Episode 3 : Credibility

Welcome to the Unstoppable Profit Podcast. This podcast will give you all the tools to grow your business and live life on your terms. Millionaire agents and entrepreneurs think and act differently than others. This podcast will give you a simple, proven three step blueprint to grow your business. Over the past 31 years of research in your industry, Mike Stromso has created a unique philosophy called the three people process and promotion. This outside the box thinking and guidance provides agency entrepreneurs just like you the knowledge and tools you can quickly implement to explode your agency business. He has been there, done that, and he's still doing it. Wherever you are today, if you're starting with nothing or are well on your way to the success you desire, with the right people, processes and promotions in place, you will be unstoppable. And now I'd like to introduce your host, Mike Stromso.

Hey friends, it's Mike Stromco and I want to officially welcome you to episode number three of the Unstoppable Profit Podcast. This is Mike Strompso coming to you live from the Living Agency Laboratory. And today we're going to be talking about one of my very favorite subjects. Credibility. Credibility and credibility. Ladies and gentlemen, it's not what you say you've done for other people, it's what other people say that you've already done for them. And my greatest encouragement to take it off into another direction here for just a moment, if you'll allow me to do so, is once you get this down, working in your own business, please share it with the world. This morning I was at a business event and this person who I guess is paying a lot of attention to what we do in our insurance agency business because they're so enamored with the way that we run our business and we position ourselves in the marketplace, came up to me and he wanted to talk to me about feedback about the presentation that he just did. And I said, well, if I can give you a couple of tips, I think there are things that you can do to further improve it. By the way, he did a phenomenal job this morning. I was so proud of him for the way he presented himself with the wording and everything else. I said the one thing that I would have included would have been credibility, credibility, credibility. And, and he is a very good speaker at a very young age so far. And I told him how I would have added credibility. And all of a sudden I was giving him about a 10 to 15 minute teaching session on credibility. And that's what I'm going to share with you. I'm going to share with you right now what I taught him on this morning. So my great encouragement for you is once you learn how to do this well, share it with everybody else because they don't know how to do it. Sorry, I was getting excited there. If the sound went off a kilter there. Anyway, my director gave me a high sign, settle down. I can't settle down because this excites me. So anyway, credibility. What is credibility? It's testimonials, it's social proof. It's proof of what you've already done from the marketplaces in which you serve. If you pay attention to any marketing that's going on around you in the world, you'll see social proof and testament. Testimonials very strategically built into the marketing. It's what other people say you've already done. Alright, so you need to remember the philosophy of our unstoppable profit producer program is people, processes and promotion, in that order. Have excellent people working within world class processes and systems. And all you got to do is simply promote the heck out of it. You're going to grow your business, create financial wealth and security for you and your family, and you're going to have more freedom to live life on your your own terms. And that's what we want for you. So you've got to create the ongoing processes and systems within your business or businesses that consistently produce unsolicited testimonials and social proof day after day. And remember, as we say, if you want to reach 100% of the marketplace, you've got to use 100% of the ways. So get on it and get to it. Remember, don't think about it, don't talk about it. Only taking action. Implementing, executing and taking action is going to get you where where you want to go. So make sure you have something to write with and make sure you have something to write on. Whether it be online or offline, whether it be digital, whatever. Yeah, I agree. My directors gave me the high sign. I totally agree. You know, don't think it, ink it, write it down is the best way to go. I agree. Thank you. So anyway, here's a few tips for you. Okay. Customer service report cards. Yes, we still in our agency business still use customer service report cards. I'm looking at one right now. They're orange. And it's got some great questions on it. It's only got five questions on it. The first one is how satisfied are you with the overall level of client service from our total protection team? And you know, if you're in any of our coaching programs, you know that, that you've got access to this. We are actually currently tweaking it to make it better to reach a larger segment of our marketplace so that it will immediately respond. This has been absolutely phenomenal in the growth of our business over the years as a way to automatically, strategically and systematically get feedback from the marketplaces in which we work in. The next thing that you can do is via email or any other method of electronic communication, you can send out client surveys. Alright, so SurveyMonkey is a really cost effective, yes, zero cost effective survey system. So use that, put together some great pointing questions and find out how the people's experience was with your business. I was just on a coaching call before I jumped onto this podcast with one of our coaching clients and we were talking about the three key terms that are happening in today's marketplace. It's really how you make people feel. It's really all about the experience that you bring to their world in every facet of your business.

And it's just absolutely incredible. So the next thing is online reviews, alright? Google, Facebook, LinkedIn recommendations.

There's just so many ways that you can get in front of people so that they can provide feedback on their experience with your business and all of these things. A little tip for you here, and this is a million dollar, aha idea. You can put these all at the end of DocuSign. If you use an electronic signature system like DocuSign, you can put a link at the very end of the system. And when people are done with the experience, completing the paperwork electronically for the deal they just did with you, you can ask them for feedback on how it was. This has become a phenomenal source of feedback for us from customers on how their experience was with our organization. So put the link to whatever your online review system is and you can get reviews via Google, via feedback, via Google, Facebook, LinkedIn, whatever it is. All right, but be reaching out for that feedback all of the time. And remember, if you want to reach 100% of the marketplace, you've got to use 100% of the ways. And the next tip that I have for you is feedback forms. Yes, it's another form of asking for a testimonial. We have a specific testimonial request form both online and offline. But it's a pattern interrupt, is what they call in the marketing world. We interrupt the pattern and ask them for feedback. But those feedback forms have specific questions asking them in a way to tell us about their experience. With their business. So using feedback forms is a way to get sometimes social proof and testimonials for your business. The next way is video. And I pulled out my phone out of my pocket this morning when I was teaching this presenter on how to get social proof and testimonials. We all carry these mobile devices in our pocket. If you get somebody that just goes on and on about the great experience that they just had with your business.

When the, when the moment comes, pause, just go silent for just a second, let them pause and say, that is fantastic. Would you mind.

If I shared the experience that you just talked about with other people who might inquire into our business or something to that effect and they'll go, what are you talking about? Well, I'm so glad that you shared about your experiences with our agency. I just like to collect those words and share them with our team because it's really helpful for them to hear it. And we are always starting a new marketing program and if you're willing to help us out with our new marketing program, that would be fantastic. And, and they might say, what kind of help do you need? I said, well, you can help us. I've got my camera here and I'll just pull out my phone and I'll start the video. And if you can just pretty much say the same thing that you just said, that would be fantastic and I'd love to share with my team and maybe other people who might inquire about other people's experiences with our insurance agency business. And you just pull out your phone and you let it go. Remember, it doesn't have to be perfect. It's always better if it's not perfect. The most important thing that it can be, it must be authentic and it must be real. And if you're going to record a video, you don't want it to be more than a minute, maybe a minute and 30 seconds. That's it. Be authentic and be real and that's all that really matters. And if they say, what do you want me to say? Just you got to coach them up a little bit to get them started because once they get started, they will let it rip. Alright, so you might say, well just say your name. Your name is Jim Smith. So you say, my name is Jim Smith and I do business with Stromso Insurance Agency and I just wanted to share a little bit with you about and just let them go. And my encouragement for everybody is I encourage them to speak from the heart. And so I would tell somebody, I say, just say your Name what your recent experience was with our agency. And most importantly, just speak from the heart. If you saved money, you can talk about that. If you got better protection, you can talk about that. But just speak from the heart and tell the story. Be real and be you. That's why we love you so much. And then you just pull out the camera and let it rip. You know, I've gotten some, some testimonials before that. When I get done with the recording, I'm just going, oh my goodness, that was flipping awesome. Because if you just ask people to be real, to be themselves, they will. And you never know what they're going to say. But if you catch them in that emotional moment when they're already talking about something positive that has happened because of the interaction with your business, ladies and gentlemen, that's the moment of gold, of passion, of emotion being at its highest. And that's what you want to catch on film, if you will. The other idea I have for you is third party endorsements. So case in point, I've got a very good friend who's a dentist, 2020 plus your client. And he said, if you want to market to other dentists, I'll be willing to help you out. And I love those words, help me out. Thank you so much. Let me think about this. So what we had him do, he gave us his blank letterhead, we wrote a letter for him, we put it on the letterhead and sent it out to the list of dentists that he knows. And he says, hi, this is so and so dentist. Hi, this is so and so. I just wanted to let you know a few words about my experience with Mike and his team over at Stromstone Insurance Agency. They handle all of my insurance, etc. And we mail it to the lists. Now there's a couple things that we will tweak in the future when we do these kinds of things and I'll share that with you on another podcast. But because wins and lessons, right, there's certain ways that you need to position the whole thing for proper response so it doesn't interfere with their workday. So that's a niche marketing strategy and technique, alright? Third party endorsements, you see, remember when the emotions are high, when something positive has just happened, like you've saved them money, you better protected them, or you were a shining star in the claims process. And that's another area that we get lots of great testimonials and social proof on is in the claims area. That is your moment when you want to be asking for Their feedback, their social proof to document their experience with that particular.

Service that they receive from your agency. And the last note that I have for you today is a testimonial contest. All right? Annually, if not twice a year, we have a testimonial contest within our agency. Why? Because we get a lot more testimonials when we have a contest. Secondly, when people give testimonials, is it the receiver that gets more benefit out of it, or is it the person that sends the testimonial that gets more out of it? My belief, both win. It's a win win situation. The person that's giving the testimonial feels good, something positive happened in their life. And when they execute that step of giving that social proof, they feel good. And what do you think the teammate feels when they receive a few words back about, you know, a client's experience with the agency? They feel like jumping off the roof. They're feeling awesome, and that's what we want to happen for them. So these testimonial contests garner that kind of activity all of the time. So it's just a great thing to be able to do within your agency, organization. And you normally run it from, I don't know, four weeks to six weeks, something like that, at a specific time of year. We try to do it maybe in the spring and the fall, as an example, and then you just have a round of prizes for everybody on your team. It's always better if everybody wins something and you can have a grand prize for the person who gets the most, that kind of thing. And we've got it structured and designed, so very little work on anybody's part. It's just a great thing to do. So my question for you today is, how do you feel when words of praise make their way back to your desk or your inbox? And most importantly, how does it make your team feel? Right? It's all about how you make people feel. It's all about the experience. And the word that I didn't add earlier is all about connecting. It's all about connecting with them emotionally and in every way. You want to gauge how they feel. You want to connect with them emotionally and have a great experience. The feeling, the experience. And you've got to connect with people and credibility. Credibility, credibility and social proof is where it all starts. In a future podcast, we're all going to talk also talk about probably the greatest credibility piece that I've ever created so far, and it is our 100% complete satisfaction guarantee in some circles, if it's In a price game, you have to understand your marketplace. You've got to do your marketplace research. Sometimes it's about money, sometimes it's not. I might say it's our complete 100% money back guarantee. I will title it differently, but it's a guarantee. And we what separates us from everybody else when we're using a guarantee, nobody else is doing it. I want you to go look around your marketplace and I want you to block one hour. Sometime in the near future, I want you to call 10 insurance agencies in your area and I want you to ask them if they will send you their written complete satisfaction guarantee. And I've got $20. And if you find somebody, I'm going to say even five agencies that have one. If you send me the copies of those, I will send you. I'll make you a bigger deal. I will make a $100 donation to your favorite charity. If you call 10 insurance agencies and you find five that have a written guarantee, you email those to me. I will make a $100 donation to your favorite charity. Ladies and gentlemen, nobody has one. Completely separate yourself from anybody else out there.

Because when you do the exact opposite of everybody else, you're going to be identified as the leader in the marketplace. So we're going to get into the nuts and bolts of the guarantee in an upcoming podcast. Picture this. You know, one of the greatest things about our guarantee, and it's got lots of social proof and credibility on it. I can walk into any deal that I'm working on.

And I can close that deal with just the guarantee. Why? Because it's been strategically positioned with credibility, credibility, social proof, and they're guaranteed. All right, so let's wrap it up today with action plan. Don't think about it, don't talk about it. It's only about implementing, executing, and taking action that's going to get you to where you want to go. So what do you do with these testimonials and social proof that you receive? Well, first of all, you need to show an attitude of gratitude. Send a thank you note to the person who is kind enough to put their reputation on the line and give you the social proof. Add a Starbucks gift card, add a little Amazon gift card, whatever you feel, and write a note from the heart in handwriting, not typed. All right? And send that to them. And you know the way that we personalize envelopes, make sure it's only them that open the envelope. And if you don't know about how we personalize envelopes, send us an email infounstoppableprofitproducer.com and we will help you with that. Next, you want to add testimonials and social proof everywhere that you can be seen on your website. You got to add your guarantee added all on all forms of social media, email signatures, all of your marketing materials, books. You can create a book in the lobby. We've had a book in the lobby for well over a decade now that has all of the written testimonials that we've ever received in that book. The original signed forms. There's nothing more powerful than that. I can take any one of those signed forms out of that book and I can make a copy of it and mail it to a prospect. It could be a drip system that could go on for, you know, days and weeks and months and it's simply credibility. Hey, check out the experience with some other people. Check out the experience that some other people have had with our insurance agency business. Ladies and gentlemen, the sky is the limit. You can have a lobby TV on the walls of your lobby. We have three of them. And interlaced with all of the Visuals on those TVs are testimonials and credibility and social proof. Read them in team meetings, send you rock email to your entire team. Send a UROC handwritten thank you card to the team members house when an online review comes in. Reward them. I mean ladies and gentlemen, the sky is the limit. But when you do this, if it's your team member as an example, the little tip that's going to pay for you bigger than anything else is this. Listen closely to this one. You've got to get them face to face and have that quiet moment and look them in the eye and just genuinely and authentically say hey, thank you. You rock. I'm so proud to have you on our team. I just couldn't be more grateful for the way that you took care of fill in the blank. There's nothing more meaningful to that team member. When you do something like that it means everything. There's no amount of money that can be placed on that show. So do it often because that will elevate their step. It will make them feel part of something very special. What does this mean for you? It's really simple ladies and gentlemen. You're going to grow your business. You're going to create financial wealth and security for you and your family and you're going to have more freedom to live life on your own terms. This is Mike Strompso live from the Living Agency Laboratory. I have had so much pleasure talking to you today about social proof and credibility. Credibility, credibility. I can't wait to see you on the next or connect with you, I should say on the next podcast. Remember, make a difference, be unstoppable, leave no regret, and go get some testimonials. Have a great day. Thank you for listening. If you would like to listen to more episodes or share this podcast with someone you care about, please visit www.unstoppableprofitpodcast.com now go out and make a difference. Be unstoppable and leave no regrets.