This is because people generally hate writing. And they fear sounding dumb even more.

But you gotta have testimonials!

You can talk all day how wonderful you are. But when people hear the same thing from someone else, NOW it becomes believable.

4 Testimonial Tips You Need To Know:

1. Do not ask you client: “Can you write a testimonial about me”

You won’t get any replies. Instead, send a form with four or five leading questions that cannot be answered with ‘yes’ or ‘no’. If you use mail, include a stamped, self-addressed envelope along with a nice letter.

Bad example: “Did we do a good job?”
Better: “What did you like best about our job [or product]?”

Phrasing your questions like this will get much better comments.

2. Long testimonials are better than short ones

Saying “…fabulous…” or “…excellent, wonderful” looks suspiciously faked and skillfully edited. I call these ‘movie review’ testimonials.

Full sentences – two or three of them – come across as more believable and sincere.

3. Specific, detailed testimonials are better than general or superlative testimonials.

Bad example: “We are very pleased with your product.”
Better: “It’s hard to find a company like yours that really cares about the customer. Thanks for…”

The prospects you’re trying to sell probably have the same problems you solved for your current customer. Let Mr. Customer tell Mr. Prospect how your company came to his rescue.

4. Always use full attribution. Use their full names PLUS the city and state they live in.

Bad example: “D.G. in Indiana” or simply saying, “David G.”
Better: David Gruttadaurio, Princeton, Indiana

People will be more likely to believe it’s a real testimonial if you provide full disclosure.

NOTE: You must get written permission! Even this should be done in a non-threatening way to your client.

Don’t ask, “Can I use your testimonial?” Instead ask, “Can I use your name and tell people you are a happy customer?”

Testimonials are one of the eight Involvement Triggers used in Exceptional Living client newsletter. Discover the other seven. Click here.

Taking action just feel right.

- David Gruttadaurio
“The Print Newsletter Expert”

Copyright 2010

This post is protected by copyright. All rights reserved. Reproduction of any portion of this email is strictly prohibited without the express written consent of David Gruttadaurio

7 reasons you DON’T need a client newsletter:

1.   Your customers don’t need to be reminded you appreciate their business.

2.   Everybody knows who you are and what you have to sell.

3.   You have more important worries than promoting your business.

4.   Your customers would never ‘jump ship’ for a competitor.

5.   Your competitors are not ‘gunning’ for your customers.

6.   Newsletters are just another business expense – not an investment.

7.   No one else uses newsletters, why should you stand out and be different?

Even if only ONE of these reasons sounds dumb to you, then get to work and start a kick-butt customer newsletter program that leaves your competitors confused and slack-jawed.

Doesn’t having clients for life sound really good to you?  That’s what relationship marketing is all about.

Our custom newsletter template is 97% done for you – actually, it’s brain-dead simple to use.

We even print it for you!

So there are no excuses… and no procrastinating.  Just do it – NOW.

Exceptional Living works.

Ask Aaron of Miller Brothers Auto Repair. Exceptional Living made his business $22K in one month from his newsletter mailing.

Taking action just feels right,

-David Gruttadaurio
“The Print Newsletter Expert”

They talk about their jobs, their kids, politics… whatever is on their minds.

To enter your customer’s conversation, three things have to take place.

1. Your client has to NOTICE when they are in a conversation about you or what you do.

2. Then they have to THINK of you.

3. Finally, they have to INTRODUCE you into the conversation.

While client newsletters are a fantastic way to be in contact with customers every month… the BIG purpose of a customer newsletter is to plant seeds that turn into more referrals and creat clients for life.

You do this (entering the conversation already going on) by being in your client’s awareness path.  Other marketers call this ‘top of conscientiousness’.

Whatever you call it… YOU want to be there.

Here’s a great example: Did you know Halloween is a biggest ADULT holiday of the year?  Lot’s of Halloween parties and decorations are going on next month.

Want to get mentioned and remembered by a client or patient in October?

Check out the October issue of Exceptional Living Newsletter.

The main article is called “America’s Most Haunted”. It’s a look at what many consider to be “the most haunted house in America.”

Imagine your client or patient getting this  newsletter in the mail (personalized with their first name, of course) and THEN mentioning it to their friends as they plan the big Halloween party together.

Check it out at WebtoPrintIQ now.

Be part of a lot of conversations this month. Newsletter marketing will make it happen.

Let’s get to work,

-David Gruttadaurio
“The Print Newsletter Expert”

While “I’m just looking” sometimes means “go away and leave me alone”, it often means “I’m not ready to buy yet… but I will be later.”

Knowing that fact is critical to your entrepreneurial success.

Because sometime in the future, they will be ready to buy.

So the question then becomes: Will you be ready to sell?

Unless you’ve kept in touch with them in the meantime, there’s a good chance your customer will go somewhere else. Why wouldn’t they? You’ve given them no reason to remember you.

This is where customer newsletters (and other keep-in-touch marketing methods) are so valuable.

Because when you keep in contact with someone – not by saying “are you ready to buy yet?” but by informing, educating and entertaining – they’ll know where to come when the time is right.

Here’s a real-world example:  I recently sold $253 of services to customer I had not heard from in four years. Although it cost me about $96.00 to send her a monthly client newsletter for FOUR YEARS, I was the one she called when the time was right again.

Plus, she referred me to two other new clients during the past four years. Each of those people gave us 6 referrals.

What do you think? Was it worth persistently staying in contact with this customer?

Start regular communication with your customer or patient with a newsletter… and get that second sale. It will not only be easier than the first, it will also be more profitable because you have the beginnings of a relationship.

My Exceptional Living Newsletter makes sending a monthly client newsletter quick, easy, painless, and profitable. Our newsletter template is online and 95% Done For You.

We do all of the heavy lifting for you.

Let’s make it happen.
David Gruttadaurio

Used to be if you were a ‘Ford’ man, you bought Ford automobiles until the day you died. That type of brand loyalty was instilled in your children and even down to your grandchildren.

I remember when I was a kid; we used to go to the same restaurant every week in our neighborhood. Like clockwork. If we missed one week, the owner called my dad to make sure we were ok. He did it because he was really concerned about us, not because he didn’t get our money that week.

Building a RELATIONSHIP with your customer or patient was instinctual back then.  It wasn’t based on scientific customer management studies… it was how people naturally did business.

You knew they really cared about you.

But that was then – and this is now. Today consumers will desert your company to save a few bucks. And these new values cut across entire industries and through big cities and small towns.  It seems customer loyalty is gone forever.

Or is it?

Smart businesses today use a customer or patient newsletter as a tool to revitalize customer loyalty. They realize that 75% of all business (or buying) decisions are based on relationships.  If communication is the basis of all relationships, then a client newsletter is the most powerful way to communicate to your customers, clients and patients.

It can be the most intimate form of client contact.

Here’s why: Every time your client receives their newsletter, it’s another opportunity for them to get to know you a little better.  And consumers will buy over and over again from people they like. Don’t you?  Isn’t it enjoyable to buy from someone that’s pleasant and likable?  It makes you feel good about your buying decision!

A well-written monthly customer newsletter can build customer loyalty that will last a lifetime.

If you haven’t thought of this bright idea yet, then maybe it is time for you to realize the power you can get when you send your client a print newsletter.

Let’s make it happen,

-David Gruttadaurio
“The Print Newsletter Expert”

Here’s why:

Magazine publishers have known for decades that their renewal rate goes up dramatically after the first renewal. 65 out of 100 new subscribers will re-subscribe. And after that, 85 percent of subscribers will renew. Those numbers are similar for any business that has a customer, client or patient.

Magazine publishers also know regular and frequent communication will increase first time renewals to around 80 percent and other renewals to over 90 percent.

Imagine what this kind of client retention would do for YOUR business!

So enjoy that new sale of your product or service.  But the true reason to feast and make merry is not until your customer purchases for the second time. Only then do you have the beginning of a buying habit (i.e. clients for life).

That, my friend, is called customer retention.

And nothing works as effectively at generating more repeat business as a monthly customer newsletter.

My Exceptional Living Newsletter makes sending a monthly client newsletter quick, easy, painless, and profitable. Our newsletter template is online and 95% Done For You.

So, start regular communication with your customer or patient… and get that second sale. It will not only be easier than the first, it will also be more profitable because you have the beginnings of a relationship.

If producing a full blown newsletter on your own is just too daunting, head over and check out my hot new customer relationship, business building tool, WebtoPrintIQ.

Just sign up for your FREE account – We do all of the heavy lifting for you.

Let’s make it happen.

-David Gruttadaurio
“The Print Newsletter Expert”

Our challenge is to be extraordinary…  so exceptional that our clients think about us even when they DON’T need our services our products.

We do this by building familiarity with our customers.

One way to make this happen is with a tag line – a simple phrase that people can use to remember you and what you do.

Find inspiration from the top ten advertising slogans of the 20th century, identified by Advertising Age magazine.

1.  Diamonds are forever (DeBeers)
2.  Just do it (Nike)
3.  The pause that refreshes (Coca-Cola)
4.  Tastes great, less filling (Miller Lite)
5.  We try harder (Avis)
6.  Good to the last drop (Maxwell House)
7.  Breakfast of champions (Wheaties)
8.  Does she … or doesn’t she? (Clairol)
9.  When it rains it pours (Morton Salt)
10.Where’s the beef? (Wendy’s)

Here are the top ten TV ad slogans of the last century:

1.  You deserve a break today (McDonalds)
2.  Be all that you can be (U.S. Army)
3.  Pepsi Cola Hits the Spot (Pepsi Cola)
4.  M’m, M’m good (Campbell’s)
5.  See the USA in your Chevrolet (GM)
6.  I wish I was an Oscar Meyer Wiener (Oscar Meyer)
7.  Double your pleasure, double your fun (Wrigley’s Doublemint Gum)
8.  Winston tastes good like a cigarette should (Winston)
9.  It’s the Real Thing (Coca Cola)
10.A little dab’ll do ya (Brylcreem)

Look at these lists again. Most of these slogans haven’t been used in decades. Winston Cigarettes hasn’t used their slogan since 1971. McDonald’s stopped using “You deserve a break today” in 1983.  Yet many people can still identify the company by just saying the slogan.

Here’s the thing about big companies:  They can abandon things that work because they have huge advertising budgets.  You don’t.

So stay with things that work.

An example of this is a customer newsletter. It can also build strong familiarity with your clients – and it will do this every single month you send it to them.

Got a great slogan? Plaster all over your client or patient newsletter!

Print customer newsletters are not perceived as regular marketing. They’re seen and read as being informative and fun rather than simple advertising. People keep them longer and will often pass your newsletter on to friends, neighbors and associates -  it’s a great way for your business to get referrals.

You need to use everything you can to create familiarity in mind of your customer or patient.  When the time comes and they are ready to buy – YOU will be the only business they think of.

That’s how you build  a relationship and get clients for life.

Let’s make it happen,

-David Gruttadaurio
“The Print Newsletter Expert”

PS: Like what you read? Tell me (leave a comment) and tell others (retweet me).

Yet, two weeks later these same happy customers couldn’t tell you the name of his company if their lives depended upon it.  And the next time they need someone to clean their carpet again?  They’ll start all over again by looking in the yellow pages.

There is a way you can keep clients for life.  All you have to do is…

Publish a Print Client Newsletter

Client newsletters will build an iron cage around your customer or patient so strong, they would never even consider calling your competitors.

You must understand, it doesn’t matter what business you’re in, what service you offer or if you work in a small town or a big city.  Life moves at the speed of light. And so does the awareness people have about you and your business.  A monthly print customer newsletter will guarantee that you always stay in their ‘awareness path.’

Here’s Why You Must Start Publishing a Client Newsletter Now

FACT: Regular communication with your clients will separate you from the competition.

When your clients receive a personal custom newsletter from your company, it tells them you care about them; that you want to stay in touch.  They will instantly recognize your company as a cut above the rest.

In addition, your print newsletter is a golden opportunity to thank them again for their business.  This thoughtful attention to your customer or patient reinforces the differences between you and the other companies.

BIG FACT: 75% of business (or buying) decisions are based on relationships.

Consumers buy from people they like. Don’t you?  Isn’t it enjoyable to buy from someone that’s pleasant and likable?  It makes you feel good about your buying decision!

Every time your client receives their newsletter, it’s another opportunity for them to get to know you a little better.  A well-written monthly customer newsletter can build client relationships that last a lifetime.

BIGGEST FACT OF ALL: It’s much harder (and more costly) to sell to a new client than a current client.

Research by the Harvard Business School shows that the probability of selling services to a prospective customer is 1 in 16.  However, the probability of selling services to a current customer is 1 in 2.

Despite these impressive statistics, most businesses continue to spend a disproportionate amount of time on new client acquisition and ignore their existing client base.

Print client newsletters offer an inexpensive, effective marketing tool that you can use to help equalize this imbalance and keep your brand in front of existing clients. At a minimum, client newsletters are a cost effective way to educate them on the range of services you provide.  And it will set your business apart from the competition.

Professionally formatted and well-written customer newsletters are a proven, take-it-to-the-bank marketing strategy.  Newsletter marketing will build iron cages of strong relationships around your customers.

And because you have created a clients for life, they will call you over and over again.