People trust their friends & family 5 times more than a brand message.
No matter how hard you work on crafting the perfect brand, hours spent pondering the best mm or pixel to place your logo. If the forest green is too bold, or the grass green is too timid. There’s one thing that will matter more than any design decision you can ever make.
“92 percent of consumers trust recommendations from others, even people they don’t know, over branded content. 70 percent say that online reviews are their second-most-trusted source, and 47 percent of U.S. readers consult blogs to keep tabs on trends and ideas.”
It’s the reason you see terrible looking brands doing well.
And it’s the reason you see good looking brands doing terribly.
People are social creatures, and they are much more likely to use a service or buy a product if it’s recommended by a friend or family and if there’s social proof for why they should. A friend or family member referring your services will be worth more to them and be weighted heavier in the decision making process than any fabulous marketing you could offer.
So what can you do to take advantage?
Learn to ask for referrals.
This isn’t the slimy salesman tactic some people seem to think it is, and if you think you’re being a con artist asking for referrals then you don’t believe in the value you’re providing your customer. Or you know for sure you’re not providing value, in which case you shouldn’t be in business anyway.
The best time to ask for a referral is immediately after you’re services are rendered.
For an agent, this means after the sale is processed.
This is while the emotional responses are at an all time high and you’re the most likely to get an active and excited response.
If you’re struggling to get a testimonial written about you, be understanding in the busy day to day life we are busy enough and a vendor is also going through a move and sale of a house, if it comes down to it where they haven’t been able to find the time, consider writing the testimonial yourself and sending it to them with a note explaining your appreciation of their limited time offering to provide the testimonial if they are happy to attach their name for it.
Referrals can come in many forms.
Ask for a written testimonial
Either you can get a written testimonial you can re-use in your marketing material, which is fantastic and highly utilised amongst agents.
Ask for 3 referrals
An even stronger tactic is to get your happy customer to think of 3 people they think could benefit from your services and ask them to reach out to them directly and recommend you. This will take advantage of the network effect.
This is a harder referral to get than the written testimonial but it’s one of the most powerful tools you could ever use. It may not pay off immediately (extenuating circumstances might mean the people they choose just aren’t ready to sell) but when the time comes that they are looking for advice, you’ll be the first person they think of because their memory will be stored against the memory of their close friend or family member.
Getting 3 warm leads is great. But if you’re starting from 1 or 2 sales a year it could take a long time to have the desired network effect. If you’re early in your real estate career, it’s time to pull out the big guns…
Get a video testimonial.
Video performs better across every digital platform your buyers are hanging out, facebook, instagram, linkedin etc. video will always outperform text and imagery.
If you can’t afford a professional video crew, a simple iphone video will do. But if you’ve got the money I would always recommend getting the professionals in for this one. The return on investment will be huge because the distribution of this video is unlimited, you’ll be able to advertise the video on social networks, send it out to database members or even use it to put the final push and get an unsure vendor across the line till the end of time.
You’ve got to get over the voice in your head that tells you not to ask.
Most people are genuinely keen to help both yourself and their friends and family and will happily refer you, or offer a testimonial if you just reach out. And while the best time to do it is immediately after the sale, if you’ve got old sales that you never asked for a testimonial for, it’s never too late to reach out… the worst they can say is no.
When I’m not asking our customers for testimonials to help us leverage existing relationships for new ones and taking advantage of the network effect I’m designing products for the real estate marketing platform that offers agents and agencies tools that help them succeed. And I’m thinking an automated email that asks vendors for testimonials on your behalf would be a pretty good idea.
I’m currently undertaking a 30 articles in 30 days writing challenge and I’m on to day 5. If you found this article helpful great, but more importantly if it inspires you to reach out and get a testimonial or referral let me know, if you’d like me to provide you an email template that asks the vendor for you and all you have to do is click send, ask me now!
