- May 15, 2009
- 505
- 1,971
Since I do a lot of offline business consulting, management training, employee training and also marketing consulting to Offline business owners I wanted to share a quick tip that a lot of people aren't using that actually closes more deals for me than my sales pitch alone.
It's the "Testimonial Letter":
I have been collecting these from past clients and keeping them in a 3-ring binder that I take to new client meetings when offering my services to consult on boosting their business through the services I offer. New clients see the letters, on the past client company letterhead, and are immediately drawn to take my services as not to feel "left out". (I love to show them letters of someone in a similar or competing field)
I ask a prospective client that if I am successful and they see a significant increase in revenue or productivity from the ideas that I have implemented would they be willing to write a letter on company letterhead about their experience? In return for them writing it I offer them a 10% discount on the services. I actually write it into the consulting contract that at completion of services rendered and desired results have been accomplished they have 2 weeks to submit their letter to me and it should include:
I actually recommend laying out the binder and letting them flip through it while you might be loading your laptop to show them your presentation, or just have them flip through while you explain, "this is a binder of past clients I have worked with, if you'd like to read some of their experiences please feel free to do so".
Now if they don't just jump through the binder and get interested then you will have to get on with your sales pitch, but a lot of times I have had people read the letters and just want to get right into the meat of the services, the cost, and when can they get started.
Also every time I sign a new deal for consulting services I send a note (snail mail) to each of the people who ave written me the after letters and let them know that because of their letters I gained a new client and wanted to say thank you. You only want to do this to the people who have written you testimonials recently, who have never received a thank you letter from you.
You don't want to send one to your first client 600 times saying that his or her letter got you all of your clients obviously. One letter is sufficient enough to make the person who just wrote you a testimonial feel like they have made a difference, and when you make someone feel like they did something awesome they are more likely to refer more clients to you. Obviously a direct referral should always warrant a thank you to the referrer.
It seems long and drawn out but really it is pretty simple and streamlined. These are all small little things that most offline marketing firms have forgotten to even think about. I include small intricacies like this in my actual consulting work for the clients too. They have let smaller things fall by the wayside that actually do have a big impact on their customers.
So don't be afraid to get "offline" and offer your services to local businesses. You can charge a premium, it builds a great local rapport, and you can use your "local money" to scale up your online efforts as well.
Happy Marketing!
It's the "Testimonial Letter":
I have been collecting these from past clients and keeping them in a 3-ring binder that I take to new client meetings when offering my services to consult on boosting their business through the services I offer. New clients see the letters, on the past client company letterhead, and are immediately drawn to take my services as not to feel "left out". (I love to show them letters of someone in a similar or competing field)
I ask a prospective client that if I am successful and they see a significant increase in revenue or productivity from the ideas that I have implemented would they be willing to write a letter on company letterhead about their experience? In return for them writing it I offer them a 10% discount on the services. I actually write it into the consulting contract that at completion of services rendered and desired results have been accomplished they have 2 weeks to submit their letter to me and it should include:
- Services I performed
- Previous performance
- After performance
- A specific area they see a huge difference
- and a paragraph stating they would gladly recommend my services to anyone.
I actually recommend laying out the binder and letting them flip through it while you might be loading your laptop to show them your presentation, or just have them flip through while you explain, "this is a binder of past clients I have worked with, if you'd like to read some of their experiences please feel free to do so".
Now if they don't just jump through the binder and get interested then you will have to get on with your sales pitch, but a lot of times I have had people read the letters and just want to get right into the meat of the services, the cost, and when can they get started.
Also every time I sign a new deal for consulting services I send a note (snail mail) to each of the people who ave written me the after letters and let them know that because of their letters I gained a new client and wanted to say thank you. You only want to do this to the people who have written you testimonials recently, who have never received a thank you letter from you.
You don't want to send one to your first client 600 times saying that his or her letter got you all of your clients obviously. One letter is sufficient enough to make the person who just wrote you a testimonial feel like they have made a difference, and when you make someone feel like they did something awesome they are more likely to refer more clients to you. Obviously a direct referral should always warrant a thank you to the referrer.
It seems long and drawn out but really it is pretty simple and streamlined. These are all small little things that most offline marketing firms have forgotten to even think about. I include small intricacies like this in my actual consulting work for the clients too. They have let smaller things fall by the wayside that actually do have a big impact on their customers.
So don't be afraid to get "offline" and offer your services to local businesses. You can charge a premium, it builds a great local rapport, and you can use your "local money" to scale up your online efforts as well.
Happy Marketing!
