Why the hard sell just doesn’t work anymore. You need customer referencing.
You’ve started a business that you’re passionate about! You have a product or service that you want others to benefit from – so, of course, you try to sell it.
It’s important to understand that your potential customers won’t be interested in what you as a faceless, unknown business has to say – no amount of hard selling and clever marketing is going to work – however good your product is!
Recent research by Edelman’s Trust Barometer shows that consumers trust each other the most as viable sources of information – just look at Amazon reviews!
The Most Important Person that can sell ‘you’, ‘your product’ or ‘your service’ is your loyal customers.
Work with your customers to create authentic, story driven content. Think testimonials, reviews, case studies or customer referencing programs.
Using your customers to sell
First of all make sure your product or service is as good as it can be. Make sure you do a brilliant job and have happy customers who want to work with you again and again.
Next ask a few of your key customers if they would mind recommending you as a company. Perhaps you could offer them a discount for their time.
Aligning your satisfied customers with qualified prospects is key. Creating thought leadership content showing how your product enabled a business to make a meaningful change, such as adapting to a new challenge or growing sales, is a great way to show off your product or service.
Telling positive and authentic stories about how your company enabled a customer to overcome a challenge. Buyers will trust references and referrals from people and peers they know and respect.
Take the positive experiences of loyal customers and turn them into adaptable, reusable, and shareable content people will be more likely to engage with. Use your best customers to better engage new prospects in the buying process. This can then be utilised across the business for PR, internal communication, sales, training and much more.
Did you know 70 to 90 per cent of a buyer’s journey is completed before speaking with a salesperson? Decisions have already been made on the merits of word of mouth, rates and reviews.
Customer advocacy, customer evidence and customer referencing all build your credibility, acquire new customers and close deals faster, as well as generate more leads.
To discuss how you can best involve your customers in your sales process, contact us today.