When I was a kid, I wanted to be Richie Rich. I could read comic book after comic book of his adventures. Being the “poorest friend” my friends had left a taste for the finer things as displayed by Richie’s over the top wealth.
The one thing I remember was the ads in the comic books. In kindergarten, my friend Stephen and I planned to buy plans for a submarine. We would drop into the sewer, which lead to theWolfRiver, which lead to the Mississippi River, which lead to theGulf of Mexico. TheGulf of Mexicowas about as far as my kindergarten geography would take me.
I was also drawn in by the ads to sell greeting cards in exchange for money…or bet yet cool prizes like sleeping bags and walkie talkies. Though the prizes seemed out of reach, the testimonials made it real and attainable to me.
I went on to win a sleeping bag with my points. They sent me a leopard print bag as thin as flannel sheets. That sleeping bag really let me down on my first Boy Scout camp out. I was the youngest, thus furthest from the fire. The older, wealthier kids close to the fire had sleeping bags warm enough for Mt.Everest.
You are reading this today, because I decided to attend a $5,000, three-day marketing boot camp put on by Jay Abraham in 1995 sold to me by the large number of testimonials in his ad.
What makes you think you don’t need testimonials to sell catering?
It is one of the most powerful weapons in your marketing arsenal. What you say about yourself is self serving and questionable. What others say about you is The Gospel truth.
At Corky’s we had a “love” wall in our lobby. We took catering testimonial letters and framed them for those awaiting a table to read. I used testimonials throughout my marketing.
Do you want to know how to turbo-charge the power of testimonials? Niche them.
One of my most successful catering sales letters was targeted to retail stores for their Black Friday catering business. That four page sales letter was full of testimonials from managers of some of the most well known retailers inNashville.
That letter was responsible for $12,000 in catering sales on Black Friday. There were many components needed to make the letter work, but the testimonials were a deal sealer.
If you’d like to see a copy of the letter, you can click on the link below to be taken to the download on our members-only site. You’ll want the “Retailer 4 Page” template.
http://www.restaurantprofitpoint.com/members/department48.cfm
Now how do you get testimonials? Ask for them. If a client is slow to act, offer to take their words of praise and send them to be reviewed. You’ll often find they won’t change a word, just make sure you don’t misrepresent them.
You can use video testimonials as well. Pull out that iPhone at an event to record a client gushing over your catering.
Now the best way to learn about testimonials is to actually write one yourself. You can practice by writing me a testimonial after you've read my eBook, Cater or Die.
Now go out and build up your testimonial library!
