Successful Marketing - Ideas For Business Pros | How To Blow The Roof Off Your Sales Without Spending Another Dime On Advertising Or Doing Any Extra Work

How To Blow The Roof Off Your Sales Without Spending Another Dime On Advertising Or Doing Any Extra Work

kimhillman | 04 December, 2008 07:31

Would you like to sell more of your products and services, grow your business and make more money without doing any extra work? I'm about to tell you exactly how you can do this using a very powerful, but under-utilized marketing tool. It's called a testimonial.

Of all the businesses in the world today, only a small handful use this strategy. The secret behind the power of testimonials is simple - what others say about your products and services is more important to prospects and customers than what you say about your products and services. When you toot your own horn, prospects and customers are less likely to believe you than when someone else gives you a recommendation.

General Mills has figured this out. They are now putting testimonials on the back of their Cheerios boxes. They've even included a photo of each person who gave a testimonial. And while they should be congratulated for this bold move, there is one thing their testimonials lack which you can learn from and include in yours that will literally skyrocket your sales.

When you ask customers for testimonials, you don't just want them to tell how great your company or service or product is. You want them to tell a little story about how your service or product changed their life. You want them to tell what it did for them - the before and after.

A testimonial that says nice things about your company is better than no testimonials at all, but when you have testimonials that show results from using your products or services it not only lends credibility to your company, it is proof to your market that your products and services work. It is proof because you did not say your products or services work. Instead, your customers have said it and are recommending you to others.

If you're not using testimonials in your marketing, you need to start. You should include them in every piece of advertising you do. Simply create a form to send to your past customers, and to give to your current customers. You can include an example on the form of the kind of testimonial you're look for (results oriented). Then, leave it up to the customer to put it in their own words. It's also a good idea to give the customer some incentive to write the testimonial and send it to you. You might offer them a special discount or a premium product, available for a limited time to entice them to get the testimonial to you right away.

Once you've gathered some testimonials, you should begin using them in everything your prospects and customers see - from your company newsletter to your sales letters and brochures, to your website and your product packaging. You can even use them on the back side of your business card.

And, when you've got alot of testimonials you can have them all put into a promotional booklet which can be handed to prospects or mailed to them. Imagine getting an offer in the mail where there were so many wonderful things people had to say about it that their testimonials had to be printed in a booklet because there were too many to print in the sales letter!

At Up & At 'Em, promotional booklets are our specialty. We know how to create marketing that gets results, and when we pair that knowledge with our products, those products get results for you. Contact us today through the Up & At 'Em website and let's get started on your project!

Up and at 'em!

Kim Hillman

Up & At 'Em Publications

www.upandatempublications.com