A Priceless Reward from a satisfied customer

Once you've got their interest, you must convince them as quickly as possible that you are the best candidate. Unfortunately, if you are not expeditious in conveying your product or service, then you could lose that prospect to the awaiting competition.

With that said, competition isn't always a bad thing. Especially if you can prove that you are better.

But how do you prove it? This is where the power of your customers' voices comes in handy. Your best customers have a compelling and personal story to tell about their experience with your business, and their positive word of mouth can corroborate your claims and convince others to do business with you, too.

With all the deceit and hype these days in marketing and communications tactics, an actual heartfelt testimonial, heard from an actual happy, satisfied customer, can be the tiebreaker needed to convince a prospect trying to decide between you and your competition.

We've all had experiences where a second opinion could really have come in handy. Perhaps you are looking for a casual pizza restaurant to celebrate your little girl's birthday, a referral offers some semblance of reassurance when we don't know where to turn for help.

But what if we don't have a first-hand referral from a family member, friend or colleague, would we settle for a second- or even third-hand referral? Sure we would. The human psyche likes to be reassured when it comes to spending money on something. Almost any referral is better than no referral at all.

Haven't you noticed that you're more inclined to go to a restaurant when someone else said how good it was? It didn't really matter whether you knew the person or not. Their first-hand experience transferred to you, giving you a comfort level that propelled you to eat at that restaurant the next time you were around. Or have you ever asked the restaurant server for his or her opinion about what's good on the menu and their recommendation affects your decision?

Most written testimonials are often disregarded. But there's an amazing thing that happens when someone speaks from the heart and the listener can sense the honesty in that person's voice. It takes the common customer testimonial to a whole new level of credibility.

Many products have been sold by a mere voice coming through a radio speaker. With audio testimonials, your business can compete with much bigger companies by leveraging one of the only things you have that they don't.

Your satisfied customers.