capacity of all members to achieve great things .” This is a very carefully constructed mission statement that truly hits on what we do around here — and it resonates with the members we keep long term .
3 . Why You Work With Your Chosen Target Market : This does two things . First , it reveals who your chosen niche or target market is . It doesn ’ t have to be industryspecific , but you should detail who your customer is . Second , it gives you the opportunity to tell the story about how you came to choosing them . Hopefully , it ’ s an inspiring “ romancing the stone ” story , not a “ I threw a dart and it landed here .” If that ’ s the case , either come up with something better or leave it out .
Staying with the example above , Ryan ’ s clients are all similar to his father : from-scratch entrepreneurs running small businesses . His story helps him further connect with those clients in a way that no big firm can compete with . They feel that he understands them and is a kindred spirit . Don ’ t overlook the power of affinity in influence and persuasion . People WANT to do business with people who share similar values and will often base their entire decision on who they favor with their business based on this alone .
4 . Videos , Interviews , And Other Media :
If you were interviewed on TV or quoted in a magazine , you should put that all on this page . It ’ s powerful “ social proof ” of your status and will elevate people ’ s trust in you . But even if you ’ ve never been on TV or interviewed on a radio show , you can have someone interview you or create a video “ sizzle ” reel about you and your company . Again , I point you to TechnologyMarketingToolkit . com / about-us . php to see an example of a sizzle reel we created about our company . Other items to include would be pictures of you with famous people or famous clients , books or papers you ’ ve published , and charitable organizations you support .
Congruency
Another VERY important and powerful trust-building strategy is to make sure you are ultra-congruent in everything you do
Do you want others to sell your services ?
But you also want to have referral sales under control ?
Get the Virtual Channel 100 % customizable plug-and-play platform to : and say with your stated values and promotional claims . Last week , I had a cleaning company show up to my home to get a quote . I asked the women I met with for a business card or other materials , which she said she had in her car . I followed her out to see a filthy , dirty car with dings and scratches . She opened the trunk to rifle around for her brochure , and what I saw was stunning : Clothes , bags , and miscellaneous “ stuff ” were jammed in there . She then opened the passenger side door and a waft of garbage smell hit me from the giant bag of trash she had sitting on the passenger side floor , along with food bags and empty soda cans .
Inside the rest of the car was a mess too . She couldn ’ t find a business card , so she took one of her brother ’ s business cards and wrote her information on the back . I thanked her , took the material inside , and immediately threw it in the trash . If she cannot keep her car clean , how the heck is she going to run a crew to clean my home ?
This same incongruence goes on all the time in business . MSPs who promote that they are “ proactive ” and “ responsive ” never answer their phones live and never return calls . Their websites are full of forms that don ’ t work and broken links . They show up late to meetings and are ill prepared . I ’ ve not only experienced this firsthand when searching for an MSP for my own company but have also seen it over and over again with MSPs who come to me seeking help in marketing , unable to figure out why they are unable to get leads or close sales . Often , they have massive incongruences in their behavior and marketing from their stated objective .
An Exercise I ’ d Recommend : Go through every touch point you have with a client or prospect and ask yourself how you are intentionally building trust . How are you demonstrating your value proposition , whatever it is ? Trust me : You ’ ll find plenty of things you need to fix urgently .
Of course , almost all proof used to build trust can be dismissed or “ debunked .” That doesn ’ t mean you shouldn ’ t use it . You just need to know that a prospect who is determined not to buy or determined to stick to their vendor or point of view is not easily deterred . People have all kinds of ingrained biases and can choose to misinterpret any point you make or any fact you present . There is still a Flat Earth Society that dogmatically believes the Earth is flat ,
SCAN ME after all .
Still , putting together a well-rounded , completely trust-based marketing plan will get the majority of people convinced that you are the provider for them .
Do you want campaigns , tools , and templates to help you get testimonials and build other trust-based marketing assets ? Then enroll in our Toolkit for the IT industry ’ s most complete and trusted source of productive marketing systems , tools , campaigns , and templates at ToolkitLive . com . ■
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10 | MSPSuccessMagazine . com • VOLUME 2 ISSUE 4