So firstly, what are you doing to generate these videos?
How do you end up with a video of your client raving about 10XPRO
that you can then use in your marketing with permission?
And that last part, it’s important, because I saw a friend of ours, Justin Brooke,
post recently that people have been screenshotting his comments on Facebook
and using that as if it were a testimonial, which is definitely not cool, right?
So first thing is you have to get permission.
You can’t just screenshot something, if you’re going to identify them.
I mean, there are times when I’ll screenshot a success comment, and I might post it somewhere,
but I don’t identify who posted.
It’s just that I’m really delighted to get it,
and I haven’t gone through a formal process of permission seeking.
And I think a lot of my clients, and this is a particular quirk of being sort of a secret weapon,
is some of my clients don’t want to mention that I’m helping them,
because they want a competitive advantage.
This was particularly the case when we had the SEO company, because our clients were agencies,
and they were selling to end-users for about twice as much as what they paid us.
And they didn’t want people to know that we were the supply source.
So that still happens a little bit with my coaching.
But let’s get back to the question.
How do you generate these videos of your clients talking favorably about your product
that you have permission to use in your marketing?
Yeah. I mean, it’s a great question and there are different steps involved.
Now of course, like you said, number one, you need to have something awesome that people
love, and you need to take care of your customers.
And you need to make sure they get results, meaning that once you get the sale,
your job is actually just starting.
It’s not the end, it’s just starting.
You’re going to have to go above and beyond to overdeliver.
That’s what I always try to do.
You need to make sure you follow up with your clients,
you need to make sure that they get results,
you need to make sure that you are here for them.
You might lose some leverage, but you know, it’s all about taking care of your clients.
So let’s say this is done.
Of course, okay, you are doing all that.
Now you’re getting the results.
The thing is that the number one reason people don’t get testimonials is that they simply don’t ask.
Right.
This is one of the biggest things, is that people are afraid.
Like, you know, you see a lot of people working hard, doing a great service,
doing great product, but then they don’t have the systems in place to actively ask for a testimonial.
Because they feel bad about it.
They feel like Hey, no, I cannot.
Like, I don’t want to ask.
And, What if they say no?
I cannot sound like I’m needy.
And it’s not that.
I think it’s important to have a process in place.
And as you know me now, you know I’m all about processes.
I’m all about systems.
That’s why we built 10XPRO.io, to have this whole platform
that allows you to do everything you want.
And I’m very much into processes and systemizing as much as possible my processes,
and that includes my customer follow-up, that includes my support, all of that.
So number one is having a system in place for you to actively ask – in a nice way, of course;
you know, in a win-win way, that’s also key, a win-win way – for a testimonial.
I think the word testimonial is not the right one, because testimonial is like, “Hey,
can you give me a testimonial?”
It basically kind of means, “Can you say something nice about me so I can record and use it?”
Rather, I would like to find out their experience.
How was it, you know?
Because it’s a great opportunity for you to know if someone doesn’t want to do that, or why not?
Because you spent maybe a month or weeks working with that client making sure they get a result.
In theory, there shouldn’t be any problem.
And if there is a problem, you must know about it.
Like, why?
Is it because I didn’t deliver on the promise I made?
Are they not happy?
Why are they not happy?
Is there something lacking?
And for me, it’s very important for me to know that, because if someone is at that stage,
maybe it’s because they think that maybe 10XPRO is missing this, or maybe they don’t like how that works,
or maybe something happened with support that I wasn’t aware of.
This is an opportunity for me to have that personal touchpoint where we can basically find out,
Hey, is everything cool? Are you happy?
I really want to make sure you’re happy.
And that’s how you first want to approach the asking for a testimonial.
Like, Hey, I just want to check in.
Is everything cool?
How was your experience?
And you kind of want to have like, a yes or like, Yeah, I love that, or like, Yeah, it’s great.
Awesome.
Would you mind…?
Then you can go into the testimonial if you have that sorted out, you know?
So I know some people have a system where they use a tool like the Net Promoter Score.
And for people who give them the top score, then the next sequence is asking them
if they’d be able to share their experience.
Right.
You know, to publish that for others.
I’ve seen people be very successful with incentives, where they give a gift or a coupon.
I’m wary of those.
I feel like they are paid-for testimonials.
And I think they lack a little bit of integrity compared to a heartfelt gushing of praise
that was, you know, well-earned.
So it’s nice to dislodge a positive story, but it’s a different thing to go and buy a positive story.