Leveraging Testimonials in Pitches

>>> What if your next deal came from someone reading your LinkedIn profile, without ever clicking away? Yesterday, we wrapped up Referable Profile Sprint, and one insight kept coming up: We obsess over headlines and banners, but neglect our most powerful asset: client references. Don’t assume prospects will leave LinkedIn to hunt down testimonials on your website. Show the proof where they’re already looking. 🟦 How to write killer references 🟦 Sometimes your clients are so busy they’ll ask you to draft the testimonial. I recommend two approaches: →𝗦𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗾𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗮𝗶𝗿𝗲 Send 5–7 targeted questions by email: “What was your biggest challenge?”, “What results did you see?”, “What doubts did you have before we started?” Ask them to answer in a few bullet points—then polish into a tight quote. →𝟭𝟱-𝗺𝗶𝗻𝘂𝘁𝗲 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗰𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗹 Jump on Zoom/Teams with your client. Guide them through the same questions live, capture their words verbatim, and instantly craft the testimonial together. 🟦 What your references must address 🟦 Prospects want two things: → HOPE - tangible results “After upgrading my LinkedIn presence before attending a major industry event in Q4, I closed two deals in Q1 worth €20 K. Connecting with potential clients on LinkedIn was enough. Jasna took me from 0 to 1 with my personal and company profile and coached me on prospecting from my network. I wish I’d turned my profile into a sales page sooner.” → FEAR - overcoming doubts “My priority is finding new clients, and it always felt like trial and error. Before attending my first big trade show, I never imagined I could prospect so effectively on LinkedIn. Jasna took me from uncertainty to a clear process for reaching out, and the results speak for themselves.” 🟦 Where to publish your references  🟦 → 𝗥𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 under each relevant 𝗘𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 entry → 𝗙𝗲𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲𝗱 section: pin 3–5 top quotes, PDFs, or short videos → 𝗦𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗣𝗮𝗴𝗲 reviews (with star ratings) if you offer services → 𝗪𝗲𝗯𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗲 testimonial slider or case-study pages → 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗼𝘀𝗮𝗹𝘀 and pitch decks: insert one-sentence highlights on each cover slide → 𝗘𝗺𝗮𝗶𝗹 𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲: “See what clients say ⟶ [link to Featured testimonial]” 𝗕𝗼𝘁𝘁𝗼𝗺 𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲: When you collect, craft, and showcase references directly on LinkedIn, you turn your profile into a self-running lead generator. No more “tell me about your work” - your clients’ voices do the selling for you. What’s your biggest hurdle in gathering testimonials? Let me know in the comments—or DM me, and I’ll share my free reference-request template.

From today’s mentorship course Two co-founders pitched with slick slides, tidy metrics, and a roadmap that promised certainty. They were confident and had built something useful, but investors don’t fund confidence, they fund repeatable buying events. Here’s what actually happened in the session: The team had three pilots and plenty of usage data, but only one paying customer a clinic on a twelve-month pilot. The payment mattered, but it looked like a one-off trial, not a repeatable sale. In investor terms: activity, not proof. We rebuilt their story around the paid event: who bought, what they paid, and why. The new pitch was simple a regional clinic signed a €4,500, twelve-month pilot after a one-week run where three clinicians saved sixteen minutes per patient. The head nurse pushed it to the CFO, who signed after reviewing usage logs and testimonials. Why that sentence works: • It names buying roles (head nurse, CFO). • It gives a concrete number (€4,500, twelve months). • It points to a reproducible test (one-week live run, logs, testimonials). Those three items turn a hopeful story into a verifiable event that investors can check. What they changed on the spot (and you should too): 1. Lead with the last paid event, one sentence with buyer, amount, and reason. Put it at the top of your pitch. 2. Build a one-page “buyer proof” packet for due diligence: signed invoice, the one-week usage log export (CSV), three anonymized clinician quotes, and a short CFO note that explains why the clinic approved the spend. Attach this to follow-up emails. 3. Document the repeatable sales process, step by step: discovery call → one-week live run → clinician testimonials → CFO review → invoice. Show this as your sales playbook. 4. Convert “pilots” into conversions: insist on a short, instrumented live test window with clear success metrics (time saved, error reduction, cost avoided) and require a decision step from the budget owner at the end. 5. Tell one honest failure and the fix. Investors care more about how you learn than about perfection. Say what you tried, what failed, and the exact change you implemented. Words you can steal for your pitch opening tonight: “Last month, a regional client converted to a paid twelve-month pilot after a one-week live run that proved a 16-minute charting time saving per patient. The head nurse and CFO signed because they could see immediate scheduling and overtime savings. We have the logs and three clinician testimonials to prove it.” If you want me to tear down your current story and rebuild it into this exact structure, email me: eric.bush@seedgrowthfund.com. Bring the evidence (logs, invoices, testimonials), not just the slides.

I have been working on creating a strategy for one of my current clients to leverage their current customers in their partnerships.... From my research of interviewing multiple brands and agencies, I found that many brands say their sponsorships are 'good'. During the interviews, I ask multiple questions; I’ll talk about that sometime soon. From my findings, there is a solid trend. Brands want to generate revenue through customer acquisition, but many of the facets of their partnership do not accomplish that goal. We'll talk about that soon as well. However, I want to discuss a trend that truly surprised me. Most brands do not invest in their current external customers (internal customers are another topic to discuss as well). Many of the brands need to follow the Pareto Principle or 80/20 Rule. What is it? It highlights that 80% of results (revenue) often come from 20% of efforts (customers), making it essential to focus on high-impact activities (your current customers/members). By prioritizing the most productive actions, you can maximize efficiency and drive greater outcomes in revenue and customer lifetime value. Here are some strategies on how to tap into your current customers, especially when leveraging your partnerships. - Leverage Testimonials, Success Stories & Case Studies: Partner with your customers to create authentic content about how your product or service helped them achieve success. These stories build credibility and give your sales team real-world examples to use during pitches. Do the interview/testimonial at the stadium, field, and club level to produce the content. Use a one-day to film multiple customers to create content for the next 3-12 months.  - Celebrate Wins Together: Acknowledge your customers' wins publicly through co-branded content or in-game mentions, reinforcing the partnership. Your sales team will feel proud to represent a brand so aligned with their client's success. Many brands and rights holders do not do this. This strategy is done by the rep and activation team genuinely getting to know their customer in multiple areas of the company. For example, the rights holder knows not just the head of marketing but also sales, human resources, operations, executives, etc. Rights holders get to know your customers. Brands, marketing people should not be the only contacts to the rights holder. If the rights holder is doing their job, they should know your business. There are many other strategies for brands to leverage their partnerships (I had about 15 more but ran out of space). Based on my research, I feel that brands (not all) do not know what questions to ask or even how to leverage their partnerships. When we engage our customers in meaningful ways, it's not just about closing deals—it's about fostering long-term relationships that drive sustainable growth. Let your partnerships be the conduit! We're here to help. #sportsbiz #partnerships #heretohelp