Why you should start asking for testimonials and letters of recommendations. What they are good for? Letters of recommendation & testimonials from supervisors, customers, clients, staff or peers are great tools. Besides being an ego booster, they do a lot for your business and open the door for future opportunities. They display things like credibility, your value, versatility and skill sets you didn’t even know you had or don’t see the value it adds to others. What’s better than something that someone’s written about you? They are words that aren’t in a resume that you wrote. It’s what people thought about you. Things in these letters are things you may not know about yourself. They are skill sets and values you didn’t know you brought to the table. They are especially good for a pick-me-up. When you are having a down day or self-doubt pick these up and read them. They will help motivate you, get you out of your funk, and help you believe in yourself again. You can use testimonial and letters of recommendations for the following. Internal Job Promotion Leverage: If you are up against someone in your office for a promotion, you can use these as leverage. Projects: To earn a position on a project. When you are on a project start asking for letters of recommendations and testimonials immediately after or close to completion. Often times in corporate America, there are a lot of management changes. You might have worked with a CEO or VP that absolutely loved you but when they are no longer there or you have a new management team… all of a sudden no one knows what you did, nobody knows your value and they don’t know what you can bring to the table. Ask for these before you quit, after each project or before you need them. You can request them after big events, when you want to apply for a new position within the company, or when you’ve been promoted and leaving that department. Do you want to quit? Ask before you give notice. You decide you want to move on to other opportunities whether it’s quitting or applying for other positions. The chances of you getting a recommendation after the word gets out is slim to none. Why is it best to ask before you give notice? Why is it difficult to get a letter of recommendation after you’ve given notice or quit? The last thing your supervisor is thinking about is giving you a letter of recommendation or referral. It could be personal but mostly business. Here are the reasons some of the reasons why: They are afraid you’re going to compete with them They are worried about replacing a Rock star like yourself They are thinking about themselves, their goals and their future workload They are thinking about how they are going to replace you and where they are going to find the time. “What am I going to do now?” crosses their mind frequently. You need to be 10 steps ahead of them by getting letters of recommendations and testimonials way before you have to or before it’s too late. Create a system or a template to send out and consistently ask for these. Branding Letters of recommendations and testimonials are a great way to brand yourself whether you going to stay in Corporate America and brand yourself there or start a new business or non-profit. You can use them on your website under testimonials, as one-liners scrolling across your website, as a part of your marketing package or testimonial videos on your blog, Facebook or YouTube channel. Ego Booster If you are having a down day and don’t know what you bring to the table. Bust out those letters! Use them as a part of your daily affirmations. Take out one or two and read them every day. It will remind you that you’re awesome, that you are fantastic and bring a lot to the table. Personally, it’s given me a boost and reminds me that I do have what it takes. I can do this ! So can you! Mistake most people make: Asking when it’s too late or not asking at all. Don’t make the mistake of asking for them too late like most people do. Make it a practice to ask for these often and start creating a portfolio of all the great things your clients, peers, and supervisors think about you. Even worse, not asking for them at all. Have the courage to ask because they can open up doors for future opportunities. Start using them on your website, in your presentation/package, job interviews and an ego booster. ***Warning: When you read them to your husband and children, like I did, you may not get the reaction you’re looking for. My family laughed at me when I read the one that said “Tanya is nothing short of exceptional.” LOL
Posted on: Wed, 07 Jan 2015 20:12:05 +0000
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