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GMA urges UAE businessmen to invest in RP

PRESIDENT Arroyo on Sunday urged businessmen in the United Arab Emirates to buy more Philippine products and to consider channeling more investments in an economy strong enough to withstand global uncertainty caused by the US slowdown. 

Addressing the Dubai Chamber of Commerce, the President enumerated the reasons why she believed that the business environment in the Philippines is “getting even better,” among them the Moody’s upgrade of the Philippine credit rating to positive. 

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Photo taken from www.nbd.com

Editor's Take

Whether you are selling a new gadget or promoting a candidate’s image, the issue of credibility is vital. Big name companies and political handlers spend millions to get icons to swear by and build “cred” for their brands. 

On a modest scale, SME marketers can tap the power of testimonials with similar effective results. Solicited or unsolicited, allowing customers to communicate positive experiences about a product or service help add value to your claims. 

To make the best of customer testimonials, these should hold up to the test of the three P’s. These are Persuasiveness, Power and Profits. 

Persuade with believable feedback. While big players can get the celebrities to endorse their brands, SMEs can’t rely on big name personalities to push their products in the market. Most knockout testimonials are honest comment from happy customers who describe how a product or business helped solve their problem or filled their need. Letting regular people speak for your brand or your company makes it easy for potential customers to identify with their experience. Never make up any testimonial—it could prove fatal for your business. 

Create sustaining Power for what you offer. Remember that the competition will be watching with an eagle's eye when your product or service hits the market. Your competitors will respond either by improving their product or service, or investing effort to tear down your defenses. Generic testimonials like “The product is great, I liked it very much” are weak. This type of testimonial defeats your purpose. Choose testimonials that focus on specifics the usefulness of your product or reliability of your company. 

Make difference by bringing in Profits. When potential clients are persuaded about the power of your product or service the possibility of translating their own positive experience into endorsements via word-of-mouth, email or some other channel is great. Buzz is an effective alternative to advertising. Make conscious use of it. 

The next time you think of marketing your products and services with testimonials make sure you hit the right P’s. With the three Ps, you never can go wrong with your efforts. 

Post Script: Photo taken from Gail Bradshaw's Design Website

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