It will probably be no surprise to you that whilst 78% of people trust peer recommendations (i.e. ‘word of mouth’ referrals), only 14% of people trust advertisements. It is much easier for a client to trust you when they know of someone else who has a relationship with you and is better off for the experience. Indeed, ‘word of mouth’ has been the backbone of our industry since the very beginning.
Most advisers tend to showcase happy clients through the medium of ‘written testimonials’. But even though testimonials are very popular in the Financial Services world, the main issue is that they feel like advertisements. So in the business of building client trust, unfortunately, they just don’t carry much weight.
Our solution – don’t provide testimonials, let clients tell their personal story, on your website, in their own words (and preferably in the format of video). Best of all, it won’t feel like advertising, because you are showing clients (not telling them) why you’re good at your job.
It’s the equivalent of leading a horse to water, but not pouring it down their throat!