Spent 35+ Years With The Company - Because of ONE Testimonial

This is going to be a really short email, because I’ve not slept in 8 days, and there’s been more events happening this past week than during the entirety of 2024.

I’m running on pizza and redbulls here!

Here’s the gist:

A close family member had to get surgery. I was at one of the best hospitals in the country.

And there I made a friend.

Unassuming, friendly, and just a completely different, warm being as opposed to the cold shoulders you usually get at busy hospitals.

“For the few seconds I interact with them, they shouldn’t feel like they’re in a hospital“ is what he told my cousin and I.

Brilliant man.

Then as the days passed, we got to know him a little more.

Here’s a short timeline of how he’s been at the same institution for over 35 years now

1984: one of the biggest political influencers in the country is bed-ridden and rumored to not make it past the night.

He is moved from India to America, where every journalist in the world is expecting an ambulance coming to pick him up and wheel him to the hotel.

To everyone’s surprise, the man walks out just fine, waves his hand to the crowd, and leaves.

People are blown away. Several eyebrows raised.

Who operated on this man How’s he even walking? What miracle drug did he take? Which hospital had he consulted back in India?

Turns out it’s this little center for specialized treatment operating out of Chennai, India. Becomes famous overnight.

Everyone in the world now knows this hospital and it garners press like crazy

1985: Our elevator operator joins the organization, along with a herd of other members, all so they could say:

“Oh you know that place where they operated our Chief Minister? Yeah, I work there now“

Cut to 40 years later, Apollo Hospitals is now a publicly traded company that did over 16,000 Crores in revenue last year.

And our elevator guy still works there.

Moral: Testimonials are powerful.

Now, you don’t have to bring in the Chief of Staff of a huge government body to represent your company (it would help a ton if you did), but having one BIG win for your product can do wonders if you market it right after the fact.

Take this as an actionable step:

• Find out which company in your portfolio / customer base is doing really really well in its sector.

• Find a way to drive more impact for them at zero cost (invite the decision maker over dinner, give away an extra month with their subscription, free goodies for the families…..)

• Ask for a professionally documented testimonial.

• Market that testimonial like your company’s life depended on it. It does.

Alright, that was a really quick one. I will be sending more regular emails going forward. Excuse my gap, and now, let’s go kill it :)