Step 6: Provide Powerful Proof

Written by on December 11, 2015 / 60 Second Sale

This is step 6 in the free sales course. The title is: Provide Powerful Proof.

Step Six: Provide Powerful Proof

Now it’s time for step six: provide powerful proof. The reason you need to provide powerful proof is, number one, to demonstrate your credibility, to demonstrate that you’re an expert in doing what you do. Regardless of what you sell, you need to be viewed as an expert in solving a problem. Demonstrating your considerable is critically important.

The second reason to provide powerful proof is to show that you can solve the problem that the client has. The client needs to believe that you have the answer to his problem. The third reason is to differentiate yourself. You need to be different than everyone else who does what you do. When you provide powerful proof, that differentiates you from everyone else who does what you do. The fourth reason is so that you can command a fee premium. You need to show that you’re more valuable, that the service you provide is more valuable than everybody else’s service so that you can command a fee premium.

The fifth reason to provide powerful proof is to show that you care, show you care about your clients and to show that you make a difference in the businesses and the lives of your clients. How do you do this? How do you go about providing powerful proof? We’re going to give you six different ways to do this right now. Action item number one in providing powerful proof is to collect testimonials. This is something that most people think is a total pain in the neck. You’ve got to ask your client to write down what you mean to him and how valuable you were. This is incredibly important. Here’s the process for collecting testimonials.

At the start of a relationship with a client, I want you to remind them that there are two ways that they are going to compensate you. The first way they’re going to compensate you is financially. They’re going to deliver financial compensation to you; they’re going to pay you. The second thing they’re going to do is, as long as everything’s gone exactly the way they hoped, they’re going to write down what their experience was like in the form of a letter on their business letterhead. They’re going to sign it and you’re going to be able to use that in your marketing. You should include this as part of your compensation every time you start work with a new client. Getting these testimonials is incredibly valuable for the reasons we stated upfront. I want you to set the table for this when you’re asking for your financial investment upfront.

I also want you to ask for the investment of the testimonial. Now how should people write testimonial letters for you? Every time you ask someone to write a testimonial, that testimonial should address one of the main objections that people experience to hiring you. For example, if you’re more expensive than everyone else, a testimonial written about you should say: Working with Joe Smith is no cheap proposition. In fact, he was the most expensive service provider out there, but he was worth it. Here are the reasons why …  Then they list out the reasons in their testimonial.

Anything that people would object to when it comes to doing business should be addressed in a testimonial letter. These letters are valuable. Now, as an alternative, people can provide you with videos. If you happen to have a camera in your office or you want to even shoot the testimonial video on your phone, that’s a great way to capture the testimonials. But the structure, the construct of the testimonial, remains the same. People should still address something that’s a main objection and then talk about the great work you did with them when you overcame that objection.

Action item number two in providing powerful proof is publishing survey results. When someone’s completed their work with you, you should send them a very simple five-question survey that highlights the experience they’ve had in working with you and allows them to check off boxes on a five-point scale. You can ask questions like: Did Joe Smith respond to you in a timely manner? Did you receive everything you expected from Joe Smith on a scale of one to five, with five being exceeded my exceptions, and one being failed miserably? Ask five questions like that and then allow them to write something at the bottom to highlight the work that they’ve done with you.

Almost everyone will write something in that comment section. You should collect those surveys and you should share those with people who are going to engage you in the future. Sharing survey results, both good and bad, provides you with exceptional credible. Survey results are a great way to provide proof that you are a phenomenally valuable resource for people who are looking to engage you.

Action item number three: continue your writing. Write blog articles, magazine articles. Write articles all over. In fact, even if you don’t get them published in a new source, putting the articles on your website, putting them on your letterhead, having them printed up and having them available for people to read, is powerful. It demonstrates your understanding of the industry. It demonstrates your knowledge of the product or service that you sell. It demonstrates your capability to solve problems. Writing articles is another way to provide powerful proof. That is action item number three.

Action item number four in providing powerful proof is being quoted in the press. Take some time once a month to identify the editors of the business section of your local paper. Make sure you offer yourself out as an expert in your field. Make yourself available to do two things. Number one, make yourself available to educate reporters, researchers, editors, and people on background. Educating people on background means you’re going to provide them with background information that will help them write better stories by sharing with them insider information into what’s going on in your industry and what’s going on in the business community.

The second thing you can do is you can make yourself available to be quoted in the press whenever they cover a story in your area of expertise. Being quoted in the press and then taking those articles or taking that footage from an electronic source and having it available is another way to enhance your credibility and provide powerful proof.

Action item number five is to take all of this great information that you’ve compiled, put it into one nice neat package, and send it out to people when they book an appointment to see you so that they get it in advance of the appointment. We call this a shock and awe pack. Imagine if everyone before they sat down with you for a regular sales call received a packet of information that had dozens and dozens of testimonial letters that had your bio in it. It had articles that you’ve written on the exact problem that the client is experiencing. They go through this packet. Even before they meet you they know they’re meeting with an expert. What you’ve done is you’ve taken yourself out of the realm of salesperson and into the realm of expert consultant there to solve a problem.

This shock and awe pack is powerful, powerful proof that you know what you’re doing, that you’re different than everyone else who does what you do, that you can command a fee premium, and that you are the ultimate expert in solving the client’s problem. Go through these action items and compile them over time, and make sure your shock and awe kit is full of all of this proof. Make sure you get it out to the prospect before you meet him or her and you will find that your prospects are predisposed to doing business with you because you have enormous credibility.