7 Top Tips for Testimonials.

I think we’ll all agree that getting testimonials is an invaluable addition to our marketing mix, be it utilising a case study on printed media, quotes from satisfied clients, having transcript on a testimonial page on your website, or have a video uploaded onto a dedicated YouTube Channel.

As a local business coach I find there is something very ‘British’ about business owners and their quiet reserve, feeling it’s a little presumptuous or rude to ask for a testimonial. The fact here is satisfied clients will, in most cases, be delighted to praise your business when they have had their needs met. In many cases they will be raving about your business to others without your knowledge. The tell tale sign here is often when a business seems to generate a portion of its business through referrals.

So I thought it might be useful to offer 7 ways to generate great referrals:

1.           As for testimonials.  You’ll already know your top clients, they will be delighted to offer you a testimonial. In all likelihood they are probably generating you business through referrals, so the question to ask is why? The answer will be the foundation of a great testimonial.
2.             What problem did you solve? In a testimonial ask for details on the problem you solved? It helps to get to the real reason they conducted business with you and why anyone reading the testimonial will resonate with immediately.
3.             List the benefits of doing business with you. We can often get tied up in wordsmithery, when a simple list of the benefits they will have experienced will form a great simple testimonial.  
4.             Feedback.  Use a feedback questionnaire. Keep the questionnaire concise and to the point, don’t bombard them with loads of questions. Maybe even give them the answers via multiple choice. Always remember to ask for permission to use their answers in your marketing. The best time to ask for feedback is directly on completing business.
5.            You write the testimonial. When you gather the feedback or have a verbal testimonial from your clients it's often a great idea to write it yourself or pass it onto a copywriter to draft it for you. Remember to always send the draft copy of the testimonial to the client to gain permission to use it and confirm they are happy to be named in it.  
6.             Images. Having great pictures with the client, their premises, sealing the deal with a handshake etc. will always help to raise the profile and interest of the testimonial. It will also help to have branding visible to build the visible recognition of your business and indeed theirs, a real win win.
7.              Video. By far the best way to publicise on the internet is with video content, it is search engine rich, simple to receive and with technology today doesn't need to be onerous. You can film and publish a testimonial in minutes. When making a video testimonial remember to make it interesting, prepare the question you want to ask and have a good setting. Not everyone will be prepared to give a video testimonial don’t just assume they will be happy to sit in front of a camera.

With this information it's time to get into action and build your portfolio of client testimonials. Having done business with others (especially B2B or B2C) why not offer them a testimonial, in all likelihood they will reciprocate.

Now that’s worth thinking about.

Here’s some of my example video testimonials. 

The Time Efficiency Lesson

The Time Expert

One day an expert in time management was speaking to a group of business students and, to drive home a point, used an illustration those students will never forget.  As he stood in front of the group of high-powered overachievers he said, “Okay, time for a quiz.”

Then he pulled out a one-gallon, wide mouth Mason jar and set it on the table in front of him.  Then he produced about a dozen fist-sized rocks and carefully placed them, one at a time, into the jar.  When the jar was filled to the top and no more rocks would fit inside, he asked, “Is this jar full?”

Everyone in the class said, “Yes.”

Then he said, “Really?” He reached under the table and pulled out a bucket of gravel.  Then he dumped some gravel in and shook the jar causing pieces of gravel to work themselves down into the space between the big

rocks.

Then he asked the group once more, “Is the jar full?”

By this time the class was on to him. “Probably not,” one of them answered.

“Good!” he replied.  He reached under the table and brought out a bucket of sand.  He started dumping the sand in the jar and it went into all of the spaces left between the rocks and the gravel.  Once more he asked the question, “Is this jar full?”

“No!” the class shouted.

Once again he said, “Good.”  Then he grabbed a pitcher of water and began to pour it in until the jar was filled to the brim.

Then he looked at the class and asked, “What is the point of this illustration?”

One eager beaver raised his hand and said, “The point is, no matter how full your schedule is, if you try really hard you can always fit some more things in it!”

“No,” the speaker replied, “that’s not the point.  The truth this illustration teaches us is: If you don’t put the big rocks in first, you’ll never get them in at all.”

What are the “big rocks” in your life?  Time with your loved ones?  Your faith, your education, your dreams?  A worthy cause?  Teaching or mentoring others?

Remember to put these BIG ROCKS in first or you’ll never get them in at all.

If yo'd like my FREE Time Target Top Tip, register your details below and you'll get access to some great time efficiency insight and tips. Start to take control of your time, start to focus on your Business rather than working in it. Register now.

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Timings are Critical not Flexible

"There just aren't enough hours in the day" “I don’t have enough time”, are cries I hear all too often as a business coach. It never ceases to amaze me just how unproductive, incompetent and inefficient we can be with the time we have. Let's face it each and every day we are given just 24 hours, yet we continually squander them. Let's put this into perspective, take a look at how old you are right now, assuming you live in the UK where the average life expectancy is 80.42 years old, how many summers have you got left? Well I have 34. Now thinking in those terms how many do you want to waste? I for one don't aim to waste any of them. With that focus I aim to ensure I don't waste any of my time, in fact getting more done effectively allows me to enjoy a great work life balance.

So how can I get more efficient with my time? 

As a soldier and an officer I lived by the adage that timings were critical not flexible, I had a real militant approach to timings. If I had to be somewhere at a time I always allowed a factor of time to ensure I would arrive early, the ‘fudge factor’. If we had a parade at 0800hrs, then I would expect to arrive at least 5 minutes early. You’ll have heard the adage ‘with military precision’, timings really were critical in terms of coordinating activities on a very large scale.  Placing such significance on time and timings results in everyone internalising the importance of time and holding themselves accountable. Can your organisation say the same? Could you place significance on timing to build a culture of maximising efficiency?

Here’s my top 7 tips from my military experience for your business:

1. Work Back - When working towards a deadline always establish the major milestones working back from the deadline time. This will allow you to establish all the critical timings leading up to delivery. 

2. Timetable – Have a timetable of daily, weekly, monthly and annual activities which are routine. Identify who is responsible for the activities and have been given clear direction. Have the timetable published at a central point within the organisation and clearly communicate it.

3. Clear lines of Communication – Have clear lines of communication through the tiers of the organisation, to ensure timely and detailed passage of information. Meetings can form the conduit and starting point, you must ensure there is a clear agenda and stick to it. Don’t allow the meeting to detract and remain firmly in control of the agenda. So much time is wasted through poor communication and unnecessary lengthy meetings.

4. Synchronise - Whilst this may sound odd, from time to time it will be useful to check everyone’s time is synchronised. Maybe take the time from the internet, central clock or make one team member responsible for setting time. In the military we always worked from GMT and when on operations the Artillery would be responsible for setting the organisation, ‘gunners time’.

5. Clear Direction - When setting out tasks for the team make sure there is clear direction given; simply put set out what is to be achieved, what the limitations and constraints are and when it is to be completed by. Throughout make sure the team leader monitors progress periodically, be mindful not to micro manage though.

6. Concurrent Activity – Whenever possible always be thinking what complementing tasks can be conducted concurrently. There is greater efficiency to have tasks run in unison.

7 – One third, two thirds rule. During planning always ensure you, the business owner, ensure your team have the greater proportion of the available time to complete their roles within the planning or task. Essentially take 1/3^rd of the time and give the team 2/3^rd’s.  

There is often a focus on getting efficient with our time, the focus here is regarding building a culture and relationship with time. Having a team who value time, seek to gain greater proficiency with their time and maximise productivity. Implementing these 7 steps within your business is a start to building the culture where timings are critical not flexible. 

2014 After Action review

2014 After Action Review

And so it is another year passes and we enjoy the opening of 2015. No doubt crossing that line in the sand, as the clock passed to 0001hrs many set the resolution to change, commit, get focused and achieve their goals. Here’s the thing, what underpins the why, the drive to change, do things differently? What drives the decision in the first place? Is it a level of dissatisfaction, not managing to achieve what you set out 12 months previously? Setting the bar too high and being unable to reach it?

I firmly believe in the formula for success ‘Dream – Goal – Learn – Plan – Act’ and when it is fully applied it will result in success. I’m also a firm advocate of ‘feedback not failure’, failure is a state of mind, whilst feedback can open your eyes to different opportunities. This has shaped my dreams for 2015 and set my personal and business goals, From my military service I have continued to reap the benefits from taking a look at the rear view mirror.  Conducting the After Action Review (AAR).

In the military context the after action review forms the critical part of the planning and execution cycle, to put it into context it is the ability to revisit, review and learn from the actions and experiences of specific activity over periods of time. The AAR is a function which is effectively applied at all levels from the operational end of tour AAR or short training exercise AAR. It isn't the role of the senior officers (CEO),rather a collective review conducted at all levels. It enables a complete detailed review in order to build on lessons learnt, best practice and ensure the entire organisation applies the findings. The key to the success of AAR is the application of the recommendations and conclusions in the following planning cycle. It also majors on the effect of experiences from all levels and takes a 360 view.

And so after a year it is time to conduct my after action review. What does your after action review look like? As I review my business plan and my personal aspirations from 2014 it allows me to make informed decisions for 2015. Looking towards my dreams for 2015 and beyond I can see, with clarity where and what I will aspire to and achieve in the long term; to be precise 4 years from now, and indeed having a vision to 10 years from now.

Looking back over 2014 there are some simple pointers to consider as you look to the future: 

• What are the real big dreams and how much closer has 2014 brought you to them.
• Have you defined the little dream? Remember it’s not all about the big stuff, the little things make a big difference in the long run and lead to achieving the big dreams.
• With clarity in your dreams you can then strive to set the goals to achieve them.
•  Make sure your goals are SMART.
• Specific, when making your goal be as specific as you can in what it is.
• Measurable, how will you measure progress?
• Achievable, you must be able to achieve the goal. No point in setting out to achieve the unachievable!
• Results orientated, having a distinctive outcome.
• Time based, without setting a time to have the goal achieved it will simply be something to do.
• In order to achieve the goals what do you need, what’s the learning required:
• I may need to do more of…….
• Which may mean I need to stop or do less of……
• I may need to associate or meet with…..
• I may need to stop associating or meeting with……
• I may need to learn……
• I may need to read……
• I may need to be focused on…..
• I may need to have greater self-discipline with…..
• I may need to commit to…..

·        With the learning the plan can be shaped to achieve the goals.

·        All that is left is to act.

So how 2014 was and what can you learn to further your journey towards your goals in 2015 and your dreams beyond?

Here's looking to the future.

Happy New Year 

Are You In The Know?

Coming out of the dark ages, we lived in the Agrarian Age where wealth was created from the land and, therefore, a few landholders had the power and wealth of the nation.  Battles were fought over land and the differing resources that the geography possessed, giving title deeds to the victor.

The Industrial Revolution changed this order. The era of capitalism was born with the creation of factories engaging workers through Adam Smith’s division of labour principles and the production of mass market goods, provided ever more cheaply through ever greater size of operations and the economies of scale employed.  This era started in the seventeenth century and culminated with massive industrial complexes such as Henry Ford’s car plants in Detroit.   

In the Industrial Age, the ability to attain capital, own and run factories by organising workers and machinery led to wealth for the individual.  There was a fundamental shift in financial power from the land to capital.   On a global scale this became the age where America industrial might showed itself and then latterly German engineering prowess and Japanese production efficiency rose to the fore.  Within all this there was the creation of industrial magnates, tycoons and a new rich.  It was also the birth of the middle classes.

In the latter half of the twentieth century we witnessed the birth of the Information Age which has allowed rapid global communications and networking to shape modern society.  Communications around the globe are now instantaneous through a multitude of channels with access to information on any subject only one click of a button away.

The providers of these channels and sources have prospered on an unprecedented scale benefitting from a global marketplace with seemingly no financial boundaries or constraints.

The Knowledge Age is now upon us and it has profound effects for business.  Once you have access to all the information you may need on any subject, instantaneously available at no cost, then what next?  Where’s the competitive advantage?

It lies, now, not in the information itself but how you know how to assimilate it, using one’s experiences, intellect and understanding to create added value to customers – and on a constant basis.  The Knowledge Era upon us is where ideas are paramount.  In this era, knowing how to use the relevant information in a digestible, implementable form and take it to market quickly is the key to success.  It has never been truer that it’s not what you know it’s what you do with what you know.   A good depth of knowledge, enables asking the right questions, to get the right decisions, to take the right actions and then – get the desired results.

In summary in the Knowledge Age a business owner needs to apply constant learning to their own development and seek out the best advice and ideas from knowledge rich sources of business.   In a competitive market those that choose to know more about their ever-changing marketplace and take Action will win.  

Compete on Value not Price

Discounts versus Profits

Do you have (or have you ever had) one of those salespeople who thinks that giving a discount is the easiest, quickest way to make a sale?  Of course, they may be right, but what about the profit (your profit) they’re giving away?

If your product has a profit margin of 30% and your salespeople give a 10% discount to make the sale, you’re losing a massive, one-third (33.333%) of the available profit!

During a seminar for the buyers of a large retail group with branches all over the country, an attendee shared the following tactic: “My job is easy.  I just let the salesperson make a full sales presentation.  I ask questions and listen to their explanations.  When they’re finished, I simply say, ‘I’d like to place an order with you, but your prices are too high...’ and I then simply sit there and enjoy myself, because the once-confident salesperson suddenly doesn’t know what to do or say next.  With much less conviction and enthusiasm, they may repeat the benefits and features of their products, but most of them get in to see me by giving me a lower price in the first place.  Whatever new price is offered, I usually respond by saying, ‘You’ll have to do better than that!’  And more often than not, they do…in fact, do better than that!  I get lower prices by just sitting there, enjoying the game!”  The buyer isn’t stupid.  But you don’t have to lose.

If you are selling, or have others selling for you, you must protect your price and your margins.  Teach your people not to hesitate or stutter when a buyer insists on a lower price.  Start negotiating!  Start using tactics to hold firm on your prices.  Sell value…perceived and real

Here’s Why:

Do you think it’s possible to work 50% less and earn the same income from selling?  You bet it is!  Here’s how:

Suppose your company sells pumps, with selling price of £10,000 per unit.  Assume that your net cost per pump is £7,000.  That means that the net profit on each pump would be £3,000.  If ten pumps are sold at the full price, the net profit for your company will be £30,000.  Compare this with again selling ten pumps, but this time at a discount of ten percent.  The total selling price for ten pumps is then £90,000.  The net cost for ten pumps remains at £70,000.  The net profit has decreased to only £20,000 compared to the original transaction £30,000 where no discount was given.

If your company continued to sell at ten percent discount, then you’d have to sell 15 pumps to achieve a net profit of £30,000.  Here’s how it looks:

Sales             Discount          Gross Sales                 Net cost                        Profit

10                    0%                 £100,000                         £70,000                       £30,000

10                  10%                    £90,000                         £70,000                       £20,000

15                  10%                  £135,000                       £105,000                       £30,000

What are the lessons to be learned from this example?

A ten percent discount means your company must sell 50% more units (15 instead of 10) to earn the same profit pounds.

A ten percent discount means someone has to work 50% harder to earn the company the same.

By not giving discounts, in essence the company can “work” 50% less and earn the same income.

In spite of this, you might still think, “But, if I don’t give discounts, I’ll lose sales!  It’s an industry norm to give them...everyone does.  If I don’t give discounts, they’ll go to the competition!”

And you may be right, of course.  You may lose a few deals if you don’t give discounts…but the good news is you can afford to…and still make the same or more profit.

The Power of Curiosity

Being Curious

Curiosity killed the cat, they say…but only after it had used up its nine lives.  Being inquisitive and interested in people, things, and events is an admirable characteristic, both because it increases your own learning and also because it’s infectious.  If you display curiosity, those around you will be more curious than they would otherwise have been.

This will not only empower you you'll gain greater understanding, stronger relationships and learning from your friends, employees, peers or fellow networkers. 

An open, enquiring mind is a pre-requisite for continuous learning and development.  The alternative, a closed mind, is a recipe for stagnation and for the rate of change to exceed the rate of learning.

If you’re not already the sort of person who displays curiosity, it’s possible for you to learn to become so.  How easy or difficult this will be depends on your starting point.  If you feel curious, interested, and inquisitive…but don’t exhibit those behaviours, it’s comparatively easy to adopt behaviours that will demonstrate your curiosity.  You could, for example, embrace a commitment to talk to people about what interests them, ask lots of questions, and demonstrate how interested you are in them.  By feeling interested you’re already halfway there and these behaviours should be quite easy to adopt.

If you don’t feel interested, it’s quite possible to feign interest.  Most people will discover that if they pretend to be interested then they start to feel interested (fake it till you make it).  Your outward, exhibited behaviour will affect your inner feelings…rather than the other way round.

Curiosity provides the springboard for learning and development.  Curious, inquisitive people tend to:

• ask lots of questions

• think out loud

• play devil’s advocate

• dig and delve to find out more

• formulate and reformulate “theories”

• have lots of ideas

• challenge conventional thinking

This is an admirable list.  The downside is that people who are curious will often flit, butterfly-like, from one interest to another and not sustain their enthusiasm for any one thing.  As a result they fail to see things through to a conclusion.  They are good starters, but poor finishers.  If this describes you, even just sometimes, you can correct this tendency by working to maintain your interest, continually checking to ensure that your people are completing the things they've started.

Consistent curiosity is vital…the lifeblood of continuous improvement.  All learning and development emanates from an insatiable curiosity.

And that’s worth thinking about…