‘Let Your Customer Do The Selling’

31/03/09

By Steve Shergold

Who would you rather employ to construct that 'one-off' house extension' you've been dreaming of; the builder with the big ad in Yellow Pages or the one personally recommended to you by a friend or a colleague? I think most of us would choose the latter; a personal endorsement from someone who has experienced a product or service is immeasurably more reassuring than any number of advertisements. This is by no means rocket science, but it is staggering how many business owners forget this basic, but well-proven principle when thinking about their own marketing. Often we...

...are all so busy working away on new sales promotions and spending hours refining our presentations that we forget that one kind word from a happy customer is maybe all it takes to win over a new client and secure new business.

Let's face it, if you have an established and loyal customer base you are in a far more superior position to start-ups who maybe trying to grab some of your market share, without the track record to back it up. So what can you do to tap into this resource?

It's simple - every sales and marketing campaign that you initiate should be built around what your customers say about you and how your services solved their business problems. It should not be around what you say about yourself. How many of us have sat through a supplier presentation where, through a stifled yawn, have realised that the first 20 minutes has been all about them and nothing about how they can help you? But knowing this does not necessarily mean that we don't fall into the same trap when we are in front of a potential new customer!

A good presentation should... continued on page two >

 

 

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