Losing sales to your competition?

By LBV

16 Mar 2011

Doing lots of quoting but not getting the orders? Losing sales to your competition?

Here is the easiest way to cause sceptical buyers to do business with you rather than your competition.
Using testimonials ¬and case studies from satisfied customers and clients ¬ is one of the simplest and easiest ways to add instant credibility to your promotions. Here’s how to do it:

Always use real testimonials instead of made-up ones. Even the most skilled copywriter can rarely make up a testimonial that can match the sincerity of genuine words of praise from a real customer or client.

Prefer specific, detailed testimonials to general or superlative ones. A marketer’s initial reaction is to read a letter of praise from a customer, find a single sentence about the company or product, and, with a blue pencil, extract a few kind words.

This produces a bland bit of puffery, such as “We are very pleased with your product.” Actually, most testimonials would be stronger if we included more of the specific, detailed comments our letter writer has made about how our product or service helped him. After all, the prospects we are trying to sell to may have problems similar to one this current customer solved by using our product.

Don’t try to polish the customer’s words. When they read a testimonial that sounds like advertising, they discount it. When you get a testimonial that’s blunt and ungrammatical, use it that way.

Whenever possible, use full attribution. We¹ve all opened direct-mail packages that contained testimonials from “J.B. in Bolton” or “Jane S. House Owner.” To increase the believability of your testimonials, include the person’s name, town and (if a business customer) job title and company.

There are two basic ways to present testimonials: You can group them together in one area of your brochure or ad or you can scatter them throughout the copy. All else being equal, I prefer the first approach: to group all your testimonials and present them as a single block of copy.

My feeling is that when the prospect reads a half-dozen or so testimonials, one right after another, they have more impact and power than when the testimonials are separated and scattered throughout the piece.

Finally, get the customer’s permission to reprint his words before including his testimonial in your marketing campaign. Send a letter quoting the lines you want to reprint. Ask permission to include them in ads, direct mail, brochures and other materials used to promote your firm. This way, you can use the testimonials again and again.

Want to see what Graham means? Go to his website or search you tube for Graham Corrigan

Graham Corrigan
ActionCoach

 

Enjoyed this? Read more from LBV

Latest news

1

Management buyout at Suresite Group Steve Holden

Management buyout at Suresite Group

17 Oct 2025

2

Meet the influencers who have generated £2m sales for one company Helen and Richard Chalu new

Meet the influencers who have generated £2m sales for one company

16 Oct 2025

3

WHN strengthens position in prestigious legal guide Daniel Long

WHN strengthens position in prestigious legal guide

16 Oct 2025

4

Warden appoints new commercial manager to strengthen project delivery and growth Peter Heskine

Warden appoints new commercial manager to strengthen project delivery and growth

16 Oct 2025

5

Stockley's finds its sweet spot Stockley's front view

Stockley's finds its sweet spot

15 Oct 2025

Background image for hub sign up block

LBV Hub

Leverage Lancashire Business View platforms

Post your news
Post your events
Post your offers
Build your network
Improve your SEO
Gain coverage in the magazine
Sign-up
Events
CMI Level 5 Management and Leadership Course
UCLanAerialCampus.jpg.jpg
LBV Hub Seminars
21 Feb 2025 - 21 Feb 2026

CMI Level 5 Management and Leadership Course

Preston Campus, Preston , PR1 2HE

09:00 - 17:00

CMI Level 5 Project Management Course
UCLanAerialCampus.jpg.jpg
LBV Hub Seminars
21 Feb 2025 - 21 Feb 2026

CMI Level 5 Project Management Course

Preston Campus, Preston, PR1 2HE

08:00 - 17:00

Help to grow management course
Help to grow - barriers to growth.png.png
LBV Hub Seminars
26 Sep 2025 - 16 Dec 2025

Help to grow management course

Preston Campus , Preston , PR1 2HE

09:00 - 15:00

HR Essentials for pubs, bars and licensed venues
EventBrite NORi - 22nd Oct Webinar.png.png
LBV Hub Webinar
22 Oct 2025 - 22 Oct 2025

HR Essentials for pubs, bars and licensed venues

Online - Teams, Leyland, PR253XH

13:30 - 15:00

RISE - Lancashire's unique leadership programme for women
thumbnail_Emma Weston Illustration WENDY BOWERS RISE Illustrstion.jpg.jpg
LBV Hub Seminars
22 Oct 2025 - 18 Mar 2026

RISE - Lancashire's unique leadership programme for women

East Lancashire Chamber of Commerce, Clayton le Moors, BB5 5JR

09:30 - 15:30

Women scaling up Blackpool Fylde and Wyre
LBV Hub Seminars
22 Oct 2025 - 09 Jan 2026

Women scaling up Blackpool Fylde and Wyre

The Small Business Academy, Blackpool, FY4 5JX

09:30 - 15:30

North West Business Expo 2025
https---cdn.evbuc.com-images-880456273-4862066883-1-original.20241022-105445.jpeg.jpg
LBV Hub Exhibitions
24 Oct 2025 - 24 Oct 2025

North West Business Expo 2025

Bolton Stadium Hotel, Bolton, BL6 6SF

09:00 - 15:00

Chamber Business Lunch – October
LBV Hub Networking
24 Oct 2025 - 24 Sep 2025

Chamber Business Lunch – October

Lancaster Golf Club, Lancaster, LA2 0AJ

11:00 - 13:30

Lancaster District Business Support Expo
Lancs-cham-logo.jpg.jpg
LBV Hub Networking
29 Oct 2025 - 29 Oct 2025

Lancaster District Business Support Expo

The Platform, Morecambe, LA4 4DB

10:00 - 15:00

Chamber Breakfast Networking – November
Lancs-cham-logo.jpg.jpg
LBV Hub Networking
06 Nov 2025 - 06 Nov 2025

Chamber Breakfast Networking – November

Porsche Centre South Lakes, Carnforth, LA6 1FW

08:30 - 10:30

Lancashire Police business update with The Police and Crime Commissioner
Lancs-cham-logo.jpg.jpg
LBV Hub Roundtables
10 Nov 2025 - 10 Nov 2025

Lancashire Police business update with The Police and Crime Commissioner

Lancaster Castle, Lancaster, LA1 1YN

14:00 - 16:00

AI, Creativity, and what it means to be human
2.jpg.jpg
LBV Hub Networking
11 Nov 2025 - 11 Nov 2025

AI, Creativity, and what it means to be human

Society1, Coworking Space, Preston, PR1 3LT

18:00 - 20:00

Advertise with us

Reaching 50,000 members, our print, digital and event platforms offer a fantastic way to raise your business profile and help you grow.

Find out more LBV124 Online Graphic
Subscribe now

Weekly news bulletin