“Nothing draws a crowd quite like a crowd.” – P.T. Barnum
The more people flock to your business…the more people will flock to your business. P.T. Barnum’s words are something every broker should take to heart, because positive reviews and client case studies have a magical way of bringing you more clients. This is especially true in commercial real estate, where relationships are king. You need to share your success through every channel available.
According to BrightLocal’s most recent survey, 85% of people trust online reviews as much as word of mouth recommendations. Reviews are also one of the best ways to gain a potential client’s trust: 73% of people will trust a business more after reading its positive reviews, and people will read an average of 7 reviews before deciding to trust it.
With that in mind, here are some ideas for showing off your client testimonials and success stories.
- Make the most of LinkedIn’s review feature
Do you already have reviews from happy clients on your LinkedIn page? If not (or if you could use more), think about who you recently did a deal with who wouldn’t mind leaving you a positive review. Then, reach out and ask them if they’d be willing to put in a good word for you on LinkedIn. If you go to your LinkedIn profile, you’ll find an “Ask to be recommended” link in the upper right-hand corner of your recommendations area. Click on that to get started.
- Make client reviews “pop” on your website.
A number of tools can help you add great client reviews right to your website. One of our favorites is Spectoos, a widget that makes it easy to collect and display people’s testimonials in an attractive “Faceboard” format. Each of your Spectoos testimonials links back to a real person’s social profile, like LinkedIn, which builds trust and credibility. We also like that it includes a fully-customized request form that makes it simple to collect new testimonials from clients. And if you’ve got existing testimonials on places like LinkedIn and Facebook, you can easily copy them over and display them on your site with Spectoos.
- Turn your best deals into “success stories.”
If a deal went particularly well, ask your client if they’d be OK with you featuring their “success story” on your website. If the client prefers to stay anonymous, you can leave out names but mention the industry and the general outline of the deal.
A success story doesn’t have to be very long to be effective: 300-500 words is perfect. It should highlight the great work you’ve done for other clients in the past, and specifically call out the industries, clients, or types of deals you’ve handled. The reason success stories work is because they show prospective clients exactly what you’re capable of doing, and inspire trust that you’ll be able to repeat those successes with them.
A great success story has three parts: the initial problem (i.e. why a client came to you), the solution (i.e. how you helped your client solve the problem), and the results (i.e. how quickly you were able to do the deal, or how much the client saved, or how perfect the space is for their needs). It should also feature a quote or two from your happy client. (Think of it as a more robust version of a client testimonial.)
Finally, put it all together
If you’re not currently making the most of client testimonials, use this as your prompt for collecting more of them. If you already have testimonials but they don’t really “pop” on your website, try giving them an attractive update with Spectoos. And if you’ve got beautiful testimonials already, pick one or two to flesh out into longer success stories you can then feature on your site.
This article originally appeared on the Apto Commercial Real Estate blog.
About The Sundance Company
Established in 1976, The Sundance Company has the experience to help you with your commercial real estate needs throughout the Boise Valley. If your requirements include property management, leasing, real estate development, project planning, construction or space planning then look to us. The Sundance Company has more than 1.5 million square feet of office and industrial space available in prime locations in the Boise metropolitan area. More information is available at www.sundanceco.com or 208.322.7300.
The Sundance Company 