Do you find you're constantly telling prospects how great you are and they're thinking, that's what all the salespeople say? Wouldn't it be better to have someone else singing your praises?



The most effective selling technique I've found is using testimonials in your marketing and selling opportunities. The old saying goes, people will only buy from you if they like you and trust you.

You can sit with a prospect for hours and tell them how great your product or service is, you're trying to sell them. However, if you show them testimonials from your satisfied clients, they're more apt to believe your clients and more apt to like you and trust you.

"What others say about you and your product, service or business is at least 1,000 times more convincing than what you say, even if you are 2,000 times more eloquent. I have not found one business that started using testimonials and their sales did not increase. However, 90% of sales people don't use testimonials to their advantage." - Dan Kennedy

There are many ways to use this selling technique in your sales and marketing. You can use them in your advertising, direct mail, brochures and flyers. They can be used in one on one as well as group presentations. They can be put on your web site, on the back of your business card or played when prospects are placed on hold at your office.

One of the ways I used this selling technique in my sales was to collect testimonials from all my clients and put them in a notebook. I carried this notebook in my car every where I went. When I went on a sales presentation I would take it with me and let the prospect browse through it. If you don't think that was impressive and built trust. I mean, how could all these people be wrong.

Many times I would leave it during my first visit and let the sellers keep it until I returned. This way they had more time to browse through the testimonials and guaranteed a return visit to pick it up.

There are many ways to solicit testimonials. Ask your clients to write them for you. Get their permission to write it for them and then get their approval of what you've written. Set up a testimonial line where clients can call and record their testimonial. Call them and tape record the answers to prepared questions and then use their answers as testimonials. And many more.

There's no one right or wrong way to get testimonials. The important thing is use this selling technique and you'll develop rapport, gain trust and increase the amount you sell. And then you'll have another satisfied client to give you a testimonial.