If used powerfully, case studies and testimonials from customers and clients prove to your audience that you are worth their time, attention and investment.
To tap the full power of your testimonials, you want to organically weave them into your presentation as points or stories.
For instance, if I simply tell the audience that I can help them double their income in 30 or 60 days, they might listen to me ~ or they might think I’m full of crap.
But if I tell them about Elaine Shaw, who, after a phone session with me, made $96,000 in 18 days, they’re very likely to sit up and listen ~ not only to her story, so that they can learn from her experience, but also to what I have to say.
Thus, by weaving her story into my presentation, I not only prove my point that I can help them double their income, but I firmly establish my credibility as an expert and set myself up for great sales.
How exactly would I do this? If I were speaking to a group of people, here are some of the highlights of what I would say:
“I’m going to tell you why I am so confident that I can show you how to double your income in 30 or 60 days. A woman I’d never heard of before, Elaine Shaw, called me up out of the blue, telling me that she was working her butt off, but having terrible results.
“She called me on April 12. By that point in the month, she had made $5,000 in sales, and she wanted to make $60,000 by the end of April. After talking with her for a while, I helped her tweak what she was saying to herself and gave her a couple of techniques for working with her goal.
“At the end of the month, just 18 days later, she phoned me in tears. Not only had she hit her $60,000 goal, but she made $101,000 in sales! She did more sales in her company than any other person, and won a trip to Germany.
“And, folks, it didn’t take much more effort on her part to apply the things I’m going to show you today.”*
Now, the audience is thinking, “Wow, what did she do? How is it possible to go from $5,000 to $101,000 in sales in just 18 days?”
In order to find that out, you bet they’re going to listen attentively to me. I’m also setting them up for the sale at the end of my presentation.
During the rest of my talk, I’m going to give them some of the information I gave Elaine, but not all of it.
By the end of my presentation, they’re going to be hungering for all of the details of how I helped Elaine get her result.
And they’re going to be willing to pay for my program or product in order to get it.
* FTC compliance is beyond the scope of these articles, but you do want to make sure that your testimonials comply with the latest guidelines.