing bread if you’re selling wedding cakes—and speak directly to results and outcomes.
How do you get them? You have to ask! Happy customers will usually give a testimonial without hesitation. It can sometimes feel like you’re imposing, but most people really do like being asked for a testimonial! Be specific and ask targeted questions so that you get the kind of testimonials you can use. Once you have them, publish them in your marketing materials (with permission from your clients, of course). If your business is product-based, testimonials can work well for you took, but visuals—photos of happy customers and products in use—can often do your storytelling for you. And people love to be famous! Asking for pics so you can feature them on your website, promo materials, or Facebook page can bring not only smiles but an onslaught of photos.
Something that’s making a big impact right now is video testimonials. They combine the best of words and visuals into testimonials with high impact. This takes a particularly dedicated and tech-savvy client, so be careful not to be too pushy in asking for these.
If you’re brand-spanking new, and don’t have any clients to get testimonials yet, start with telling, and work your way up to showing. It’s not impossible (nothing is!), but you’ll find it a bit harder to get things revved up. You can try giving away or trading work with someone in your network in exchange for a rockin’ testimonial…just be careful not to give too much of yourself away, and be sure that the person you’re working with truly understands the value of what you have to offer. (People that approach you asking for a freebie “in exchange for a testimonial” or because they’ll “let you use the project in your portfolio” usually don’t.)
You can also try going outside of your client base for testimonials. Think about people you’ve worked with at other points in your career who can attest to a certain aspect of your personality or experience. People you spend time with in a professional or educational capacity, like teachers and professors. Connections in a local business organization. Friends that you’ve helped through something. Just remember to keep them targeted; a testimonial about your straight A’s in middle school won’t be of much help, but a testimonial about your ability to lead just might, if that’s part of what you want to communicate.
A note about anonymous testimonials: testimonials with real names (and especially real faces!) are always preferable, but in some industries they’re not always possible. Be sure to ask your clients if they would be comfortable having their name (full or partial) and/or picture displayed, and respect the ones who say no!
Be awesome. And trust.
No matter what form of show and tell you go with, though, remember that you’re building trust here. So be good. Be good at what you do, be honest about your limitations, and follow through on your promises. The best way to build trust is to be awesome, and let the trust follow.
And don’t forget to trust your clients – past, present, and future – to make the decisions that are right for them. Mutual trust goes a long way, baby.
How prominent are testimonials and other forms of social proof on your current marketing materials? Are they up to date? Do they speak to your current offerings?
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Hi! I’m Dani. I’m a writer, teacher, business coach, and signal-booster, and I’m on a mission to help you make your business more awesome, more successful, and more you. (With tea. Tea is always good.)
Join me for resources, wicked wisdom, and other good things at daninelson.com!