Navigation: Home - Home Business Courses - One Two Punch Marketing Course

Welcome to your FREE course. Thank you for taking the time to read. I truly hope that you benefit from the information found below.

Firstly, the legal stuff - my lawyer made me write it!

No part of this material may be reproduced or transmitted in any form whatsoever, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any informational storage or retrieval system without express written, dated, and signed permission from the author(s).

Disclaimer and/or Legal Notices:

While every attempt has been made to verify the information provided in this publication, neither the Author nor the Publisher assumes any responsibility for errors, omissions, or contrary interpretation of the subject matter herein.

This publication is not intended for use as a source of legal or accounting advice. The Publisher wants to stress that the information contained herein may be subject to varying state and/or local laws or regulations. All users are advised to retain competent counsel to determine what state and/or local laws or regulations may apply to the user's particular business.

The Purchaser or Reader of this publication assumes responsibility for the use of these materials and information. Adherence to all applicable laws and regulations, federal, state, and local, governing professional licensing, business practices, advertising, and all other aspects of doing business in the United States or any other jurisdiction is the sole responsibility of the Purchaser or Reader.

The Author and Publisher assume no responsibility or liability whatsoever on the behalf of any Purchaser or Reader of these materials.

Any perceived slights of specific people or organizations are unintentional.

So.........

Let's Begin!

Rest assured, I'm going to reveal to you exactly what the incredibly effective "ONE-TWO" punch is... and also demonstrate to you why it's essential to your sales that you immediately begin implementing this technique into your everyday sales efforts.

Plus we'll also discuss exactly what you'll need to do to begin taking advantage of this ultra-profitable sales tool immediately.

Truth be told, if you're not using these ingenious "stealth" profit nuggets on your website, you're letting a huge percentage of sales fly by the wayside.

As you know... every customer that land's on your website is yet another opportunity for you to make a sale... so don't waste the opportunity.  Take advantage of every round in your sales revolver and fire away!

So, what are you loading into your sales revolver?

Well, I'm here to tell you that several of the rounds that should be cocked and ready to fire are...

Those powerful, un-ignorable, stealth-like CUSTOMER TESTIMONIALS!

YUP! They're magical in every sense of the word!

Let me ask you two important questions...

Do you already sell products online? Do you already offer a service that you're confident is as good as, if not better than your competition?

If so, then I'm sure your website must be riddled with page after page of customer testimonials to prove it.

Right?

No?... Then without a doubt, you're doing something drastically wrong!
Authentic, detailed customer testimonials can and will be one of your greatest selling tools online!

Have you ever noticed how the vast majority of successful businesses - whether selling a product or a service - use this one extremely important selling tool in all their sales presentations - both online and off?

It's a proven fact that genuine, verifiable testimonials convert more prospects into buyers, plus build your credibility as an honest, reliable business man or woman.

And your website's sales will definitely benefit from this hypnotic and powerful tool.
Testimonials are the one selling tool that you can't be without in sales.

The good news... you can quickly and easily have dozens of "verifiable" testimonials loaded in your sales arsenal, firing your biggest guns, once you understand how the process of soliciting a quality testimonial works....

"... I'm just writing to say that your product is wonderful! I've purchased many other widgets online, but your widget is by far the best widget ever.  And it arrived extremely fast. Your customer service staff was also a pleasure to work with. I will be buying many more widgets from you in the future! Thank you for the excellent product and service...."

Susan B. Customer
http://www.susanbcustomer.com

As an astute business owner, do you sometimes wonder...

"Just how do these companies pull it off... Why do their customers take such initiative to tell the world about their wonderful experience, while most of my customers seem to purchase my products or services and then fade away into a black hole somewhere in cyberspace?"

Well, the altruistic question you need to immediately ask yourself is....

"How many times have I followed up with my customers and actually asked them about their experience?"

The fact is, if you sell a product or service online, there's no "sneaky little trick" or "magic formula" for obtaining authentic, powerful, benefit-laden testimonials. The problem is...

YOU HAVE TO ASK!  And that's where most online businesses fall short.

Here's a perfect example...

Take a look at eBay. Here's a marketplace where anyone and everyone is buying and selling goods and services. Ironically, a buyer usually finds that their only reassurance before making a purchase is by reading over a "Sellers Feedback"

And guess what... everyone selling on eBay has feedback.

Why?

Because ebay sellers ask for it!  And they keep asking for it until they receive it.

It's the ebay way of doing business.

If you've ever bought or sold an item on ebay, you know that feedback is by far a seller's most important selling tool. And most legitimate sellers have hundreds, even thousands of testimonials from previous buyers telling the world about their wonderful buying experience.

Do you think that would be the case if EVERY seller didn't immediately ask for feedback after a sale?

Absolutely not!

They have to ask for it too.... AND SO DO YOU!

So, are you ready to start soliciting an arsenal of the "ultimate" testimonials from your customers?

Now I'm not just talking about something like...

Good service and delivered as promised.
Jane Doe

I'm talking about hypnotic, powerful, detailed, persuasive testimonials!

Why is this so important?

Credibility and confidence!

You want everyone who visits your website (especially those who are seriously considering making a purchase) to know - without a doubt - that their making a smart, informed, exceptionally wise decision.  You want to show you are a reputable and credible business.

Furthermore, you want to make your customers buying decision a no-brainer.

Their hesitant.

They're not sure if you're a scam artist or not.

They're not sure if they want to part with their hard earned money....

So you need to let them know that others were in their same position at one point and are NOW extremely happy (and grateful) they took the plunge and purchased.

You also want to back up your "bolstered" claims... plain and simple.

But here's the problem... Most folks don't have an effective system setup to get the types of "energized" responses they're actually looking for from their customers - - The types of responses that go far beyond the norm and unquestionably back up their bold claims.

The good news... today you're going to learn the secret to change all that.

So, how do you go about asking your customers for their unbiased "energized" testimonials without feeling like you're desperately fishing for "fluffy" praise or approval?

Actually, it's quite easy and should be something you do methodically after each and every sale.

As I've been known to tout... you have to follow up with your customers time and time again to make those initial sales, and you also have to aggressively follow up with your customers after a sale to solicit their testimonials... plain and simple.

Once again, it's just another good example that clearly demonstrates the importance of regular customer follow up.  Follow up with your customers!  ALWAYS!

No Exception...

Here's a guaranteed way to obtain the type of feedback your looking for from your customers - - every time...
 
After a sale (and you can incorporate this technique into a product sale, a service, even a digital download or newsletter subscription confirmation)....

Immediately send a thank you email to your customer.

In fact, most shopping carts (including PayPal) will automatically do this for you when setup correctly.

If you're selling a digital product, be sure to follow up with your customer the following day to see is they have any questions or if they had any difficulty downloading their purchase.

If you're selling a physical product, once their package ships, immediately send your customer their tracking number.

Then, no longer than seven to ten days after their tracking number is sent, send another follow up email asking your customer if they received their package and if they have any questions or concerns that need to be addressed.

Now that's customer service at it's best!

At this point, your customer is now primed and ready for the pitch. Without fail, within one or two days after you've emailed your customer to be sure their package arrived safely (or downloaded without any issues), it's time to follow up with another email asking for their feedback about their buying experience.

Think about it... your customer has placed an order, received an immediate confirmation of the sale, has been sent their tracking number via email, received a courtesy follow up email asking if everything is to their satisfaction, and has had any questions and concerns taken care of.

You tell me...is your customer now receptive and also overjoyed with their shopping experience? You bet your Benny's they are!

So now's the perfect time to follow up and ask for their feedback.

NOTE: If you're selling a digitally delivered product like an ebook or software product, I suggest you allow approximately 7-10 days to give your customer ample opportunity to become familiar with your product.  Furthermore, if you've over-delivered on a service they purchased from you, be sure to wait until you've fulfilled your end of the agreement to your customer's complete satisfaction...

... And always surpass their expectations whenever possible.

So... How exactly do we now follow up with our customer and ask them for their feedback...

Simple... with another ingenious email!

But you have to be very careful because there's a right way and a wrong way to craft this clever little sales tool... and this is very important....

First, you'll want to start your email with a big THANK YOU. After all, you appreciate their business and you want to let your customer know this.

Second, you'll simply want to ask your customer for their feedback about their shopping experience.  Let them know how important it is to you that their expectations were exceeded.

But here's the key... You always want to be sure to include a detailed survey directly in your email. THIS IS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT!

Even if you already have a feedback form setup on your website (and if you don't - - shame on you ;-), in this particular case, you'll always want to request a simple return email which will include the answers to your survey questions (that you've strategically placed directly in your email).

I've done countless marketing tests on this, and overwhelmingly, having your feedback survey directly within your email produces the best results... every time - - by a staggering margin.

It's also very important to note...

NEVER make up your own testimonials.  This is a crime and if caught... you will pay the consequences.  Plus, with these newly discovered methods you now have at your disposal from this course, who needs to make up phony testimonials?

Always run your business with honesty and integrity.  Never lie to a customer!

By adding fake testimonials to your website, you're not only breaking the law, but you're also lying to your customers and that's no way to run a successful business.

That leads me to a funny story that I think you'll find amusing...

This story is actually 100% true and just goes to show you why you should NEVER lie to a customer...
 
Never Lie To A Customer... Or You Just Might End Up Looking Like a Jackass!

Back in the early 80's... my brother-in-law was working as a ticket agent for a major airline in the US, and frequently, as part of his job responsibility, he would take care of a select group of VIP customers who traveled quite often with the airline.  These customers were considered an "elite" class and were given special attention at all times just to help insure they'd continue to fly exclusively with the airline.

One such "VIP" was an 86 year old woman -- an "independently wealthy" socialite from the west coast who traveled a lot... mostly for enjoyment, vacations, visiting relatives and attending "non-profit" events where she generously donated funds to worldly charitable causes, etc.

For the sake of this story, I'll refer to her as Mrs. Morris.  And rest assured... she was a "sweetheart" of a lady from what my brother-in-law has told me.

Anyway, on this one particular day, my brother-in-law was busy registering airline passengers behind the ticket counter when he noticed a peculiar situation erupting which seemed to be getting more and more chaotic as time passed...

Mrs. Morris was in - what seemed to be - a very troubled state, pleading her case vigorously to several airline officials....

"I want to bring Juliet on the flight with me!" She was yelling...

"If you don't allow me to take her aboard... I'll take my business to another Airline!"

"She won't be any trouble at all!"

Just so you understand... Juliet was her dog... and not just any "dog".  She was her princess.  Anyone could tell this just from observing Mrs. Morris and Juliet together in the past...

Juliet's pet carrier was adorned with gemstones along all four corners and the front door of the carrier appeared to be made of what looked like 14K gold.

A plush red velvet blanket covered the entire four star "pet-house suite" and a slot was precisely cut in the top of the coverlet that allowed the ivory embossed handle to slip through conveniently to make it easy to carry.

In addition, the words "Juliet The Princess" were hand sewn into the velvet blanket with golden thread, big and bold, allowing the whole world to see it.

Mrs. Morris wouldn't let the carrier out of her site... after all Juliet was her "Baby" and she was obviously very over-protective of her.  She was adamant that Juliet be allowed to board the flight with her this one time!

"Please... she begged.  You don't understand.  I just want to take her aboard with me just this one time.  She's been very sick and I brought her here to New York to see her Vet.  He's one of the finest Veterinarians in the entire country you know?  And now, we both just want to be together and get home!  It's been a long two days."

Behind the ticket counter, most of the airline workers were watching and wondering who'd win the battle...

-- VIP Frequent Flyer vs. Big Shot Airline?

Everyone realized that the airline officials didn't EVER want to have to tell someone of her status - "SUPER VIP" - the word NO!

So there she was... the gentle ole soul, pleading her case to one manager after another - in what was obviously a futile effort - each appeal falling upon another set of "deaf ears".

And as much as the airline representatives wanted to accommodate her... they simply could not.

The VP of public relations even got involved and expressed his apologies for the inconvenience, but stood firmly on their policy...

"I'm sorry Mrs. Morris." He explained...

"You know I'd do anything within my power to accommodate you and Juliet... but I simply cannot allow any pets on board the flight.  I'm sure you understand... We'll be more than happy to assign a special agent to tend to Juliet and be sure she's treated with nothing but loving, tender care.  In our eyes, Juliet is a VIP too."

To make a long story short...  she reluctantly agreed to have one of the airline workers take "Juliet" to join the other pets under the plane in the pet compartment for the long flight from New York To Seattle.

The Customer Relations Supervisor continued to assure the kind, woman that "Juliet" would be fine with the other pets... and upon arrival in Seattle... someone from the airline would be waiting with "Juliet" as soon as she got off the plane.

"I'll call ahead to Seattle right now... Mrs. Morris.  I'll inform our VIP department of the situation.  Everything will be just fine!  Now, you go take care of your boarding and we'll take GREAT care of Juliet... Okay?"

Mrs. Morris realized she was defeated so she reluctantly agreed to allow Juliet to fly in the pet compartment of the plane...

So... away went "Juliet" (in her plush pet carrier) in the gentle hands of one of the airline employees, and the ticket agent proceeded to check Mrs. Morris in... and then continued to help her board the airline.

The flight went smoothly from coast to coast...

Upon arrival in Seattle, the impeccably dressed woman exited the tunnel with the rest of the passengers and proceeded to wait anxiously for the airline personnel to reunite her and Juliet once again.

V.I.P personnel greeted Mrs. Morris with a warm welcome and kept her abreast of the situation as the minutes ticked by...

"Just a few more minutes Mrs. Morris... and we'll have Juliet here... and then you two can be on your way."

Would you like us to call for a cab or do you have a driver waiting?"

"Is there anything we can get for you while you wait?"

"We're sorry for the delay but it should only be a few more minutes..."

They continued to pamper Mrs. Morris while they all waited impatiently for Juliet's arrival...

A Big Problem!

Now... I'm not quite sure of the exact procedure for "de-boarding" pets from an airline, but at some point while the airline was taking the pets out of the plane and inspecting each animal... to their shock and horror they discovered that Juliet did not survive the flight home!

The panic set in immediately.  Staffers were running around frantic trying to make some sense of the horrific situation.

How were they going to tell her?  Who would tell her?

Someone had to tell sweet little ol' Mrs. Morris that "the love of her life" didn't make it.

But who?  Who'd break the news?

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Sidebar
Just to reiterate... this story is 100% true.  I can't name the airline by name -- but I can tell you that they were one of the most popular airlines in the sky back in the 80's.

It just goes to show you that even some of the largest companies in the world can sometimes stoop to unscrupulous measures to try and save their own A$$...
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Anyway... I guess some "high ranking" airline official got a "hair-brained" idea.

He was afraid that if they broke the news to this 86 year old woman in the airport, not only would they lose her business forever (and a lot of business to boot) but the news might also kill her as well - right on the spot.

So they opted for a Plan-B...

Stall!  Come up with a plan so we could think the situation through...

The Plot Thickens...

Ironically... upon further inspection of the dog to try and figure out what happened, they realized that Juliet was a pure bred, pure white "Poodle".

Hmmm!  That might be a plus...

As unbelievable at it sounds... some "brain-dead" airline official thought he could out-smart this woman.  He decided to tell her that Juliet was accidentally placed on the wrong flight.

"I don't know how to tell you this Mrs. Morris... but Juliet was mistakenly placed on the wrong flight..."

"I can't begin to imagine how upset you must be, and you have my word that I'll personally rectify the situation immediately!  Rest assured Mrs. Morris... someone will be FIRED over this!..."

"You have my word that I'll assign a representative to locate Juliet immediately and we will personally deliver her to your home later this evening or early tomorrow morning."

The poor old woman was frantic.  She nearly passed out from the news.  She was horrified, shocked, dismayed...  But what choice did she have?

Being reassured that Juliet would be located and returned to her ASAP, she painstakingly agreed to their proposal and went home to anxiously await Juliet's return.

So What Would The Airline Do Now?

Back at the ranch, the entire airline was in a complete panic.  They decided to send a few representatives out into the local town to try and find a white "Poodle" that looked exactly like Juliet.

YUP!  An imposter... Shame.. Shame... Shame...

They assumed that because the woman was so old, her eyesight failing miserably, her memory probably fading fast... that they had a 50/50 chance to pull it off and pass off a new dog as Juliet.

Was it worth the risk?  Obviously they thought so...

And low and behold... after a whole day of relentless searching, they felt they'd found the perfect imposter.

Same size... same age... same color...  same distinctive marking on her left paw... The perfect twin!  How lucky... And how clever!

Brilliant... they thought!

Now all they needed to do was place the imposter in the plush pet carrier and deliver the resurrected "Juliet" to the little old woman's home immediately.

Would The Plan Work?

Two representatives from the airline drove out to the the small town outside of Seattle to reunite Juliet with Mrs. Morris.

They nervously stepped up onto the porch and rang the bell.  After a few seconds, Mrs. Morris answered the door with sheer excitement...

"OH Juliet my love... you're home at last!"

But to the horror of the two airline reps, when Mrs. Morris opened the pet carrier door, an immediate look of horror came upon her face...

"This isn't Juliet!"

Acting as though they hadn't a clue about what she was talking about, the two airline reps immediately began petting the imposter and praising the cute little "Doggie"...

"You were such a good girl... Juliet!"  You really missed your mamma... didn't you?

And one of the airline reps responded...

"What do you mean, Mrs. Morris"?

Mrs. Morris replied back in a stern voice...

"This isn't Juliet!  Where's my precious little Juliet?"

"No, no Mrs. Morris... You must be mistaken... Of course this is Juliet."

Mrs. Morris once again replied back with even more concern and disbelief in her voice...

"Well then gentlemen... your airline must fly high up into the heavens... Because Juliet was put to rest yesterday by her Veterinarian and I was simply bringing her back home to bury her!"

The moral to the story...

Never Lie To A Customer -- No Matter How Difficult The Situation May Seem... Because In The End... Chances Are You'll End Up Looking Like A Jackass -- and even worse... losing a customer FOREVER!

Dear Lord... What were they thinkin?  Sheesh...

I sure hope you got a chuckle out of it...

Now, shall we move on to more serious matters - like creating that ingenious email to solicit the perfect customer testimonial?

Great... let's rock & roll...

I've done many of my own testing on this method, and overwhelmingly, having your feedback survey directly in your email produces the best results every time.

Now here's what you'll need to do before actually creating your feedback survey for your email.

Take out a piece of paper and write down your ideal testimonial. One you'd love to receive from a customer.

Don't be shy! Let it all hang out.

Write down how wonderful your product or service is.

Include how fast you received the shipment.

Boast about how the product has changed your life.

Tell about how the gift made your loved one so excited they could barely breathe!

Again, don't hold back or spare any of the finer details.

Write a testimonial that makes it seem like someone would have to be a fool not to purchase your product.

Now here's the clincher... It's time to dissect your own testimonial and turn it into a survey form that's guaranteed to extract the responses you're looking for.

Once you have your perfect testimonial on paper, it's really easy to do.

Simply take your written testimonial and for each "compliment", transcribe it into a question.

For example:

An excerpt from your pre-written Testimonial....

"When my product arrived, I was extremely impressed by the great packaging and care that was taken to insure it arrived safely."

Transcribe this into a Survey Question....

How was your item packaged for shipping? Was it boxed well?

Did it have adequate packaging materials inside to insure it would arrive safely? Was it addressed correctly and shipped according to your special instructions? Please be as thorough as possible in your answer:

Another excerpt....

"My wife couldn't believe that I was actually able to find this gift for her.  She looked everywhere and couldn't find one."

Your Survey Question....
Had you been searching around the internet for this product?  Was it difficult to find?  If so, were you surprised to find it on our website?

Another excerpt....
"After reading the ebook, I immediately began scouring my website looking for places to use these techniques immediately"

Your Survey Question....
Did you find the information in the ebook useful and practical?

What was your favorite chapter and why? Have you implemented any of the techniques from the book into your own website?  Have you made any additional affiliate sales from the techniques?

Do you see how important it is to ask the right questions to solicit your desired response? This is the most important aspect of your questionnaire. Be sure to ask detailed questions. If you don't ask, 99% of the time your customer's won't volunteer this information.

You have to ask!!!

By asking detailed questions, you'll be surprised at the responses you're solicit from your customers.  If... using one of the examples above - your customer did have a hard time finding this product and eventually found it from your site and made the purchase, you can be sure their feedback will be PURE GOLD!

It's also extremely important to offer your customer's something in return for taking the time to respond to your survey. Your options here are endless.

You could offer a free download targeted at your market.

You could offer a free membership into the "member's only" section of your site.

You can offer free shipping on their next order.

You can include a discount coupon towards their next purchase

The point here is, be sure to offer something of "real" value to your customer in return for them taking the time to respond to your survey questions. The "freebie" you'll be giving away will certainly be a valuable trade off for the feedback you'll receive in return.

And remember... any testimonial you place on your website must be genuine. Never make up a fictitious testimonial. It's unethical and frankly, it's illegal. By using the techniques I've described above, there won't be any need to use phony claims on your website. You'll soon have more authentic testimonials from customers than you can handle.

After you receive a quality testimonial from a customer that you'd like to add to your website, contact the customer once again and obtain their permission to use their feedback on your website.

You can also include a Yes/No question in your survey asking permission to post their feedback on your site.  The overwhelming majority of your customers won't have any problem in allowing you to do so. Also, be sure to offer a link back to their website if one's available.

They'll appreciate the free advertising for their site!

So now... let me ask you once again....

Do you sell products online? Do you offer a service that you're confident is as good, if not better than your competition? Is your website riddled with page after page of customer testimonials telling the world just how GREAT you are?

If not... get to it... and watch your sales go through the roof!

Good luck in all your ventures...

Kevin Davis
kevin@cldconnections.co.uk


P.S.  Have some questions?  I'd be more than eager to help!  Send me an email to kevin@cldconnections.co.uk and I'll get back to you promptly...