Marketing Tip from Heather Hammack

How to Use Customer Recommendations to Grow Your Business

In order to make sure you have sincere worded recommendations, you have to invest upfront in planning, personal contact and collaboration. However the effort is rewarded less by a crowded environment, but comes more from building credibility and trust.  Here are a few ways to make sure you are getting the most out of your recommendations.

Sit back and collect endorsements

LinkedIn endorsements are what social networkers call "lite" recommendations. They verify what you do, but do not tell in detail how you do what you do or the value you can deliver.

Endorsements are easy to give and even easier to receive. While they may serve as little more than eye candy, they require no energy (with the press of a button), leaving you free to focus your efforts toward developing thoughtfully worded recommendations

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Reach out and ask for recommendations

Rather than waiting or wishing for customers to put compliments into words, be proactive with your requests, Ask for them. More than likely most people will respond, both to help an associate and to enhance their own visibility.

• Tell the reason you're asking for recommendations and the type of recommendations you're hoping to receive. This puts your request in context and prompts greater response.
• Explain why you're reaching out to the request recipient. This allows you to share a compliment and conveys that your request is one of a select few and not a mass mailing.
• Share helpful information. This saves the recipient time and increases your odds of receiving the kind of recommendation you're hoping for.
• Give your response urgency by stating a reasonable deadline.   

Anatomy of a good recommendation  

The point of endorsements, reviews and recommendations is to provide those with no awareness of you or your business with assurances from those who have high regard for you and your offerings. If the words spoken on your behalf sound like they came right out of your marketing department, they have missed the point. Instead, showcase only those recommendations that meet these standards:

• Genuine opinions: People respond to recommendations that are frank and unscripted.
• Conversational: Sentences don't have to be editorially perfect. Instead, they need to sound as if a real person actually shared the words.
• Focused and specific: The best recommendations feature a specific aspect worthy of recognition rather than a general shout-out for overall excellence. For example: "When I said I was in a rush they didn't offer same-day service, they asked if I could give them 45 minutes. Amazing!"
• Identifiable: People believe people who are willing to put their names behind their words, so request permission to identify recommendations by name.

Spread good words spoken on your behalf

Once people put their compliments in writing, spread the praise far and wide. Use recommendations in full or in accurately excerpted versions on your website, in social media, and in sales materials, letters and presentations.

There's an old line that "it's never crowded on the extra mile" (or in the carpool lane) because most people don't invest the time and energy required to gain an advantageous position. Waiting for one-click endorsements won't give you access to the brand-building fast lane. Asking for and leveraging helpful recommendations will.