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How to get prospects to believe your claims and improve conversion rates

conversion

What conversion rates depend on

You can claim as much as you want about your product’s performance but without credible evidence, you won’t convert prospects as quickly as you should. But the techniques to make claims credible are not as straightforward as this seems.

What goes on in the mind of prospects

Buyers always have choices available to them. Evaluating new suppliers means they compare your value and risk against the alternates available to them. Credible evidence is what you need to provide to support the former and reduce the latter. Simple telling them is just your word against theirs and carries little weight “Of course you’d say that” they think, why should i believe you? The reality is that the less associated you are with providing the evidence for their claims, the more likely they are to believe you.

What this means for your communications

  1. Develop independent authorities. Industry accolades and awards; editorial coverage, blogs, social media are highly effective. But beware, if prospects know that money has changed hands or mistrusts the authority, then their efficacy diminishes dramatically
  2. Celebrity endorsements. Can have a powerful effect especially if they are genuinely a user. But the price for borrowing other people’s credibility is they need to maintain theirs. Nevertheless, prospects understand that money has changed hands but the stature of the celebrity you choose can have a significant impact
  3. Point them to satisfied customers. Bulletin boards and review sites are great places to get a feel for how others experience a brand. Prospects often use these anyway in their research but help them form a  balanced perspective.  But beware using fake reviews or incentivising positive reviews
  4. Introduce them to happy customers: a case study or a testimonial are common practice but allowing a prospect to talk to a customer shows confidence and belief. Often times prospects don’t take up references but making the effort and showing you have nothing to hide is very effective at building trust.
  5. Give them first hand experiences. Non verbal (or meta) communications are a powerful weapon. The senses –  touching, seeing, feeling, smelling, hearing, tasting – play a valuable role in engaging prospects.  Applying the relevant ones to help prospects experience your promise effectively converts your promises into first hand experiences. For instance, if “ease of use” is a key differentiator, get them to use it for themselves; if “engineering quality” show them the factory or bring along the components and let them ‘feel’ the quality.

 

Francis Wyburd 

whereyoustand is my London based insight and advisory firm. The combination of my ‘hidden voice of the customer’ research and marketing advisory services helps tech entrepreneurs grow their businesses.

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