Yes, through savvy marketing and the very best is word of mouth marketing, or a referral, where someone is essentially saying, “this person solved my problem….you should go to them so they can solve yours too”.
We all like referrals but most business owners are doing nothing proactive to get them.
In a Recession, that is very dangerous.
That’s why you need to blow your own trumpet as often and in as many ways as you can.
Who read the West Australian Newspaper last week? (Sorry to those outside of WA but do read on)
John Hughes of Skippers, the huge multi brand multi yard car dealer in Victoria Park ran a 2 page spread absolutely chock a block full of testimonials. Forget the reams of car pictures and prices that all blend in to a blur of sameness of price competing car yards.
Think about it! What’s your biggest issue when you’ve been in the market for a car? Trust!
We all know the one about the ‘used car salesman’ right! Making sure you don’t get a lemon, that you don’t get ripped off and you want good after sales service.
John tapped straight into his prospects biggest fear and tackled it head on.
If you can remove the fear that people have around doing business with you… reduce those reservations… even remove that risk entirely… then just watch your business prosper. I know I’ve done a few posts now on testimonials but get over it. If you missed those you can read them here http://www.peterbutler.com.au/tag/testimonials
Here’s the question “Are you thrashing all of those good stories about you as much as you could?”
If you’re not then you’re selling yourself short. Don’t be lame either, get pictures, audio, video, before and after, facts and figures too.
If you don’t blow your own trumpet who will?
Speaking of thrashing and blowing your own trumpet here’s what Tony Inman said about his site ONLY 1 Week after we went ‘Live’ with his New “Smarter Websites” website and Smart Marketing System.
Remember, this site is only a week old so don’t give me grief. I’m just being totally upfront and transparent here. We’ve yet to plug in Tony’s lead generating and marketing system.
I just wanted to say a quick thank you for the work you have done so far on our Planet Inn website.
In today’s world it’s often hard to know who you can trust, especially when it comes to something as important as your business website, which is really the equivalent of the ‘shop window to the world’ of your company.
In my case I was particularly wary, having had a bad experience once before with a web designer, but having met you in person, I felt confident that you would do a good job for us.
Just to be on the safe side, I called a few people who knew you and they were gushing in their praise of your professionalism.
I am happy to report that I have been extremely impressed with the thoroughness of your approach to our website project, with your ability to listen to us – the clients, and to adapt and modify anything necessary to suit our unique needs.
I know that my former web hosts also caused you no end of technical problems, which you overcame with consummate ease. No doubt they didn’t want to lose the business!
When I saw that the home page of our website had a header explaining that the site was under construction, I became concerned about the length of down-time during our peak season. I was equally astounded and exuberant when you had the bulk of the website up and running the same day!
Obviously building a website is a never ending journey of tinkering as the quest for excellence is an illusive beast. I have seen enough already though to know that we have formed a mutually beneficial partnership that will stretch into the distant future.
The layout of the site is terrific. Your knowledge of how to make use of modern social media trends for commercial effectiveness is an attribute of paramount importance to keep pace with the tech-savvy generation who now form the bulk of our market profile.
On the one hand I would be delighted to sing your praises, should you require any references for prospective clients. On the other hand, I don’t want too many people to pull you away from the great job you are doing for us! That of course would be to deny the world!
Anyway, once again thank you and keep up the great work. I’m really looking forward to working with you on our other website as well once we have fully evolved this one to the levels we have targeted together.
Best wishes,
Tony Inman (Tonaldo the Inn Man – new nickname)
Club Red Pty Ltd
T/As :
Planet Inn
Backpackers Accommodation & Bar
www.planetinn.com.au
Club Red Cars – Car Rentals – Club Red – Tourism & Migration Services – Property Management Services
Tel +61 8 9328 2203
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Ummm, it’s not a trick question – the MONEY and NEW CLIENTS!
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David Osborne says
Hello Peter,
In regards to testimonials and referrals, in a time of “recession” my business has at least doubled its turn over by using good testimonials and proactively asking for referrals. It is also crucial to have a great website, which you provided for me, because I know that potential clients will check out your website before picking up the phone to talk to you.
One of customers who looked at my website provided well over $50,000 worth of income to my business. So start getting testimonials and start asking for referrals, NOW!
David Osborne
Peter Butler says
David,
Thanks for your kinds words. Hey, go and get a gravatar. It will help you to create your online identity.
You can read about it here https://www.smartmortgagemarketing.com.au/social-media-marketing/who-wants-their-website-to-soar-up-the-google-charts