Testimonials are a wonderful thing. They let you have real people tell prospective customers how great you are. You are able to attach your credibility and reputation to that of your happy customer. In many ways they help sell your product or service better than anything you could do yourself.

Untapped Goldmine

Many companies have delighted customers who would be more than happy to write a testimonial. This is something I’ve personally experienced over the last couple of days. Having spoken to Michael Cotton at Eastcote Sign and Display and his customers, I realised that there was an untapped goldmine out there for his company. His customers keep coming back for a reason – they’re a great company to work with.

Quick and Easy

Together, Michael and I drew up a list of 11 regular customers. Leaving Michael to continue making signs, I went off to contact his customers. So far I’ve spoken to six customers on the list and received two testimonials back. In less than 48 hours.

In under two days we have some material to improve the marketing message for Eastcote Signs. We’ll be adding these and the other testimonials to the website in due course.

It’s also important that you thank customers who help you so I’d like to extend Michael’s and my thanks to Saida at Brent Council and Paul O’Brien at J&B Construction for their prompt action.

Great Free Advertising

Michael’s testimonials have given him great free advertising – he hasn’t had to pay anyone to develop any slogans or hire actors to pretend to be customers. The messages speak for themselves.

Here’s one of the testimonials received:

If Michael had asked for the testimonials himself, then getting great advertising like what you see above really would have cost him nothing.

Our next step is to implement a strategy where all customers are regularly asked for their feedback, in order to help promote the company and to identify areas of improvement.

A small amount of effort in a new direction can yield spectacular results. In this case, a few phone calls and emails has rewarded us with some great advertising for Eastcote Signs.

Too Busy? Outsource!

Do you wish you had comments like this about your company on your website?

Some business owners, like Michael, are too busy to take care of testimonials themselves. That’s where we can help. Just like we’ve done here with Michael, we can have great customer testimonials for your company in just a few days.

Call us today on 020 3358 3321 to kick start your testimonial strategy.

What is the secret sauce in your business?

Many businesses make the mistake of selling the features of their business rather than the benefits to their customers.

A kitchen company that has 136 different types of kitchen to choose from doesn’t impress me as much as one that promises me that they can supply my ideal kitchen with perfect layout, materials and colours.

An engineer with 30 years experience doesn’t offer me the same reassurance as a guarantee that something will be repaired perfectly on the first attempt.

A company’s membership of a trade association offers vague benefits when compared to a satisfaction guarantee, backed by a trade association.

A business can have secret sauce in many ways. A simple way to start is to take your features and turn them into benefits. This will help you stand out from your competitors and move away from pure price competition. Lowest-price customers will always shop for the lowest price.

More discerning customers will be looking for other benefits associated with dealing with a particular company, rather than a rock-bottom price-tag. These are the customers that will appreciate you going the extra mile with what you do; Turning features into benefits will help you attract them.

What are the features of your business and how can you turn them into benefits and secret sauce?

I’ve just got off the phone with a friend and client, Richard Dix of Rural Broadband. We were discussing the new services he’s offering in satellite broadband and ADSL connections and how to plan for possible problems that could arise.

It may sound counter-intuitive, but not planning for problems with any product or service is actually planning for failure – the failure of the experience you will give to customers.

It was apparent as we went through different examples that most companies don’t have a system to respond to and solve problems as they crop up. Either specific and known potential problems or the unknown, yet to be experienced snafu.

Richard is differentiating his business by offering oustanding service, a pleasurable customer experience and prompt responses, all backed by a guarantee. So we were exploring how that should be reflected in prepared responses to possible problems, both how to fix the problem and to restore the experience of the customer.

I’m always impressed by any individual or company who tells me how they’re going to fix a problem and what they’re going to do to make me a happy customer. That is outstanding customer service and yet we see so little of it. Richard is putting procedures in place to ensure this is what he will deliver consistently.

Companies that really screw up are the ones that either have no idea that they’re ruining their customer’s experience or they do know and, for some reason, don’t care (perhaps they have a monopoly). So they take their time fixing problems or they don’t even try and certainly make no effort to make amends to the customer. I bet this sounds familiar to many of you.

A company that delivers outstanding customer service has a unique sales message to deliver. Why not make it central to its marketing?

A great company slogan would be “If we screw up, you’re next month is free”.

This would tell me all I need to know – the company is looking to solve problems because they will cost them hard cash which they will put in my pocket if I have a problem . When a company lives and breathes this service, not merely scripting the response, it will have my undying devotion.

Do you know of any companies that make such a promise?

Earlier today I interviewed Erik Qualman, author of Socialnomics: How Social Media Transforms The Way We Live And Do Business. You can find his website at Socialnomics.com

If your business hasn’t started to explore how it can use social media to its advantage then you really need to listen to this interview. We discussed the value that social media can bring to businesses both large and small, how every business can use the principles of Socialnomics and how easy it can be to get started.

I have to edit the recording down slightly and will be posting it online in the next couple of days.

To be notified when the interview is posted online, fill in the form below and we’ll let you know as soon as it’s available.

I’ve put together this list of 10 Great Ways To Differentiate Your Company For Christmas.

Some of these ideas will cost you nothing. Others, a small amount of money or time. To help you on the way, we’re also giving away some Great Free Stuff – look out for this emblem – and we’ve got some great exclusive deals for you.

It’s not too late to start doing something for Christmas. Simon Says Media will be implementing each of these ideas and we’ll be showing you videos of how we bring some Christmas cheer to our clients and contacts as we do each of them. Of course you don’t have to do all 10 like we will and it only takes one to start having some fun.

How many can you do with your company?

1. Make your website festive, change your logo or masthead*

You can make this really simple by just adding some snow on your logo or adding a Christmas tree or snowman to the masthead on your website. Add a santa hat somewhere. We like santa hats…

Or go further, have a whole Christmas theme designed for your website. If you’re in retail or have an online store then this is a great idea, especially if you stock seasonal product lines.

We love Mark, our graphic designer who has created a Christmas logo for us:

If you want to Christmas-up your logo we can have Mark do it for you. See this page for more information.

2. Make your phone messsages festive*

This one can cost you zero – can you say “Merry Christmas”? Brilliant! You can change your phone messages for free. But even better, we’re giving you some messages with festive music that you can use completely free.

You can update your incoming announcement, your hold messages and music and even your voicemail to take account of the holiday season. Let your customers know that you’re paying attention.

I had fun recording seasonal messages with a client for the Simon Says Media phone system. Monica runs FocalVocal, a training company and she has previously recorded professional voice-overs. We’ll have a video coming soon of us putting our phone messages together.

Here’s one of our message:

And here it is without Hannukah:

To make it really easy for you to do this with a professional quality message and have some fun at the same time, we’ve made a special recording that you can use for free and we’re including the music too.

‘Jingle Bells’ licensed by Chris Worth Productions http://www.chrisworthproductions.com. Thanks Chris.

Even if the only phone system you have is voicemail on your cellphone you can still use this. Turn up your speaker volume, hold your phone near the speaker (avoid interference) and play it down the phone from your computer to record it as your voicemail greeting.

Use our free recording as a template to get all your staff involved. We’ve produced a another version with gaps so that your staff can shout your company name and “Merry Christmas” for use in the recording.

We’ve made it really easy for you to do – we’ve put a video on the recordings download page which shows you how to customise the free recording.

See this page to get your free telephone recordings in MP3 format and complete instructions on how to use them and customise them yourself.

Monica has agreed to provide her services to you, just for this holiday season. If you want us to record some customised messages for your phone system, see this page for more information.

You’ll have to get in quick, because we stop accepting orders at the end of business on Tuesday 8th December 2009.

3. Have a product, service or special offer just for Christmas*

It’s really easy to offer something different for Christmas, often just by repackaging what you already offer. The limited availability as well as the seasonality gives people a reason to buy today.

We’re offering Christmas telephone messages with great on-hold music as a  special seasonal service for a limited time.We’re also offering to customise your logo for Christmas, just for this holiday season.

What are your customers looking for this Christmas and how can you provide it to them? Don’t know? Call your customers and ask them!

4. Have your company van decorated with a santa hat, tinsel, fairy lights, giant Christmas tree etc*

If you have a Christmas tree at home then you probably have a family tradition of decorating the tree. Start a tradition in your company of decorating your company vehicles for Christmas, whether it’s the boss’s car or the fleet of delivery vans.

Have employees make suggestions on the design to involve them in the whole process, after all they could be driving the thing around!

This is a great idea if you want to get noticed! Have some fun – keep it simple or go crazy. For added benefit, why not film the whole thing (one more idea for number 6),  post it on YouTube and share it with your clients.

We’re giving away free vehicle graphics for Christmas. One of our clients, Eastcote Sign & Display, has agreed to produce 25 pairs of self-adhesive Christmas trees and 25 pairs of santa hats for us to give you  for free. Michael has even agreed to pick up the shipping cost so that it costs you nothing. Thanks Michael. Merry Christmas!

For your chance to win a pair of either santa hats or Christmas trees, complete with an applicator and instructions, see this page.

Actually it’s not that complicated, you don’t really need instructions, just peel and stick. We’ll give you the instructions anyway. We’re throwing in the applicator in case you get bubbles.

5. Have a Christmas dinner or party for staff and clients*

Some companies are cutting back on their Christmas parties or abandoning them altogether. Do you want to be the boss who cancelled the Christmas party? Instead of the cost, think about the benefit from good-will you will generate by saying thank you to all your staff and clients for another year of great business.

Parties don’t have to be expensive, even a round of drinks for everyone at the local bar can be enough to start the festivities.

If the business year has been great for you then be a great boss and pay for the taxis home for everyone. Be a generous business owner and pay for the cab-rides home for someone else’s Christmas party as a present to that company.

If you’re having a party, think about your seating plan. Can you seat staff and clients together so that they get to know each other, strengthening your relationship with each other?

Use your party as an opportunity to network for your benefit and for that of your guests. Introduce clients to one another and enable them to find new opportunities at your party. Don’t over-do it though, it’s supposed to be a party.

6. Make a Christmas video message or music video to send to clients, involve your staff*

Give your staff the opportunity to be creative and let their hair down a little for the good of the company. Encourage them to have some fun with a video camera to make a message you can post online and send to clients and contacts.

Video is a great way of raising your company’s profile and by sending a link of your video to your clients you show that you have taken the time to think about them. Use the video to highlight your Christmas special offers – don’t miss the opportunity to make a sale – but above all, make it fun. Be sure to include your company name and your website.

You could record a message from all of your staff, or if you’re more adventurous you could try making a music video to a Christmas song – here’s a great, simple example where they clearly had a lot of fun making it:

You could be having fun like these guys. Send us the link to your video when it’s online.

Do you want to make a Christmas video but not sure where to start? That’s one more seasonal service we offer. See this page for more information.

7. Wear a santa hat the entire season or customise your uniform*

Did I say we like santa hats?

When you turn up for a meeting wearing a smart suit and sporting a bright red santa hat, everyone will know that your business is celebrating the Christmas season.

Alternatively you could find a way to customise staff uniforms for the season although perhaps only sales assistants with a great sense of humour will appreciate dressing like one of Santa’s elves for several weeks.

Santa hats are inexpensive and a few pounds or dollars can buy you a bag of them. Hand them out to members of staff and clients and spead the Christmas cheer.

You can buy cheap santa hats here in the UK, or here in the USA.

We’re giving away 50 santa hats – click here for your chance to win one.

Don’t forget to send us a picture of you wearing your santa hat at work.

8. Form a staff choir and go sing Christmas carols at your clients’ premises*

This one has made a lot of clients laugh at the suggestion, but none of them dismissed the idea.

Plan the hot mulled wine and mince pies, go and have some fun. Think your clients don’t want you turning up? Try it! Or bring some cheer to the residents of a local retirement home.

Whatever you do, film it and put it on YouTube. One more idea for number 6.

We’ve got a great video coming up for this one. Subscribe to our email list to be notified when the video is online.

Download free sheet music for Christmas carols here.

9. Call customers to wish them a Merry Christmas*

If you can spare the time, this is a great way of connecting with customers for Christmas. Phone your customers and after passing on seasons greetings, take the opportunity to ask them how their business is going, what they need and how you can help them.

If your business follows an environmentally friendly policy, this is a great way of letting your clients know that you’ll be saving trees by phoning instead of….

10. Send clients a Christmas card*

Sending a Christmas card is a great and relatively inexpensive way to say hello, seasons greetings, thank you and we’re thinking of you, all in one go. Sending a Christmas card is also the first item on our second list, 10 Great Things to Send Customers (Or Contacts) For Christmas, which also includes links to exclusive great deals and your chance to win more Great Free Stuff. Subscribe to our email list to be notified as soon as the list is online.

You can get your Christmas cards customised for each of your clients using Variable Data Printing (VDP) and have them fulfilled, saving you the task of writing, licking and stuffing. Of course we like hand-written cards, but it takes time to write them out and if your client list is extensive, VDP and fulfillment are your options to ensure it gets done.

The Print Concierge are experts in the VDP business and we’ve set up an exclusive great deal with them, just for you.

As well as giving you free customisation on your holiday cards, be sure to tell them we sent you to get an extra 10% off their already crazy prices.

Click here for more information on The Print Concierge’s special deal for readers of Simon Says Marketing.

11. *Don’t forget Hanukkah

I know it’s only supposed to be a list of 10, but this one is important as an extra.

It’s Christmas but Hanukkah** is also coming up. Or Chanukah (either spelling is acceptable). Don’t let your Jewish clients and friends feel left out of the seasonal mood. How can you adapt these 10 ideas for Hanukkah? I’ll admit I’m not sure about the hat and uniforms, but we’ve mentioned it in our hold message – very simple.

** Hanukkah is a Jewish festival which celebrates the miracle of the oil for the eternal lamp burning for eight days in the Temple after its desecration, when normally it would only last for a single day.  The festival starts in 2009 on the sunset of Friday 11th December and lasts for 8 days.

Quick Great Free Stuff Links:

Download free Christmas telephone messages

Get free Christmas vehicle graphics

Win a santa hat

Download Christmas carol sheet music

Other Quick Links

We’ll customise your logo for Christmas

We’ll record your Christmas telephone messages

Buy cheap Santa Hats in the UK, in the USA

Get a great deal on customised Christmas cards and postcards – Extra 10% off with The Print Concierge

You’re going to do all of these? Tell me more!

We’d love to tell you more. Yes, all ten ideas will be implemented by Simon Says Media; we’ve already started and we’ve been filming along the way. Subscribe to our email list and we’ll let you know when we release each video. We’ll also let you know when “10 Great Things To Send Your Clients (Or Contacts) For Christmas” is posted to this site. And we’ll keep you informed when we post other great marketing and business tips.

(Congruent – definition)

Unfortunately there’s no photo to illustrate this, but I saw some incongruent advertising on Wednesday whilst walking through Peterborough railway station.

There was a mini-cab driver holding a sign indicating the name of the passenger he was waiting for and on the sign it had the cab company’s name and the slogan “Service With A Smile”.

Sadly, I’ve never seen a more miserable looking cab driver. I wish I could have taken a picture, but I didn’t have my camera with me (always a mistake) and I also didn’t want to have my lights punched out.

The lesson here is that if you promote your company as providing service with a smile, make sure your staff actually smile.

Simon Says Media can help your company develop a congruent marketing strategy – call us to discuss your future marketing success.

(What was I doing in Peterborough? Subscribe to our email list to find out more in the next few days)

Welcome to the new marketing blog for Simon Says Media.

We’ll be posting great marketing and business tips here which you won’t want to miss.

Subscribe now to our regular updates of Great Free Stuff.