Delving Into The Dark Side

Posted on 2015/12/19 by Jerry Fletcher

“Human beings are built that way” Rob drawled. “They can be lured to the dark side so easily. ‘Course it doesn’t hurt if he thinks the sun comes up just to hear him crow.”

Once again, our brand guru fueled on grits turned my mind around before I sat down.

Rob, I said, “What are you talking about? I know the new Start Wars opened last night but somehow I think it is something else you’re trying to convey.”

“Fletch,” he said, that string of movies always has a fair amount of concern about the dark side so naturally I was talking to Rick about how that gets used in his direct marketing business and that led to politics and, well, that’s when you came in.”

“Okay,” I replied, “so the roadmap here is dark side to direct marketing to politics. Is that right”

Rick piped up and said, “That’s the short and not so sweet of it. Basically he’s saying that the way folk’s minds work it is really easy to get to them with the dark side not to mention that he thinks folks like Chris and I are experts at using photos and copy to exert an outrageous influence over most prospects.”

Kate, ever the pragmatic sales expert cleared her throat. Everyone swung to look at her.

She sniffed and said, “Don’t you all know by now when he’s about to spring one of those tar baby stories on you? He’ll lead you right down the primrose path and then snicker when he gets you to fling him into the briar patch. Don’t you know that’s where he grew up? He understands Brand because he has more than a nodding acquaintance with the dark side.”

You could hear the clock on the wall behind Gail ticking it got so quiet.

Gail, our writer/editor/campaign builder said, “Could you spell that out a little more for me?”

“Sure,” Kate said. “Name an iconic brand. I’ll bet you come up with Apple and Starbucks and maybe Google and a handful of others. Can you tell me one that set out to be an icon? Can you tell me one that had a mission statement that set them apart?CAn you tell me one that doesn’t have some contribution from the dark side?”

Rob said, “She’s right. All of them fell into it. In fact the iconic Apple commercial that ran in the 1984 Super Bowl had a suit filed against it by the estate of George Orwell. The commercial is considered to be one of the best of all time but it nearly did not get aired. The board of Apple wanted to kill it. Fortunately, that was a case of the dark side not winning. The agency defied a direct order to sell the time that had been purchased in the Super Bowl. They drug their feet long enough that the only thing left to do was run the commercial. That commercial got flung in the briar patch but still got aired.

Some people claim that Apple was introduced with the line “Think Different. Not so. The Think Different campaign came years later. That was in 1998. Originally, Steve Jobs was to be the voice over on the commercial but he felt people might believe he was an egomaniac. Right.

The dark side is always with us. It is a part of every brand. Theah’s a Chinese symbol that really makes it clear. Everything has positive and negative aspects. At the core of both the light and dark sides is dot of life spun up in the ongoing battle which describes the reality of any idea or company or organization. It is messy. There is always a dark side. It can be the basis of the brand or its downfall.

You can’t go all the way to the dark side or the light. Too much of either and you will crash and burn. The power is in adhering to the key precepts and acknowledging what got you here.

The Takeaway:

Brand is being perceived for a few key precepts by yourself, your employees, your customers and the general public. Brand is developed by those knowing full well that nothing is perfect and that there is always a dark side.

Jerry Fletcher’s blog recaps conversations with clients, prospects and the unruly mob of business development professionals he consorts with. They discuss marketing that works from solopreneur to enterprise level. Jerry Fletcher is the ringleader and “Watson” of the dialogue. Sign up for the blog and other publications at: www.JerryFletcher.com/Profit.html

Jerry has been researching and implementing small business marketing that builds businesses, careers and lives of joy for 25 years as President of Z-axis Marketing, Inc. Learn more at www.JerryFletcher.com

Schedule a personal appearance. Jerry speaks internationally on Networking, Marketing and Contact Relationship Magic. www.NetworkingNinja.com

Pick A Card, Any Card

Posted on 2015/12/05 by Jerry Fletcher

“I just finished my beginning test of a software program that can digitally capture a full variety of brainstorming, planning and project tracking approaches with both words and pictures” I said to the assembled crew.

Chris, the Digital Director in our midst said, “You must have liked it or hated it or we wouldn’t be hearing about it!”

I agreed saying, “I liked it. It is not as fast as sticky notes and white boards but it has the advantage of being saved in a form that a group can work with even if they are geographically and time separated.”

Rick asked, “What is it called?”

“Cardsmith,” I replied to our direct marketing expert. I told my friend Ron about it. He speaks on planning and project management all over the country. His e-mail said:

I love my sticky notes and this adds to the usefulness.

One thing it does better is making the sticky-note planning accessible to remote locations… and thus the one thing it does worse is removing the in-room collaborative MESSY brainstorming benefits. I think it might limit what people are willing to “post” as a “good-enough-to-see-daylight” idea.

But it has a solid use and I think it offers some great opportunities for delivering and controlling shared work items.

Thanks for calling my attention to it. I’m going to play with it a little.

Kate our resident sales doyen asked, “So how does it work?”

“The best analogy I can give you is if you had a deck of 3 x 5 cards and you were trying to figure out how to organize something whether it’s a sales meeting, a book, a team building a product or even how to structure a complex web site. You’d jot something on a card and put it on the table, do the same for the next major step and put that on the table in relation to the first.”

Gail, our writer and editor said, “this sounds like a piece of software that was part of an offering to Mac users that were writers I once looked at. I was set up so you could structure a story arc for a book or a TV show and add cards to fill in plot data and character sketches. The whole system was based on a manual system that used 3 x 5 cards!”

“Exactly,” I said. “But this product is more flexible even in its fresh-baked version. For instance, you can put the cards in relation to one another side by side or above and below one another or even arrange them in a spiral if that floats your boat. The best part, as Ron said is the ability to keep everyone in a team on the same page. One consultant I know claims it has improved his productivity by several orders of magnitude!”

The Takeaway:

Cardsmith is worth a look if you ever get involved in planning or process management of any kind that requires keeping track of lots of connecting information. It adds productivity at low cost with a minimal learning curve.

Schedule a personal appearance. Jerry speaks internationally on Networking, Marketing and Contact Relationship Magic. www.NetworkingNinja.com

With Two You Get Trust

Posted on 2015/10/17 by Jerry Fletcher

“Our clients forget too quickly that they can’t do it alone,” I said as Gail and Rick pulled up chairs.

“Do what?” asked Rick.

Success is built on trust and you must dance to the same music as the customer. Learn more at www.jerryFletcher.com

“Get to Trust,” I responded. “Just like It takes two to Tango or Salsa or whatever dance the stars are doing it takes two to get to Trust.”

Gail coaxed, “And this is important because….”

I’ve said it before, “Who you know is important and what you know makes a difference but the single most important thing to be successful in business is who trusts you.”

“So what you’re saying is that to sell anything you have to get to trust, and if you don’t, you won’t,” said Rick.

“Right, “I replied. I’m a little frustrated by a business to business client that is bouncing all over the place, full of piling up lists of features and benefits and unwilling to let me talk to some prospects to understand their wants and needs and desires or let me get a handle on their objections.

“Is he afraid they might not like his product or service?” asked Gail.

Rick suggested, “He could be so in love with this thing he’s developed that he can’t see the forest for the trees. I’ve seen that happen so many times in high tech that I expect it now.”

“So,” I said, “How do you guys get around it?

“Some times you have to do it the hard way,” Gail said. “I’ve warned clients that the path they are following will not, in my opinion, work and that they should change but if they are hard over on doing it I will give them the best copy I can based on that direction. Sometimes it gets them to change but very infrequently.”

“I tried that,” Rick agreed. But I try to make it the last resort because it can get very expensive in Direct Marketing. One thing I’ve found is that I can push them pretty hard in list selection. Because of the expansion of selects we can go deeper into prospects habits and media usage and a host of other factors. What I find is that they really don’t know their prospects all that well so we push them into doing some simple testing that reveals where the best product fit is.

“Brilliant,” Gail burst out, “That is sort of what I did once. I got them to have the prospect respond by phone and had the client and I actually take some of the calls. Talk about change an opinion in a heartbeat!”

“So what you’re saying is the first step is to get the client into a conversation with the prospect or customer so they are talking with them rather than at them.

They agreed, saying it was only the first step but perhaps the most important.

The Takeaway:

In today’s world to get to trust you need to listen to your customers. That means in person and on line. After all, that is what your prospects are doing.

Schedule a personal appearance. Jerry speaks internationally on Networking, Marketing and Contact Relationship Magic. www.NetworkingNinja.com

Behavioral Marketing Spurs [Book List]

Posted on 2015/09/26 by Jerry Fletcher

I asked, “Was anyone else listening to Public Radio on the way over?”

“Let me guess, Rick said, “the piece about behavioral marketing rang your chimes. The thing that got me was the breathless description of the ‘new discovery’ that a P.S. on a letter or e-mail improved response rates from a person who had obviously never won her spurs in the direct marketing arena!”

“Right. The person being interviewed was talking about basic stuff as if it was discovered yesterday. She and the interviewer were both completely oblivious to the entire history of marketing, direct or otherwise.”

Chris said, “Everyone knows that a P.S. can increase response.”

“Apparently not,” Kate remarked. ” Time and again I run into this phenomenon. It happens in sales all the time. I have to teach people new to the profession how to shake hands and take notes and basic techniques. The other side of that is when they start trying to emulate the flavor of the day from the latest book published without knowing the stuff the new approach is on top of.”

“Chris,” Rick said, “You’re one of the few youngsters I know that has done his homework and tried to learn from some of the masters. Off the top of your head what three or four books would you recommend to anyone trying to understand direct marketing?”

Chris replied:

Scientific Advertising by Claude Hopkins (originally published in the 1930’s I think, but reprinted in the last couple of years)
Ogilvy on Advertising by David Ogilvy (a classic about print advertising)
Convergence Marketing by Richard Rosen (for a quantitative look at brand vs. direct)
Give ‘em one white sock by Rapp & Collins (a bunch of ideas for ways to get a message opened)
Dotcom Secrets by Russell Brunson (Contemporary take that applies the classics to on line marketing)

You’ll find that most of them talk about their mentors, colleagues and competitors as well as what they had to do to earn their spurs. They became successful by doing what the behavioral marketing crowd thinks they are discovering,

The Takeaway
A little reading can take years off your learning curve. Direct marketing that works follows a pattern: It convinces, persuades and moves prospects closer to the sale by trying something, measuring it, establishing a control, testing details and new concepts against it. Successful direct marketers keep using the control until it is beaten. Then they start the entire process over.

Jerry Fletcher’s blog recaps conversations with clients, prospects and the unruly mob of business development professionals he consorts with. They discuss marketing that works from solopreneur to enterprise level. Jerry Fletcher is the ringleader and “Watson” of the dialogue. Subscribe to the blog at: www.JerryFletcher.com/Profit.html

Schedule a personal appearance. Jerry speaks internationally on Networking, Marketing and Contact Relationship Magic. www.NetworkingNinja.com

Put Your Mouth Where The Money Is [Free Takeaway]

Posted on 2015/09/12 by Jerry Fletcher

The temperature was in the 90’s again so we decided to dine alfresco. We trooped outside, pushed a couple of tables together and became observers of the passing scene until Chris dropped a verbal hand grenade in the middle of things.

He asked, “have you guys heard the latest research on headlines and click Through Rate (CTR)?”

Gail, our writer/editor snorted, “now what!”

Rick just covered his face with his hands, moaned and said, “In direct marketing there is only one measure of what works and what doesn’t and it is not based on Click Through Rate!”

“That’s why I brought it up,” said Chris. “All of us are going to catch flack on this so we need to be ready when clients and managers start trying to push us around.”

“Anyone who has ever written a headline that got people to make a buy is going to love some of these findings,” Chris began. “The report says the words easy, how to, credit, cure, magic and free decrease CTR. But wait, there’s more” he continued. Using You or your or you are also reduces the CTR. And don’t try giving me tips or tricks or telling me it’s simple or amazing. I don’t want to know the secret. And don’t think you can get me to take action quickly I’m not about to act Now.”

“I may be a country boy.” said Rob our branding Guru that hails from Georgia, “but I can tell you somebody’s been sippin’ grannie’s hard cider when she ain’t lookin’ if y’all believe that nonsense. I been getting paid to write for a lotta years and click throughs don’t hold a candle to conversions. Y’all don’t need to go preachin to all them folks outside the tent. The ones that are inside is where the action is. And that is what works across all the media I know.”

Kate snorted and said, “Hear, hear. Bubba. It’s the same in sales. We do a little cold calling but most of the time we are talking to people that want to be talking to us. I figure a prospect is someone that has a problem I can solve, can pay me to do it and is willing to talk to me. I don’t need to convince them to talk to me. I just need to understand their problem so I can help solve it. I’d rather work with folks that want to see me any day!”

“That’s the thing about this report,” Chris said. It’s 28 pages and it took 17 before they started talking about conversions.”

“Then, what did they say?” I asked.

“Suddenly, all those low CTR performers became more important. Being new and meeting a need Now paid off. Suddenly Amazing had power to open wallets. And funny thing, FREE managed to get more orders when used in headlines directed to real prospects and especially when it became part of the close.

The one thing that came out of this study that appears to work across the board is putting brackets in the headline. What helps close the sale in brackets? Here are their top five examples: Template, Quick Tip, Free Download, Infographic, FAQ.”

The Takeaway:

Add a bracketed item to your headline while using the words that have proven useful since promotion began to convince, persuade and generate sales. Conversions are always more important than Click Throughs.

Schedule a personal appearance. Jerry speaks internationally on Networking, Marketing and Contact Relationship Magic. www.NetworkingNinja.com

Content Schemes

Posted on 2015/08/15 by Jerry Fletcher

Chris our digital director type announced, “I need some help with a content problem.”

Gail, the writer/editor that joined in our luncheons asked, “What seems to be the difficulty?”

“Maybe you better introduce your guest and explain what you mean by content first,” I suggested.

“This is Jennifer, he said. “She’s a consultant who works with companies to bring them into the digital age and understand the benefits of business intelligence.

Jen, this is the lunch bunch: Jerry Fletcher is the one that got us all together and he does the blogs you’ve seen. Next to him on his left is Kate. She’s the most knowledgeable sales consultant I’ve ever met. Next to her is Rob. Do not be fooled by his syrupy southern drawl which is why we call him Bubba. He is the Buddha of branding in this group. Next to me here is Gail. She’s run ad agencies, radio stations and is our resident writer and editor. That empty seat next to you is usually filled by Rick who runs a world class direct marketing firm. There are some less frequent attendees but that is the usual group that comes together here each Friday.”

“So what do you mean by content?” I asked.

Jennifer said, “Like I told Chris, I believe I can be more successful if I do Content Marketing instead of the old fashioned pitching of products and services. The problem is I have to generate all this stuff and I’m not sure what will work and how to find the time to do it. I figure I have to do it well or not at all. Is there some sort of template or basic scheme that will work for me?”

Rick, who had arrived as she was explaining, said, “There’s a Roper Poll that says 80 percent of business decision-makers prefer to get company information in a series of articles versus an advertisement. About 60 percent say that information they get from companies helps them make better decisions.”

“That may be true,” I said but let’s do a round robin for Jennifer and each come at it from our area of expertise. I’ll start. I think you need to a have a strategy that is written down, followed religiously and that you need to measure the results regularly”

Kate said, “You also need to be darn sure of who your customer is and how what you do can be differentiated. I mean in benefit terms but more importantly the outcome the buyer gets from you.”

“It is a pleasha to have such radiance at the table with us, Bubba drawled. Y’all need to remember that theahs a Brand piece of this pie to be considered, too. You might could change your brand if you’re not careful. Make sure your brand is in sync with the differentiation that Kate was talkin’ about. Think your way through possible problems and make sure all your content is aligned with the singular brand your customers and prospects are lookin’ to buy into.

Gail, shaking her head said, “Radiance at the table…you have no shame!”

Jennifer blushed.

Gail continued, “I was looking at this another way. In order to provide information in a form or multiple forms that communicates you have to define the targets in depth. Demographics. Psychographics, Anecdotes. You have to understand where, when, how and most importantly why they want to engage with you. And knowing those things never do anything once. If you write an article think about how to turn it into an audio presentation, a video, a slide show, an infographic…whatever way your target might like to get it.

“I guess it’s my turn,” said Rick. “Two things. First, I think you have to consider the channels you’re going to use to get the word out. I understand that time is a concern so do you have to minimize some social marketing or change your emphasis from say a blog to a newsletter or vice-versa? Second, even though you’re trying to get the prospect to move through the Know/ Like/ Trust cycle you still have to ask for the order. Include a direct call to action in everything you do.

The Takeaway:

Successful content strategies are documented. You need to decide:

How it fits into your business plan
Who you’re talking to and what they want to know
What impact it has on your brand and how to cope with that
Which channels you’re going to use to connect
When to tell them how you’re different and ask for the order

Jerry has been researching and implementing small business marketing that builds businesses, careers and lives of joy for 25 years as President of Z-axis Marketing, Inc. Learn more at www.JerryFletcher.com

Schedule a personal appearance. Jerry speaks internationally on Networking, Marketing and Contact Relationship Magic. www.NetworkingNinja.com

Act Your Age!

Posted on 2015/07/25 by Jerry Fletcher

Kate, our sales doyen, sniffed, “Sometimes I think clients are like unruly kids!”

Gail asked, “How so?”

Kate responded, “Jonathan, a client who has been in business forever and over the years volunteered to advise start-ups is going through a life change. He’s retiring from his old business and about to start a new one. He’s so fired up he is overlooking all the basics that need to be done before a launch.”

Rick, Mr. Direct Marketing, asked, “What kind of business is he starting?”

“Consulting,” Kate said. She went on, “He just doesn’t want to do the work he needs to do to increase his chances of success.”

“Could it be an age thing?” I asked. “I don’t mean his age although that is important for consultants but rather a company’s age. Is he thinking like an ‘old-timer” when he is actually a newbie in the new business?”

You’ve updated your Company Phase research again, haven’t you brer’ fox?” said Rob, the Georgia born branding expert.

Chris looked puzzled so Rob continued, “He’s been surveying successful B to B businesses for more years than you’ve been alive. As I recall there are three phases:

Start up
Growth
Established

He’s figured out what marketing works in each phase and because he’s done so much work with consultants he can streamline recommendations and jus’ plain put a jack under your ROI.”

Kate jumped back in asking, “What should I tell Jonathan other than to come talk to you, Fletch?”

“He’s pretty definitely a start up from what you said, so maybe the thing to do is take him for a trip down memory lane. Every business starts the same way whether we want to remember it or not. The differences over time can be put into a 3D matrix. All that changes is Time, Money and Staff. In part, those variables control what you can do to market a firm. But they don’t really change what is effective.”

Chris asked, “So different things are more effective in each phase?”

“You got it. When anyone starts out, especially consultants, they have to get to Trust. There are three ways to get enough trust to get a contract:

Sell a previous employer
Sell someone referred by a previous employer
Network to a previous contact familiar with your work and sell ‘em

Over time, every successful consulting organization, comes to rely on referrals.

Every successful organization.

The Takeaway:

Here are the key ways consultants get business in each phase in order of importance:

Start Up Growth Established

Direct Sales Referrals Referrals

Networking Direct sales Prior experience

Referral Networking Direct Sales

Prior experience Prior experience Direct Marketing

Direct Marketing Direct Marketing Everything Else

Everything else Everything else Networking

Schedule a personal appearance. Jerry speaks internationally on Networking, Marketing and Contact Relationship Magic. www.NetworkingNinja.com

What Not To Say For Openers!

Posted on 2015/07/11 by Jerry Fletcher

My answer is always the same: “I’m sweet, kind, generous and a regular boy scout. What do you want to sell me?”

12 page How-to booklet includes a complete fill in the blanks script

“Don’t tell me,” said Bubba, “I’m plumb certain the question was the inevitable ‘how are you today’ asked by a person cold-calling on the phone. And I bet it really messed up the caller when you gave that answer.”

“You got it Bubba. How are you today? is the single dumbest thing I believe you can say in a sales script regardless of if it is on the phone or in person.

Kate, you’re the sales expert, why do people do that?”

Kate said, “Okay, wise guy, what do you say to someone to start the conversation when you’ve never talked to them before? In my view you have to do two things:

Put the person you’re talking to in a positive state of mind
Get them to let you ask questions

Chris our digital expert asked, “But what do you actually say to get that done?”

Kate said, “Start with their name and then thank them for taking your call and show some concern for their time by telling them you will be brief. Here’s a script I’ve taught successful sales people for years:

Mr. or Ms. Jones thank you for taking my call. I know you’re busy so I will be brief. Introduce yourself followed by their name

It uses their name. That is the strongest set of words for just about anyone. Said properly they hear the respect. Saying thank you drops their reluctance a notch or two more. Acknowledging that he or she is busy and stating that you will be brief gets you just that little bit more attention. Introducing yourself and then saying their name again starts to build a relationship.”

Bubba asked, “So you’re saying there’s an opening and then an introduction, is that right?”

“You bet,” said Kate, “At that point the best approach I’ve seen comes right out of Fletch’s 30-Second Marketing. You have to do three things in this introduction:

State the problem that most people that buy your product or service are trying to solve
Tell them what you do to solve the problem.
Get them to agree to answer a few questions.

Make sense?”

Chris scratched his head and asked, “Can you give me an example?”

Kate responded, “That training company you worked with is a good example. Here’s what I would say in that case:

You know how companies like yours need to have training that meets state and federal requirements and that you can prove your people have taken?

What we do is provide a fully approved on-line program that keeps track of time spent by every one of your people including all their test scores.

Would that be of interest to you?

Understand?”

The Takeaway:

Start with their name
Thank them
Show concern
Promise to be quick
State the common problem
Tell them how you solve it
Get agreement to ask some questions.

Schedule a personal appearance. Jerry speaks internationally on Networking, Marketing and Contact Relationship Magic. www.NetworkingNinja.com

Form With A Personal Touch

Posted on 2015/06/20 by Jerry Fletcher

“It all comes down to your form, “I said.

“Are we talking golf or Tennis? “ Chris asked as he sat down.

“Neither” said Rick, our direct marketing expert. “We’re talking forms for web sites and landing pages and other uses on line. One of Fletch’s clients was unhappy that he recommended that a form to capture visitor e-mail addresses be included on every page of the website. The client argued that it wasn’t classy and interfered with his branding.”

Chris, our digital director in residence, turned expectantly to Rob the Branding authority in our midst and said, “So the branding viewpoint is….”

Bubba didn’t disappoint him. “Son,” he said, “That feller’s got his knickers in a knot for the wrong reason. Heah’s the thing. You got folks comin’ to a website and the reason they are there is to find out some more about you or your product or service. They may be looking to meet you. If you were dealin’ with them in person what would you do? You’d make it as easy as possible. You’d answer their questions. You would try to connect with them. You’d invite them to keep in touch. That means the form has got to be there but:

The form needs to fit in with the personality of the site
The design should emulate the rest of the site
The language should fit in with the rest of the site

Kate, our sales veteran took over. She said, ”If you think of the form that way you treat it less like a form and more like an invitation. You tell people what they are going to get and you treat them with respect. You make your approach more personal. For instance, instead of having a button that says Submit you use language like ‘Sign Me Up’ or ‘Connect Me.” (Here’s an example)

“Limiting the amount of information they have to supply is important in that situation,” said Rick. “The other thing you have to tell them is that you won’t sell or give away their information to anybody. Of course, there are other kinds of forms. Those need to include Bubba’s rules but forms that are designed to detect digital body language or for gathering more information such as an application need to assume a couple things:

The fewer the queries the better. (Try to keep it under 7)
Make it as simple as possible for the visitor
Consider gathering information sequentially to build up a prospect profile for multiple interaction situations
Put your labels above the fill-ins
Use Drop down menus to conserve the visual space of the form
Use checkboxes to allow selection of multiple values at the same time
Use radio buttons where applicable to allow for faster viewer scanning.

“If I bring my client to lunch will you guys repeat yourselves?” I asked.

Gail, our writer/editor quietly spoke for the group saying, “You’re big boy. You can convey what was said here today. “What I hear you saying is that you’re not sure you can convince your client. Try telling him what you learned.”

The Takeaway:

Forms on web sites, landing pages and sales sites are all better when they are built with a personal touch in mind– like an invitation. That means designing the form to fit in seamlessly while making it as easy for the user as possible.

Schedule a personal appearance. Jerry speaks internationally on Networking, Marketing and Contact Relationship Magic. www.NetworkingNinja.com

Testimonials Need A Touch Of Fear

Posted on 2015/06/13 by Jerry Fletcher

It bothered me that Janet’s new testimonial was as ho hum as they come, at least to me. So I showed it to Rick.

Rick read it through and said, “I can’t fault the way the author spells out the facts that changed due to Janet’s coaching skills but even with all that it seems like every testimonial I’ve ever seen for a management consultant. It says she walks on water but that is hard to believe.”

“Why not?” asked Chris.

“Age, experience and one of the lessons I learned when I was earning my spurs.”

“Spurs?” Chris said.

Rick replied, “It’s a figure of speech in the Direct Marketing space. What I learned when I was a little younger than Chris is that testimonials can really help close a sale but only if they are human and the testimonial can help get a prospect over what is keeping them from making a decision to do what you want them to do.”

I asked, “Can you give me an example?”

“Fletch,” he said, I’ll give you one from your own web site.”

You could have seen the lump in my throat as I said, “Okay, fire away.”

Rick said, “On the 30-Second Marketing page of the consulting section of your website there’s a testimonial from Jim Grew. It says:

“When he proposed that I answer the question, ‘What do you do?’ with:
I’m the Business Defogger & Accelerator.
I thought he was nuts.

And then I tried it.
Everybody gets it.
Nobody forgets it.
Colleagues want to know how I came up with it.
I tell them to talk to Jerry.”

Notice how it goes from ‘I thought he was nuts to nobody forgets it.’ And then on top of that adds the last bit about colleagues?

The essence of the testimonial could have been ‘Colleagues want to know how I came up with my tagline.’

But he added his concern. See the difference?”

Gail said, “So you’re advocating that a concern or problem the testifier has with the person or the process they are lauding should be part of the testimonial, right?”

“Exactly,” said Rick. “A testimonial is more than icing on the cake. It can overcome an objection as well as help convince or persuade the prospect to take a step or two further in making a purchase. It’s why every diet product you’ve ever seen uses before and after photos and when it is on video the former Mr. Obesity says something like ‘I tried all kinds of things but this simple solution is the one that finally worked for me.’

The Takeaway: Put a concern or objection on the front end of a testimonial. Overcoming it makes the testimonial more powerful.

Schedule a personal appearance. Jerry speaks internationally on Networking, Marketing and Contact Relationship Magic. www.NetworkingNinja.com

Jerry Fletcher's Secrets of Small Business Marketing

How to build your business, your brand and a life of joy…on and off-line.

Tag Archives: Copywriting

Delving Into The Dark Side

Pick A Card, Any Card

With Two You Get Trust

Behavioral Marketing Spurs [Book List]

Put Your Mouth Where The Money Is [Free Takeaway]

Content Schemes

Act Your Age!

What Not To Say For Openers!

Form With A Personal Touch

Testimonials Need A Touch Of Fear