I have no doubt at one stage or another as you have been receiving my  emails, you have asked yourself:

“Is this Bywater guy full of hot air”

Not that I blame you. Like all of us I’ve been duped before into investing in things which were high on hype but low on delivery.

And guess what – so have your customers.

And that’s why you need to get as many testimonials as you can and share them with your prospective clients.

I’ve started doing it recently as you can see at http://www.scottbywater.com/proof

If you click on that link and read it, you will no doubt get a sense of what I am all about and how it can increase your credibility.

The key is using real results rather than “John is a nice guy” and if you can get the testimonials in audio or video this is far stronger as it overcomes the objection that the testimonials may be made up.

So make sure YOU do this in your own business.

While we are on this topic, you have no doubt seen me mention my http://www.morecustomersmadeeasy.com program on a number of occasions.

Well, one of the reasons you probably haven’t purchased because you are sceptical of my promises.

So I thought I’d give you an example of a testimonial which might just help you overcome this objection.

Here’s an email I received the other day from Julie Carter in Sydney who runs Speedie Graphics and a magazine called Antiques and Collectables for Pleasure and Profit.

Read it and notice the effect it has on you. Then think about how you can apply this same strategy to your business…
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Hi Scott,

I just thought I’d drop you a line to let you know the way in which I have implemented one of the suggestions in More Customers Made Easy, that has resulted in a 25% increase in advertising revenue for our magazine.

The section I found so useful is the part in which you explain about sending several letters to prospects. We were already sending a free back issue of  our magazine to people who requested one, either via web site or free postcards that were handed out in antique shops. After reading the MCME section on the follow up letters (lesson #4) I implemented a three-letter system with a special offer, including a lot of the wording suggested in your files, and began using it for all new prospective magazine buyers. It was reasonably successful and I was quite happy with the results, compared to previous.

Then I thought about using the same system for prospective advertisers in the magazine. The biggest plus was that by sending numerous follow-up letters,  the sales person was never calling cold. So I adapted the system. I identified
an area with plenty of businesses whose interest dovetailed with the magazine, and sent them a copy of the current magazine with a personalised cover letter detailing a special we were planning for the area, along with a rate card –
but not as a ‘hard sell’. The following week, I sent another personalised letter reminding them about the upcoming special, and including details of the benefits of advertising with us – including another of your ideas, which was the ‘cheque’ (lesson #7) allowing them money off (we offered 2 free $50 ads, and made the $100 cheque out to each business separately).

Then the next week I sent the last letter, with repeat information on the special and the deal we’re offering,  the business card of the salesperson who was going to call (all letters were also personally signed by her), and the rough dates on which she would call.

The result is that by the time our salesperson contacts the prospects, they are fully aware of the magazine, the offer, the proposed feature, the cost of advertising and the benefits to them. And they know she’s going to call them. There’s still some salesmanship involved in turning them into advertisers, but in using this method, this one particular salesperson has increased our revenue by 25%. And it’s quantifiable, because this is her only sales area for us and this is the only method we use with her.

In using the ‘specials’ hook and the sales system, we’ve also tapped into the heritage accommodation market for each area, which broadened our scope of prospects. And the added benefit has been repeat advertising from each of the three specials we’ve run so far.

Sorry my message is a bit long! But the system has been so successful for us, I just wanted to let you know.

Cheers,

Julie
Speedie Graphics Pty Ltd
Antiques and Collectables for Pleasure & Profit
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Nothing more to say in today’s message other than this:

a) Thanks for your feedback Julie. Appreciate it

b) In this email Julie refers to just two of the lessons in http://www.morecustomersmadeeasy.com – imagine what you could do if you implemented all of them.

c) Notice just how powerful real testimonials are and start to solicit them in your business. After all, as one of my early mentors once said to me

“When you say it, your customer doubts it. But when someone else says it, it’s believable.”