One of my favorite marketing maxims is from world-class consultant, Alan Weiss, who says in his book, Million Dollar Consulting:
“If you don’t blow your own horn, there will be no music.”
In other words, you cannot expect people to recognize your success. Additionally, you can’t expect people to acknowledge the good work you’ve done in the past. You must tell your customer, donors, and clients about your success. Make it blatantly clear in your marketing materials. Otherwise, they will never know what you’ve done. People are too focused on their own agenda to stop and try to figure out your history.
Does this mean you should boast about your achievements? No, people aren’t drawn to narcissistic egoists. No one wants to hear you regale them with tales of your accomplishments. However, people will listen to someone else boast about you. Use the power of another person’s credibility to promote your products and services.
Show your success by showing other people sing your praises. This means you should ask customers for success stories and display them prominently on your website. Use them in presentations and conversations. Let your prospects know about the customers who think you’re great.
A great example is the testimonial page on the website for the Yates & Yates Literary Agency. I’ve had the pleasure of partnering with Yates for several years, and I can attest to their great work. But, don’t take my word for it. Click here to listen to their New York Times bestselling clients gush about their experiences, such as Ben Carson, John Maxwell, Jen Hatmaker, etc.
These testimonials are so powerful that they might make you jealous wishing you had similar endorsements for yourself. That’s my purpose for showing you these examples. I want them to motivate you to gather and display your own success stories.
You may not have famous customers who sing your praises yet. That’s okay. Start with who you’ve got. A few testimonials are better than no testimonials at all. Gather positive feedback from customers, donors, and clients. Share them regularly via your newsletter, website, blog, and social media pages.
You don’t have to play the trumpet perfectly in order to make a happy tune. Likewise, you don’t need perfect testimonials to improve your marketing. Collect success stories and display them for the world to see. It’s much better to blow your own horn and make marketing music than to just sit in silence.
P.S. – In case you’re wondering if I practice what I preach, click here.
