Chase Positive Feedback
I have to tell you this amazing story.
So, I made a mistake with some credit card transactions I was doing, and I had to call the credit card company to remedy the problem. If you use credit cards (and I’m sure most of you do), you know that calling a credit card company is a freakin’ nightmare.
The ridiculous phone maze to keep callers from actually talking to a live person, the prompts that take you no where, the Fort Knox like security (which is probably a good thing but after all the other stuff still makes you mad).
I had to do some pretty crazy flip flop of balances… I made a payment to the wrong card. I have a both a Visa and a MasterCard issued from the same bank – one in my name and the other in my wife’s. I made the payment to the wrong one and now was going to try and flip the balances.
I was ready to be annoyed.
BUT… I was pleasantly surprised. The people I talked to were fantastic. So much so that I told the lady who helped me (Mary Ann was her name) how great she was and how easy she made my transaction. I also told her about the hassles I normally have and how surprised I was that I didn’t have to deal with that.
What Mary Ann said next was blew me away!
Mary Ann said, “I wish my boss were here to hear you say that!” I was floored by that statement.
Most people aren’t swift enough to realize something valuable to their career is being said. Many business owners miss this too when a customer gives feedback that is extremely valuable to their business success.
I told Mary Ann that if she wanted to have her boss call me, I would tell her in person. So then Mary Ann did it again! She amazed me again. You have to realize how unbelievable this really is. No one does this – especially employees.
Here’s what she did next…
Mary Ann asked me, “Would you please tell my boss that on her voice mail?” I agreed, and she immediately transferred me to the voice mail where I left a glowing testimonial.
The moral of the story here is that you need to be aggressive in the collection of positive feedback. You need to amass a stockpile of praise from customers, employees, employers, civic leaders and whomever you can find.
You need to be a rabid collector of these juicy bits of joy. People live vicariously through the thoughts, words and actions of others. Having this preponderance of proof that you are as good as you claim to be is more powerful than anything you can ever say.
Travis and I see this mistake made by business owners more than any other. Most small business owners just don’t “get” the power of collecting testimonials and using them in their advertising and marketing. It is a must.
Marketing Guru, Dan Kennedy said, “You don’t have a product until you have testimonials.”
He’s absolutely right. Yes, it is difficult and time consuming to collect them. But there are many ways you can make it easier on yourself. You have to make it a priority and teach your entire staff to recognize and prompt opportunities to capture testimonials, success stories and praise.
There’s power in the details.
Details in testimonials is key. The more you can provide the more believable they will be. Don’t chicken out on testimonials by just putting the first name of the person who gave it or just their city. Give all you can. Even take a picture if you can. These tips will make you testimonials 10x more powerful.
If you aren’t using testimonials now in your marketing your only getting 50% of the business you could be. If you aren’t a business owner you can still significantly increase you pay, job opportunities and career options by using this simple little technique.
Your Mission Should You Choose To Accept It…
Start collecting and using testimonials now!
