How To Interrupt Your Training To Get Testimonials, And Use Those ‘Interruptions’ As Teaching Moments

This morning I was helping one of our consultants in Australia with a presentation he’ll be making to some business owners on how to grow their businesses.

Part of our discussion had to do with what’s called, “Social Proof”… getting others to talk about their experience in doing business with you. It’s much more credible than you telling others how great you are.

It’s not so much what YOU say you can do for someone; it’s not even what someone else says you CAN do for them. What really counts… in fact, the ONLY thing that really matters, is what someone else says you HAVE DONE for them.

Good testimonials… the ones you can take to the bank… are “after-the-fact” comments. The “Heres what it can do for me,” comment isn’t nearly as strong as “Here’s what it did for me.” So it’s important to capture “done for me” comments as close to the moment as possible.

Here’s what I wrote to the consultant, using our own TopLine Consultant’s Training as an example:    
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Very often, I’ll get comments at the first or second break on the first day, where people will say, “That was so good… I could leave right now and get my money’s worth!” When that happens (whenever it is… first day, second day, etc.), stop everything, ask if they really mean what they said, and take out your little digital pocket camera and ask if it would be okay if you captured their comments so your could share them with others who are considering your program.

Once they give you their comments, stop, turn to the group and explain what you just did, and let them know that they need to be doing the same thing. 

I let them know that if I were to wait until the end of the 4 days to get their comments, they would be general comments and wouldn’t be related to anything specific. But if I hear them say something of value related to a particular point I made and then capture that comment at the time it was made, it’s more meaningful. 

That’s the first part… capturing a testimonial that I can use. The second part is that I stopped the presentation and used that testimonial capturing exercise as a teaching moment… I taught them how to do something. Now if I were to repeat that several times during my presentation, I’ll end up with specific testimonials, and won’t have to wait till the end when everyone else is trying to get testimonials from the other attendees, and when they’re trying to gather their things together to leave.

After about the third time of interrupting the meeting to capture what someone said (I don’t do it for every comment, obviously), people will start laughing. It gets kind of comical after a while. But every time I do it, I demonstrate the procedure, ask how many have already used the technique. I then repeat my encouragement for them to start talking to each other and practicing and getting testimonials they can use, and I use that brief interruption as a teaching moment.
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In our trainings, I’m very transparent and open, and let everyone know exactly what I’m doing, then let them know how they can do the same thing in their businesses.

Very often, I’ll get comments at the first or second break on the first day, where people will say, “I could leave right now and get my money’s worth!”. When that happens (whenever it is… first day, second day, etc.), stop everything, ask if they really mean what they said, and take out your camera and ask if it would be okay if you captured their comments so your could share them with others who are considering your program.

Once you get their testimonial, explain to the group what you just did, and tell them that they need to be doing the same thing. Let them know that if you wait until the end of the 4 days to get their comments, those will be general comments, and not related to anything specific. But if you hear them say something of value related to some point you made and capture that comment, it’s more meaningful. So what just happened is, you gave value, someone recognized it and commented on it, and you captured what they said.

That’s the first part… capturing a testimonial that you can use. The second part is that you stopped the presentation and used that testimonial capturing exercise as a teaching moment… you taught them how to do something. Now if you repeat that several times during your presentation, you’ll have specific testimonials, and you won’t have to wait till the end when everyone else is trying to get testimonials from the other attendees, and when they’re trying to gather their things together to leave.

After about the third time of you interrupting the meeting to capture what someone said (you don’t do it for every comment, obviously), people will start laughing. It gets kind of comical after a while. But every time you do it, you demonstrate the procedure, ask how many have already used the technique, encourage them to start talking to each other and practicing and getting testimonials they can use, and use that brief interruption as a teaching moment.

Many of our consultants are using seminars and workshops as major income producers. Some will put on no-cost or very low-cost seminars sponsored by a third-party as a way of introducing their services to business owners they couldn’t otherwise get in front of, and then using that “preview” seminar as a way to get consulting clients.

Of course, there are those who don’t like to speak in front of an audience at all… and that’s okay. Everyone has their own way of doing things, and that’s the beauty of the TopLine system.

My point in all of this is not that you have to do seminars or workshops… it’s getting comments from others who have good things to say about you and what you do, no matter what format you use.

It’s what we teach at TopLine… and it’s just one of the things that’s made us so successful for so many years.

Martin Howey
Founder and CEO
TopLine Business Solutions.