Testimonials “Sell” Your Company To Your Elected Officials

Have you made your connection yet with your elected official? Have you told your story? Do you find it hard to sell yourself – your company? When you are finding it hard to describe yourself, let someone else speak for you.

Start with letting the industry speak for you. Letter 4 for me included information from the Motorcoaches Rolling for Awareness event on May 13th.

• Pictures of the buses – especially the Iowa bus
• The statistics that were displayed on the Iowa bus 
• Links to the following
  • Local news story on the event
  • Video of the Midwest Convoy headed out of Ohio

Next, I told them my feelings – my tears flowing because our state had sent out an economic impact survey for tourism. Of all the categories listed, guess where I had to put transportation? Yes, in the “other” spot. I had to write it in. I stressed how we were forgotten even in our own state. As I discussed this, I also discussed how in Iowa the grants that were given – even according to our Director of Economic Development – went to restaurants. It was to go to those with the most economic disruption. Even at $0 of revenue, we were not recognized in Iowa.

Then, to further hit that point home, I discussed the disruption to our business.

• % employee reduction
• % loss of revenue for March through June
• % of loss of bookings for 2020 compared to the same time one year ago
• $$ of cancellations
• Our HOPE of what our final revenue will be in 2020 – and how that compared to 2019

I made the request for the industry. 

Then, I signed off with impact statements from our clients. 

Did you know the following statistics on testimonials? (20 Impactful Statistics About Testimonials In Marketing)

• 92% of customers read online reviews before buying
• 72% of consumers say positive testimonials and reviews increase their trust in a business
• 70% of people trust reviews and recommendations from strangers
• 88% of consumers trust online testimonials and reviews as much as recommendations from friends and family

Your clients are the BEST endorsers for what you do, because they don’t get paid to do so! (The Importance of Great References in Sales and Business)

I looked for different segments of my client pool. I asked a convention and visitors bureau, convention planner, tour planner, school transportation director, and a non-profit organization. (Oh, I also asked the military, but they cannot comment on such matters. I included that in my letter.) I asked them to write why motorcoaches were vital to their organizations.

As always, I closed with a thank you and asked when we could speak again. (You know an action statement for them.)  I did get my 2nd round of calls after this ask.

Remember, our elected officials are people – just like us. They are consumers – just like us. Give them knowledge. Give them the stories from other sources. Let them see your company through the eyes of your clients. Continue to build your story and sell!

 Kim Grzywacz, CTIS