put your happy customers to work for you!

Networking is my favourite, low-cost marketing tool. However, a large number of people often find it a challenge to get results and turn prospects into clients, simply by networking.

So here is another very effective marketing tool that requires no skills, can be applied to your business immediately and will help you to gain many new clients.

simply get testimonials from your current clients!

Testimonials from satisfied customers are typically the best way to promote your business. And they don’t cost you a thing. So, stop selling and let your clients and raving fans do it for you.

Contact your best clients, since they already know you, appreciate and value your products and services. Most likely they will be happy to help you and provide you with a testimonial that praises your products and services.

Be sure to obtain their permission before you use their information in your brochure and on your website.

Use their testimonials on your website. This way your clients will make the sales for you. Don’t you think that if people see the results and the benefits your clients reaped from using your products and services, that they too will want the same results for themselves or their businesses?

Use effective testimonials where your clients mention the benefits of working with you. What was their experience after they bought your product/service or program? Make sure that you mention their name, website, and eventually their email and phone number. Give your prospects the opportunity to see that they are real people like them, who they can contact or just check out their website to see who they are and what they do. They will probably never contact them to ask about the experience they had with you, but they will feel comfortable if they can identify themselves with your current clients.

Have a complete page with all of your testimonials on your brochure or website. Or if you promote a special product or program, insert your testimonials along with the description and benefits of your program.

What if you are just starting your business and don’t have any clients yet? How can you get testimonials?. Well, offer to trade your services with a couple of people who really need your services but who perhaps cannot afford them, in exchange for a testimonial. That is a good way to start.

So don’t hesitate to contact your best clients now and ask them for a testimonial. Make a list of clients you could contact today, some of your raving fans who enjoyed working with you and for whom your products made a significant impact on their businesses. You will see that they will be more than happy to help you in return for what you did for them.

And while you ask for testimonials, don’t forget to ask for referrals: friends, colleagues or family who would benefit from your products or program also.

Then another way to use your testimonials is to prepare a direct mail campaign that you will send to the list of referrals your clients just gave you.

Don’t you think that when the targets see their friends’ names in your brochure or mailing campaign, they will trust you and be keen to work with you also? You will get a better response to your campaign than advertising in a magazine, where nobody knows you and most readers won’t even notice your ad.

© 2006 Biba F. Pédron