The Brain Audit Testimonials
Testimonials are pooh-poohed by a lot of folks. They say they don’t trust testimonials at all. And that testimonials are not believable.
And you can believe these folks—or you can test it out for yourself. And you don’t have to go far to test out things for yourself. When you go to buy a product, or a service, you want to see who’s bought it before. When you go on vacation, you check out testimonials of hotels, trips at the destination, restaurants etc. And even when you buy a book off Amazon.com, you’re still checking out testimonials.
And the price of the product rarely matters. When I’m buying a product for a measly 99 cents on say the iTunes App Store, I’ll still spend a decent time checking out the testimonials.
So why do we engage in this behaviour?
Surely our time is worth a little less than a dollar. So why do we depend so highly on testimonials. We do so, because we don’t want to feel stupid. Yes, we’ve felt stupid before, and somehow testimonials remove the risk of that stupidity. We feel armed with the information contained in the testimonial. We feel that a testimonial gives us an understanding of what to expect, and what to look out for. The core factor is risk—even when the risk is as low as 99 cents. So how do we remove that risk?
Let’s take a look at the examples below and see how the testimonials are constructed.
Media: Video Testimonial
The Goal: The Uniqueness of Psychotactics Courses
Interviewee: Paul Wolfe
Background: Paul has done several courses with Psychotactics. He’s done the Article Writing Course, the InfoProducts Course, and bought a Homestudy of the Website Masterclass. He’s also on the Book Club and a member of 5000bc. This testimonial was done after Paul finished his second course with Psychotactics. You’ll notice that the video is pretty grainy, and this is because it was recorded via Skype. So in effect, I called up Paul, and we recorded this testimonial over the Internet while I was sitting in New Zealand and he was in the UK. You may find the video grainy, but note the purpose of the job. It’s to give you information and reduce risk.
Paul Wolfe talks about the uniqueness of a Psychotactics Course.
So what’s the learning?: Paul is a seasoned buyer of information products. He’s tried the products of other marketing teachers, but he finds that there’s a marked difference between Psychotactics and the others. In this video, I simply asked him the question: What’s the difference between Psychotactics and everyone else, and he is clearly reluctant about ‘dissing’ the others. He feels he got value from the other material too, but that Psychotactics works better for him, because of the factor of ‘approachability’.
This testimonial speaks specifically to a person who isn’t sure which course to choose from. When there are dozens of courses to choose from, it’s hard for a customer to make a decision. The ‘approachability’ factor becomes the single-most powerful factor if they’ve felt a bit lost when buying other products before. Of course a Psychotactics course may have other benefits, including detailed structure, professionally created documentation/audio etc, but the testimonial is not trying to cover all the aspects. It’s only handling one objection: The objection of “who’s going to help me when I get stuck?”
Media: Video Testimonial
The Goal: To educate existing buyers why they should buy the new version of The Brain Audit.
Interviewee: Steven Washer of www.brainyvideo.com
Background: The Brain Audit has been a work in progress since the year 2002. In the year 2002, the first version was released, and then followed up with Version 2 in the year 2004. In the year 2009, a new version was released (Version 3.2). Customers had already bought and read the earlier two versions. There was little need in their minds, to buy yet another version. This video was created to educate the customers about the new version.
Steven Washer talks about the difference between the earlier version and the new version of The Brain Audit.
So what’s the learning: Steven’s in the video business, so this video is rather sharply made. Possibly even too sharp, but we must consider the audience. It’s not a new audience. These are customers who’ve already read and loved earlier versions of The Brain Audit. These are customers who’ve implemented The Brain Audit in their business and have gone on to buy many products, and become members of 5000bc. So it’s not going to a ‘new’ audience. In this video, Steven starts off clearly with the objection.
What could be so ‘great’ about the new version? He’s skeptical, but he quickly overcomes that skepticism by saying ”Sean earned my trust.”
Most testimonials only talk about the good side of things. There’s zero-skepticism in most testimonials. And testimonials form the very basis of how we buy. We like to overcome our skepticism before we buy. As the video progresses, you can see how Steven brings out various examples of why he thinks he made the right decision.
Watch the video twice or thrice to see how he brings in a great amount of detail that reduces objections. (Read the chapter on Objections and Testimonials in The Brain Audit to revise just how they work together). Again it”s only handling one objection: The objection of ”why should I buy The Brain Audit when I have the earlier version already?”
Media: Video Testimonial
The Goal: To describe the teaching techniques used by Psychotactics (and to give a prospective client an understanding to know what to expect).
Interviewee: Lisa Mandic from Riverempowerment.co.nz
Background: Lisa was part of a year-long Protege Program. This video would be shown to potential Proteges who were considering doing a year-long training. It gives the prospective Proteges an idea of what to expect. And in the video, Lisa says that Sean is ”annoying” as a teacher. That’s important. It would be so easy for the testimonial to talk glowingly about the teaching methods. But instead it gives the reality of the situation. Lisa goes on to explain what’s annoying, and why it’s annoying, but note that the apparent ”sour” note instantly gets your attention, and keeps it.
Lisa Mandic talks about why she finds Sean ”annoying” as a teacher.
So what’s the learning: Prospective customers don’t know what to expect. Choosing a year-long program is a risky decision. What if you don’t like the teacher? What if they’re not as good as you hoped? These are fears that a prospective student/Protege is bound to have. This testimonial may not reduce every fear, but it gives a good feeling. It touches on the reality, and hence becomes believable while taking away the risk. Remember that the goal of the testimonial isn’t necessarily a feel good thing. It’s clearly designed to remove an objection and needs to be placed at the point of that objection in the presentation/sales letter.
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Step 1: If you have purchased The Brain Audit from a book shop
Head over to get your copy of the Headline Report: Why Headlines Fail (How to write headlines that get results every time). And don’t forget to mention where you bought The Brain Audit from, you will get a few more
additional goodies.
Click here: Headline Report Psychotactics.
Step 2: How can you get reliable answers to your complex marketing problems?
(And how on earth do you find answers to these questions at 3:25 in the morning?)
Find out more at 5000bc.com