Customer Evidence Programs

 

 

“Time and time again, research shows customers are enormously influential with prospective buyers.  . . .When researchers asked why, the one word that consistently played back was "trust."  . . .Decision makers trust peers because they're grappling with the same challenges, goals, expectations and fears.”

 

-- Lou Hoffman, President,The Hoffman Agency, an international PR firm.

 

 

Everyone knows third party advertising (word-of-mouth) is the most effective persuasion for securing new business.  What your satisfied customers say about you is as good as it gets – a pitch delivered by a third party, from a neutral perspective, from someone who has nothing to gain.  Yet it’s the lowest cost advertisement around. 

 

‘Customer evidence’ (CE) documents the practical value of your product or service – your promised benefits, delivered.  The most successful companies have whole programs around CE.  Some good news -- you don’t have to be big to cash in on CE.  You just have to get your program together.  A tactical PR program, based on CE.  I’ll help you with that.

 

 

CE’s A Mainstay Of Many A Successful Marketing/PR Program

 

It includes three different kinds of writing, each with different uses -- case studies, success stories, and testimonials.  These powerfully build credibility and trust by documenting customer statements and stories, showcasing your solution to their challenge (and their whole industry’s problems,) in their own words.

 

We’ve all seen testimonials.  They are usually short, one to four sentences, spontaneous-sounding, have impact, and are sometimes clever.  They are emotional, and drive emotion in the reader.  These work well in marketing collateral – your web site, sales brochures, ads, sales letters, direct mail, etc. 

 

Like this fictional example –

 

“We were astonished!  Our sales volume jumped 47% within a week of posting the testimonials Joseph Riden gathered.  Stats climbed through the roof, and they’re still rising.” 

 

– John Sprockett, CEO, Gears.com, Inc.

 

Success stories are advertisements that extend a testimonial, developing it into a narritive.  A particular customer raves about your product or service and how it saved the day or made them rich.  Or something along those lines.  The story is informative about the customer’s quest, but your product stars.

 

Case studies are journalistic narratives, impartial in tone, told from a neutral perspective.  Your product or service is a key player, but trade editors will only print stories their readers find compelling.  Advertising tone is not appropriate within their guidelines.  The focus is more on the customer’s quest for a solution, and relevance to a broader industry is key.  These still stimulate contacts and inquiries, and sometimes are a better choice than success stories, depending on PR objectives.  If you want to publish an article, this is the way to go.

 

 

 

After all, using your own people is like saying to your customer “OK, now tell me how wonderful I am.”  Even delighted customers are inhibited, encountering this. 

 

You can’t afford to miss what they won’t say. 

 

Ideally, your team is involved to select customers and enable the processes, but a commercial writer with specific talents should interview customers and write the story. 

 

That’s me.  I’m equipped with tools and know-how to help you establish a tactical CE-based PR program, and to continuously exploit an expanding CE base. 

 

And yes, you can afford this investment in success.

 

 

 I interview your customers to stimulate positive comments.  I gather their views and retain their authentic voices, while assuring a well-crafted statement. 

 

I write your success stories to sing your praises and sell your products, featuring your customers’ own words and real-world scenarios.  This marketing ‘candy’ will arm your sales force with bullet-proof confidence.

 

I write your case studies in journalistic style.  They can be directly published in the trades.  Editors are always looking for articles.  They love to publish these, or base articles on them, because they conform to guidelines.  They’re the ‘reality TV’ of trade media.

 

And I compose attractive press releases you can send out to promote publication of your case studies.

 

It’s even possible that a single customer could yield testimonials, a success story, a case study, and some press releases that lead to publications. 

 

Does any reference account come to mind?

 

Make your customers’ success your own.  If you have a CE program in place, I’ll stoke it.  If not, I’ll help you create and sustain one.  An organized CE program continually builds on success, starting with one happy customer, moving forward at a pace that works within your budget.

 

Let your customers sell for you.  Customer evidence is advertising you can take to the bank. 

 

 

Click here to email Joseph Riden or call 714-402-3217.

 

© Joseph Riden 2006, All Rights Reserved