News article

Social proof: Why myths, misconceptions and excuses might hold you back

Last week we wrote about the three ways you should be asking your clients for feedback. As a reminder they are:

  • Client surveys
  • Online ratings and reviews
  • Client boards

We’d also add client videos to the list to complete a truly compelling suite of social proof.

Myths, misconceptions, and excuses

Occasionally we get advisers and planners pushing back on our attempts to build their social proof.

  • “I don’t want to bother my clients.”
  • “My clients won’t leave reviews for me.”
  • “They have to have a Google account to leave a review.”
  • “My clients won’t appear in videos.”

In reality, none of the above are true. They are the opinions of individual advisers/planners projected onto dozens, even hundreds, of clients. Furthermore, those people who believe them, and consequently fail to build social proof, will find it far harder to effectively market their business.

Proof that your clients will help build social proof

Logic rarely beats emotion. However, allow us to present evidence to demonstrate why the myths, misconceptions and excuses on the above list are all untrue.

  • Online reviews: We regularly run projects to help advisers and planners collect online reviews. Normally, we ask for reviews on Google and VouchedFor. Naturally, results vary but we’ve always found a significant improvement in the number of reviews a firm has. The most recent project we ran resulted in the firm getting over 70 Google reviews and another 200 or so on VouchedFor, all in the space of 10 days!
  • Client surveys: Again, the proportion of clients who complete a survey will vary from firm to firm. But we’ve always found that enough clients complete the survey (and we’ve done over 50) to make the dataset useful and meaningful.
  • Client videos: In 2020 we recorded over 20 sets of videos for advisers and planners as part of our Client Stories Starter Package. We’ve never had a firm struggle to get enough volunteers to appear on video. In fact, some have waiting lists!

Furthermore, we’ve never seen the client of an adviser or planner complain about being asked to complete a survey or an online review. Sure, not everyone will leave a review or complete a survey, and some won’t want to appear on video.

But, you don’t need everyone. You just need enough.

So, if you’re worried please don’t let myths, misconceptions, or excuses hold you back from building your social proof. Dive in. Take the plunge. Put your faith in us when we tell you that it’ll be okay.

And finally, in answer to those specific objections

“I don’t want to bother my clients.”: If you genuinely add value, your clients won’t feel that you’re  “bothering” them. Indeed, many will be glad to be asked.

“My clients won’t leave me reviews.”: Many will. Focus on those, rather than the clients who don’t have time or would rather not leave a review.

“They have to have a Google account to leave a review.”: Correct, they do. However, we work with firms who have over 100 Google reviews. There’s no evidence to suggest that the requirement to have a Google account is a significant barrier to building up an effective number of Google reviews.

“My clients won’t appear in videos.”: If you ask the right clients, in the right way, they will. Remember, you only need a handful to say “yes”.

We can help

If 2021 is the year you start to take social proof seriously, we’re here to help.

We can:

If you’d like to chat email hi@theyardstickagency.co.uk or call 0115 8965 300.

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