{"id":2148,"date":"2014-09-11T00:48:19","date_gmt":"2014-09-11T00:48:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.modernostrategies.com\/?p=1969"},"modified":"2020-02-15T13:47:16","modified_gmt":"2020-02-15T21:47:16","slug":"tell-customer-stories","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.modernostrategies.com\/blog\/tell-customer-stories\/","title":{"rendered":"Tell Your Customer Stories"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-image is-style-default\"><figure class=\"alignright is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/burglar-157142_64012.png\" alt=\"burglar\" class=\"wp-image-1970\" width=\"222\" height=\"320\"\/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Yesterday morning a client asked for some advice about telling customer stories in her company\u2019s new blog. Her plan was to write about how specific customers were benefitting&nbsp;her company&#8217;s services. She ran into a snag. Her boss didn&#8217;t want her to mention any customers in the company\u2019s blog because he feared that competitors would try to steal them away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>While I understand the concern, customer testimonials and success stories are extremely valuable to gain&nbsp;trust, establish credibility, and illustrate how your offerings can help a prospective&nbsp;customer. In an earlier (career) life I\u2019ve found that a relevant <a title=\"customer success story\" href=\"http:\/\/si.premierpress.com\/laura-cottril-growing-your-portrait-business\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">customer story<\/a> engages your audience and generates leads. In this case, the customer was so happy with our products and services there was no way she would be swayed over to a competitor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The Value of Customer Stories<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Numerous studies support&nbsp;the value of telling your customer stories:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>90% of consumers online trust recommendations from people they know, and 70% trust opinions of unknown users. &#8211; <i>Econsultancy<\/i><\/li><li>88% of consumers trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations. &#8211; <i>BrightLocal<\/i><\/li><li>83% of consumers say online customer reviews influence their purchase decisions. &#8211; <i>Opinion Research Corp.<\/i><\/li><li>90% of customers say buying decisions are influenced by online reviews. &#8211; <i>Dimensional Reararch, 2013<\/i><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image is-style-default\"><figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/trusted_stamp_transparent1.png\" alt=\"trusted_stamp_transparent\" class=\"wp-image-1972\"\/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><strong><br><\/strong><\/strong>Beyond the studies, if you want more information about why you should write about customers I suggest you read this article about <a title=\"customer stories help generate new customers\" href=\"http:\/\/www.clickz.com\/clickz\/column\/2351633\/using-customer-stories-to-build-trust-and-increase-conversions\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">using customer stories to build trust and conversions<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Going back to yesterday morning, the advice I provided my client included:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol><li>There is little risk in a competitor stealing a client if you\u2019re meeting their needs and are&nbsp;maintaining a good relationship. Highlighting a customer in your blog further strengthens the&nbsp;relationship.<\/li><li>Write about good customers but not your most important customers.<\/li><li>Write about customers but don\u2019t put in specific information that allows the customer to be identified.<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>While I believe this is decent advice, it felt like something was missing.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Then I went to my local chapter of the American Marketing Association&#8217;s (<a title=\"Portland Chapter of the American Marketing Associataion\" href=\"http:\/\/www.ama-pdx.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">AMA PDX<\/a>) luncheon and saw a presentation titled&nbsp;<em>Turning Exuberant Customers into Brand Advocates<\/em>&nbsp;by Rob Fuggetta of <a title=\"Give Customer Advocates a Voice with Zuberance\" href=\"http:\/\/www.zuberance.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Zuberance<\/a>. Rob presented <b>a simple way to find brand advocates for your company.<\/b> Just ask them:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image is-style-default\"><figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/survey_recommend_us1.png\" alt=\"survey_recommend_us\" class=\"wp-image-1975\"\/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>People that answer this question with 9 or 10 are great candidates to be an advocate for your company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You can ask clients on the phone, in emails, or during a survey you&#8217;re doing for another purpose. You can&nbsp;also use Zuberance&#8217;s online service that allows your brand advocates to self identify and immediately share their opinion on social media sites like &nbsp;Yelp, Trip Advisor and Google Local. I haven&#8217;t investigated the service but it looks like a great idea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u201cAha!\u201d Moment<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Sitting there watching Rob&#8217;s presentation I realized what was missing in my earlier advice. Once somebody has made up their mind to like you and announces it to friends or the world, they are not likely to change their mind<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><b>A brand advocate is not very likely to engage with a competitor, so you should have no worries about telling&nbsp;your advocates&#8217; stories every chance you get.<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Besides, your advocates are already tweeting about you, liking your Facebook page, or following you on LinkedIn. With a little time and effort your competitors can easily find your customers that are talking about you. Trying to sway them, however, is going to be a losing battle for them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Increasing Customer Loyalty<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Psychology is also working to your advantage. Studies have shown that once someone has made a decision and communicated it publicly, they are much less likely to change their mind. Robert B. Cialdini, PhD writes in his book <a title=\"Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion\" href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Influence-Psychology-Persuasion-Robert-Cialdini\/dp\/006124189X\/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1410380873&amp;sr=1-1&amp;keywords=influence\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion<\/a>: \u201cOnce we have made a choice or taken a stand, we will encounter personal and interpersonal pressures to behave consistently with that commitment.\u201d (I highly recommend this book, by the way.) By getting a client to go on record as supporting your brand they are much less likely to switch to a competitor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote style=\"margin-top: 20px;\"><p>Once we have made a choice or taken a stand, we will encounter personal and interpersonal pressures to behave consistently with that commitment.<\/p><footer style=\"font-style: normal;\">&#8211; Robert B. Cialdini, Influence<\/footer><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>Getting your customers to recommend you solidifies your relationship with them. The they talk, the more loyal they become.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Conclusion: Write About Your Customer Stories<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Put a plan in place to identify your company&#8217;s advocates and tell their story as often as you can. Leverage you happy customers in your blog, social media, and print communications. Their quotes, stories, and endorsements will be more trusted than anything you can say yourself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>&nbsp;Did you find this article helpful? If so, please share it!<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Yesterday morning a client asked for some advice about telling customer stories in her company\u2019s new blog. Her plan was to write about how specific customers were benefitting&nbsp;her company&#8217;s services. 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Her plan was to write about how specific customers were benefitting&nbsp;her company&#8217;s services. 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