Forget about “organic” with some business things

A client of mine was telling me about a colleague who had a bunch of great reviews her clients on social media. Then, a member of our Learning Community was telling us about how someone she knew had lots of online reviews of their business.

In both cases, for my client and for our community member, they both were wondering why their own clients weren’t posting reviews and testimonials. I could also hear a reluctance to ask clients to do that, “I want it to be authentic and organic, not forced.” was the sentiment I was getting.

It’s so interesting the stories we tell ourselves, because I’ve told myself that same story many times. Why aren’t clients gushing more in public? Why is so-and-so having their clients gush so much in public? More gushing, please!

Two things from the heart.

The first is… how do you know that the public gushing you’re seeing is spontaneous and unasked-for? Although there’s a (very tiny) percentage of public gushing that happens spontaneously and organically, the vast majority of it doesn’t.

I can pretty much guarantee those colleagues asked their clients to gush.

The second is, why does asking your clients make it any less organic or true? For many people, they just don’t think about it. They loved working with you, they are doing well, they will gush to others if the topic comes up. But if the topic doesn’t come up, they just aren’t thinking about being proactive like that.

There is a personality type that tends to gush publicly, and that’s great and wonderful when it happens. But for you, if you’re not like that, did you go online and leave a review of that great meal you had ad a local restaurant? The last person you hired to do something for you, did you go talk about it in a public space?

I think about maple trees, and tapping the maple sap. The sap is delicious, it’s there, you just need to ask for it by putting in a tap, and out it gushes. Organic, delicious sap.

What’s next? Ask.

I want to encourage you to go ahead and ask. Maybe once a week, reach out to a client or past client that you know loved your work, and ask them to say something in public about you. Not everyone feels comfortable, not everyone will say yes.

But some will. I’m so curious to see what happens when you do. Let me know!

With love,

Mark Silver, M.Div.
Heart of Business, Inc.
Every act of business can be an act of love.

P.S. Wondering about how to follow through with powerful but potentially emotionally challenging tasks?

Our Learning Community is a fantastic place to both learn the steps, and to get the compassionate, gentle accountability to follow through. Great ideas aren’t enough, it’s the action that makes the difference in your business.

Every week our members are taking steps to develop their business, to move them into momentum. Why not join them?

Check it out here: The Heart of Business Learning Community

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