The biggest hurdle you face when making the Major Sale

I’ve written before on the trials and tribulations my family and I have endured as we continue to adjust to moving 1300 miles away from the state where my husband and I both grew up.  Most of our angst centers on making major sale purchases, which almost always involves the hiring of independent service professionals.

One factor that has amplified our problem is we moved to America’s fastest growing city (2005). At one point last year, there were 60 new residents moving to our fair city each day. That’s almost 22,000 residents a year moving into a city that, 20 or so years ago boasted a population of 330. That means that not only are we living in a new and unfamiliar landscape, but so are our friends and neighbors. We’re all awash in a sea of the unfamiliar.

For those who moved here to escape the “Miami” experience, they tend to hang on to their old providers. One of our neighbors continues to take his 16 year old son to their pediatrician in Fort Lauderdale, a two hour drive each way. Another neighbor drives nearly that far to take her dogs to the vet. I’ve got to admit, when my family moved from Northern Indiana to Central Indiana, after a couple of REALLY bad dental experiences in our then new home, we happily made the 2 hour trek up to our trusted and familiar dentist.

If you are engaged in making a major sale, read the above paragraph carefully again. These people, successful and busy professionals, are driving past HUNDREDS of other providers of the same service to maintain a relationship with their familiar provider.

The thing about the Major Sale is people can’t judge your competence up front. If you’re a tax professional, your clients won’t know how good you are until the IRS come a knocking. If you’rre a chiropractor, it’s only after someone has been your client for months will they be able to tell their friends that you really know your stuff. That means giving away a free session really won’t help someone judge whether or not you’re competent to provide the services you do.

So how do you demonstrate your competence? You begin by sharing custom testimonials and lots of them.

One dermatologist collects testimonials from patients as they leave the office and posts them in their entirety on his web site. The problem is that means including in the transcription of the testimonials misspellings, and grammatical errors Perhaps it would be more compelling if the comments were scanned and posted.

Offering compelling testimonials is the key to winning the major sale. With so many “con” artists operating today, building trust is the biggest obstacle in making the Major Sale. The more authentic your testimonials, the more powerful a tool they will be.

Testimonials are an essential key to closing the Major Sale.