In business, being successful at standing out in a crowd is a skill that comes more naturally to some than others. At the root of that skill is the ability to be memorable, so that your name or that of your company remains top-of-mind for your customers. The challenge is that people don’t all find the same kinds of messages appealing. As students of psychology will attest, our society consists of left-brain and right-brain thinkers. Author Doug Hall zeroed-in on the importance of this in his book, Meaningful Marketing, (Doug Hall, “Meaningful Marketing” 2003, pages 72-74.) citing a collection of studies, including research published in the Harvard Business Review, that found that while hard facts appeal most to left-brainers, enthusiastic, emotional-based messages connect more often with right-brainers.

So how can you as a salesperson best connect with a wide range of buyers who don’t always find the same messages meaningful? This is where testimonials really shine.

Not only can the power of word-of-mouth communicate important facts about you and how you can influence a customer’s bottom-line, it can do so in an engaging, personal way unrivalled by any other form of marketing. Human beings are social creatures and while we process information differently, we share a common hardwiring for being interested in the stories of others. When we hear good stories, ones that involve positive experiences, we want to see ourselves in that narrative. Testimonials are, in that sense, an invitation to prospective clients to join and become part of a conversation.

One of the many great things about testimonials is that they are easy to find and hassle-free to get working for you right away. All you need to do is listen and ask to obtain them, and then find ways to collect and share them so that others can read all the great things that people have to say about you. Let’s look at what that entails…

Keep your antenna up

The trick to finding testimonials is to always be listening for them. Pay careful attention to listen for feedback during business calls or in email conversations with clients. When someone mentions how your work, your services or your products have helped make a lasting difference, ask them: “can I quote you on that?” Make it easy for people to say yes by offering to write it down and to send it to them for approval. Doing so requires minimal effort on their part, and they get the satisfaction of knowing that they are helping to spread the good word about you.

Keep the momentum steady

Salespeople everywhere can learn lessons about testimonial collecting by looking at the business habits of the legendary W. Clement Stone—a man who built a multi-billion dollar empire selling fire-insurance policies door-to-door…and did so during the Great Depression, no less! According to legend, Stone’s sales presentation at kitchen tables across America included reading aloud from a personal binder that was overflowing with testimonials from his customers. The stories were compelling because Stone’s testimonials were ones to which his audience could relate.

So remember: quantity matters as much as quality when it comes to word-of-mouth feedback. Don’t stop when you’ve collected your first dozen testimonials. Make it an ongoing part of your job as a top-performing salesperson to find new ones constantly. Think of what you’re doing as collecting tiny snapshots of the many conversations you have with the people you do business with. Collectively, the stories they tell become more and more compelling as number of testimonials you have to offer grows. Volume reinforces in the minds of readers that praise for your work is well-earned and is the product of being consistent over a wide range of projects, over a long period of time, and while working with a diverse group of customers.

Keep beeping your horn

Once you’re on your way to establishing an ever-growing collection of testimonials, turn your attention to where you can use them. My advice here is straightforward. Use them everywhere—beep your own horn and do so shamelessly. This is no time to be modest! Some of the best marketing material I have seen—including a lot great work by my own clients—has involved leveraging testimonials. I incorporate this in my own business as well. I include them in our sales letters, particularly in the P.S. portion (which professional copywriters will tell you get read by just about everyone). I also make sure they are featured in the subject line of outbound emails. Have a look at bestselling books at your local bookstore. There’s a good reason why so many of them include testimonials printed right on the cover, showing potential readers others are saying about a book. Opinions sell.

I’m personally quite fond of using testimonials on the Engage Selling website and I encourage my clients to do the same. Let me share with you what I explain to them: I get an amazing number of clicks from prospects who simply want to know more about what we do at Engage, prompted solely on what was said in a testimonial by one of our many satisfied clients. They don’t have to be all that long either. Short, punchy ones can really stand out. And we don’t restrict them to just one page online. After all, we have no control over where people enter our site. So we spread them out throughout the site for maximum exposure.

Lastly, be sure to include testimonials or referrals in your sales script. Make sure they’re placed right at the start of your sales call, so that the called party’s attention can be drawn immediately to the fact that you’re a known quantity in your business. Be as narrow as you can. If you’re calling a CFO, include a testimonial from an executive-level client. By doing so, you reinforce the idea that in the mind of the called party that you do business with people like them.

Testimonials are powerful motivators that help position you and your company as being memorable in the minds and hearts of your target audience. Not only do they help encourage potential customers to make the decision to buy from you, they also encourage customers to join in the conversation and share their own glowing testimonial about your work. So step on the gas and sell more in less time than ever before: get the power of testimonials working for you and your organization today!

Dedicated to increasing your sales,

Colleen

PS for more articles on how to use Testimonials to ramp up sales please visit www.testimonialdirector.com

Dear Colleen,

My boss is always saying that to turn our customers into loyal raving referral sources and fans we have to WOW! Them. What does that mean?

Lisa in Ft Myers, FL.

Hi Lisa,

That’s a great question. Wowing your customer is surprising simple. Think of how you felt the last time you received an unexpected card from a friend or someone you work with. WOW!! Right? And it means a lot when you know that someone has taken the time to think about you. It says that someone cares about you and wants you to be happy. For example a couple years ago at a conference I interviewed a top 1 percent performer for a large chemical company. Bill was the number one sales rep for his company three years running. When asked to what he attributed his success, this is what he said:

The guys who hit quota knows the client’s birthday. The guys in the top 10 percent knows the client’s wife’s birthday. I know the client’s dog’s birthday.

The lesson: Bill has achieved WOW! Bill is a Life Giver. Bill is a top performer.

Of course when it’s just a kind gesture or two, WOW! doesn’t take much effort at all. But making a habit of it means that a bit more thinking has to go into what you’re doing. Getting good-really good-at WOW! means you have to keep an eye on the things you do on a regular basis. Here are three tips to keep in mind.

First, be consistent. If you want to be the person who always remembers everyone’s birthday, it’s not going to be enough to remember just once and then never again. By being consistent, you demonstrate to people that you’re not being nice simply because you woke up one morning in a great mood. You’re showing that this is something you do as a matter of practice … because you really care. Trust is built through consistent behavior over time.

Second, be prompt. Don’t wait a month before sending out thank-you cards after hosting or attending that great event Do something while the memory and the good feelings are still fresh in everyone’s minds. You’re sending a powerful message to people about what matters to you in your life.

Third, be thoughtful. This is where your creativity and attention to detail can help you really stand out. Remember that there are no limits to how much you can care for others.

Recently I interviewed a top salesperson and asked her what set her apart from everyone else in her business. “I genuinely love people and I like showing how much I appreciate them,” she explained. “There are plenty who remember to send out a birthday card to a friend or client, but I’ll bet I’m the only one who thinks to also send out an anniversary card to the couple!”

This week make a list of your best clients and create a WOW! Plan for the year. What can you celebrate with them? What can you send them? How can you show you truly care about them? Client’s who know you care about them more than their wallets will spend more with you. Remember: a Gallup study from 2004 shows that an emotionally engaged client spends 46% more than a satisfied client. Wow! is the difference.

Dedicated to increasing your sales, Colleen.

I just wanted to send you a quick reminder about our FREE call tomorrow, “5 Secrets on How You Can Sell More in 2010″ at Noon Eastern.

Are you signed up yet? Here’s the link if you want to take care of that right now: www.EngageSelling.com/secrets

(I don’t want you to miss this opportunity to learn how to close more, bigger, better deals with more prospects who you turn into repeat customers in a shorter amount of time.)

Remember, I’ve based the content of this call on YOUR questions . You’re going to get your biggest questions answered about how to sell more in this “new” economy. No fluff, no wasting your time.

Tomorrow’s call will save you time, money and effort on sales techniques that just plain don’t work in today’s economy, where budgets are tight and people are tightening their purse strings. We’ll provide you with various, working strategies for making sales – now!

Here’s a taste of what we’ll cover:

• How to respond to price objections.
• How to respond to prospects’ questions.
• How to sell more in less time.
• How to support growth in today’s economy.

If you’re tired of pounding the pavement in the same old ways, struggling to close deals, it’s time you learned to work (and sell) smarter – and we can teach you exactly how to do it.

Here’s the link again so you can register now: www.EngageSelling.com/secrets

Here’s to your success in 2010 and beyond…

Dedicated to increasing your sales,

Colleen Francis

P.S. Remember, this call is absolutely free – and it’s packed full of information that you can use right away to close more sales in less time. Register now!  www.EngageSelling.com/secrets

P.P.S. Don’t let this opportunity pass you by – only those who learn to work with the economic downturn can rise above it. Register now! www.EngageSelling.com/secrets

In a competitive marketplace it’s important to use every tool in your sales toolbox to help  drive more revenue into your business. Testimonials are, by far, one of the most cost-effective tools at your disposal in that regard. Think about all the great ways they can serve you and your business. In good times and in tough times, testimonials are in abundant supply, they cost next to nothing to procure and they have a shelf life that exceeds just about any other marketing collateral out there.

 Given these great benefits, you might wonder why they’re still underused by many sales people today. I sure do, and it’s something I regularly ask of people I meet when conducting sales training sessions: what’s your testimonial strategy…and if you don’t have one, why not? Over the years, I’ve listened to a lot of answers to those questions from a range of people in organizations large and small. What I have found at the heart of the problem is that testimonials are often underestimated because incorrect assumptions are made either in the process of collecting them or in how they are used to promote a business.

 There are six big myths about testimonials. Let’s review them now…

But first….don’t forget to sign up for our free call on January 21st at 12 noon eastern where we will be diving more deeply into the power of testimonials and the other Top 5 ways to increase your sales in 2010. You can register at www.engageselling.com/secrets 

 1.  “They can’t be all that effective or everyone would be using them”

 This is one of the biggest mistakes anyone in sales can make, to assume that success is about doing what everyone else is doing. In fact, success hinges on being choosy about whose business habits you should emulate. Never mind what the majority of people are doing; pay careful attention to what the top 20% of sales performers are up to. Regular collection and distribution of testimonials is right up there among the list of activities that top salespeople have in common. They rely on testimonials because they really do work, and they work because they are persistent in how they solicit them, publish them and leverage them in their selling strategy.

 2.  “I shouldn’t have to ask my customers for testimonials”

 This is another common mistake that takes root from an incorrect assumption, namely that salespeople should wait for their satisfied customers to make the first move and offer up glowing testimonials. That’s not to say that this never happens in business—hey it sure is a great shot in the arm when someone offers one that’s unsolicited—but the reality is that testimonials simply aren’t going to come knocking on your door. You have to go looking for them. You have to ask. And you have to persistent about it. If you’re ambitious and keen to become part of the top-20% of sales performers in your organization, you need to make this an integral part of your job. No excuses.

 3. “Asking for testimonials will make me look like I’m fishing for compliments”

 Let’s consider this one a half-myth. I say this because it’s true that when you ask for a testimonial you’re essentially asking customers to say something positive about you and about your business. The myth is that there’s something wrong with doing this. Come on, let’s face facts. When it comes to your business and your personal success as a salesperson, it’s not the time to be modest! You work hard to provide your customers with your very best, both in terms of sales professionalism and in after-sales service. Your best customers call on you again and again…and they do so for a reason. So why wouldn’t you want to ask them for some insight to learn more about what it is specifically that you do that keeps them coming back?

 4. “People often don’t make good on their promise because they don’t really want to write that testimonial”

 This is classic negative thinking. It starts from the false premise that when someone doesn’t follow through on a promise it’s because they don’t really want to do what you’ve asked them to do. As a result your self-esteem takes a hit needlessly. In fact, there’s really only one reason why people don’t give you that testimonial even though earlier they said they would…and that’s because they don’t have time. Time management is a struggle even for the best of us out there and many, to be frank, find themselves at a loss for what to write even though verbally they sing your praises regularly. It’s vital that you not lose sight of this when it happens—and it will. Your customers really do like you: it’s just that not everyone knows how to express it. This is where Engage Selling’s newest product, TestimonialDirector, can really help make a difference in your business, helping to dramatically increase your sales while freeing your time with automatic collection, management and publication of targeted testimonials.

 5.  “Testimonials are just too much work”

 There’s no denying that a little bit of effort goes into regularly asking for testimonials and publishing them so that others can read all the great praise about your work. However, are they worth the effort? You bet they are. Obtaining a testimonial can be as easy as picking up the phone and calling one of your favourite clients and simply asking them for one. Do that often enough and be persistent about it and before long, you will have amassed a considerable arsenal of word-of-mouth recommendations that you can use in your marketing sales letters, brochures, corporate website, newsletters…the list of possibilities is endless. The payoff for your efforts can be lucrative and ongoing. If you can convert one potential lead into a sale on the strength of what others have to say about your product or services, you can sure that there are exponentially more potential customers out there who will be just as receptive to the power of word-of-mouth. 

6.  “People are wary of taking the word of a stranger” 

Nothing could be further from the truth! Human beings are social creatures and we’re hardwired to pay careful attention to what others do and say. Consider the results of a 2007 Neilsen study, which found that roughly four of every five consumers perceive recommendations by fellow consumers as the most credible form of advertising. Testimonials give your readers both an emotion-based and fact-based green light, motivating them to buy from you. Therefore, the more often you seek out great recommendations about your work, the most often you will have the opportunity to sell more to more people in less time. 

Tackle these six testimonial myths in your own organization and develop a testimonial procurement strategy. Make this a priority for the year. Not only can it translate into skyrocketing sales, you’ll get a great feeling inside knowing how much all your customers really do enjoy working with you. 

Don’t forget to sign up for our free call on January 21st at 12 noon eastern where we will be diving more deeply into the power of testimonials and the other Top 5 ways to increase your sales in 2010. You can register at www.engageselling.com/secrets

Thanks to those of you who have responded to my survey, which asked for your biggest questions about selling more in this “new” economy. As promised, I’m posting another question and answer here – and you can get even more information during my January 21 call.

 “What’s the best way to handle price objections?”

 As today’s economy puts a strain on everyone’s finances, pricing proves a tougher-than-usual issue. People are looking for ways to cut their budgets, whether it means cutting employees’ hours or haggling with you over prices of products they want and need. This “new” economy takes “nickel and dime” to a whole new level.

 Here’s a proven two-step formula that can help you handle any pricing objections your prospects throw at you.

 Step 1: Shut up!

 Whenever you’re faced with a difficult question or objection, the first thing you need to do is take a deep breath, make eye contact with your prospect and silently count to three.

 It is amazing how many clients will answer their own objections, or at least give you some much-needed information, when you simply say nothing. Don’t be afraid of silence. Practice it until the three-second pause becomes one of the most effective tools in your arsenal. 

 Step 2: Ask questions.

 You can ask up to three questions before you have to answer an objection – provided you ask the right questions in the right way.

 The key is to acknowledge what the customer is saying and then offer them a compliment before asking your question.

 Which questions should you ask?

 Once you’ve acknowledged the objection, ask them a question that is both direct and phrased to elicit more information. Try the following.

 Prospect: “Your price is too high!”

Sales professional: “Thanks for sharing that. How much too high are we?” or “You’re right; we are more expensive than most. How much were you hoping to pay?” or “I appreciate your honesty. Is our price a showstopper?”

 Prospect: “I need a discount!”

Sales professional: “It’s good of you to be looking for the best deal. How much of a discount do you need?” or “Making sure you’re getting the best deal for your company is a good idea. If we can’t budge on the price, does that mean it’s over between us?”

 For even more ideas about how to respond to a prospect’s price objections, join us for our FREE event, “5 Secrets on How You Can Sell More in 2010,” Thursday, January 21 at 12pm Eastern.

Click here for more information or to sign up: http://www.engageselling.com/secrets.