Letters of recommendation are very powerful third-party endorsements aids to closing sales. They can also be considered "captured word-of-mouth." The problem is most companies don't typically have as many letters of recommendation as they need for a successful business to business marketing strategy. There are two reasons: 1) writing such a letter is not usually a high priority for your happy customer and they often do not follow through; and 2) You feel embarrassed pushing the issue with reminders and nudges.

There is a simple solution for your business to business marketing strategy. Invent an informal special occasion to be held about six weeks from the time you start the project. At the special occasion - a company meeting perhaps - the CEO will be presented with new letters of recommendation. This gives your customer a specific deadline and a reason to get the letter done.

Then assign someone like an upbeat, fairly aggressive receptionist, to be in charge of the project. The event can be quite informal but make it a real event so you will be telling the truth. Give your receptionist a four-week runway and a list of known happy customers with telephone numbers. Have the receptionist call each customer and ask if the person would be willing to write such a letter to be presented at the special occasion.

When they agree, as most will, set a date for the letter to be completed. Make sure you have some leeway too. That way, if the customer forgets, there will still be time to get the letter in your hands before the event. The receptionist will not experience the same embarrassment you would in asking for these letters of recommendation. I have seen as many as eight letters arrive in less than a week.

You can even pick certain subjects to be addressed in the letters. Let's say that price is an issue with your company. Ask, through the receptionist, if the writer of the letter would please touch on the price issue in a favorable manner in the letter. Several such letters, properly referenced, will handle the "price" objection for many prospects.

Eight or 10 letters of recommendation skillfully used in the hands of your sales people can increase your closing ratio by as much as 50 percent. And these letters can open doors as well as close sales. Letters of recommendation are an essential part of any business to business marketing program. Use them well and use them often.

About the author:

Author, John Elliott, founder and president of Power PR, Inc., has been an authority in public relations and marketing for more than 36 years. As a public relations executive, he has been instrumental in landing hundreds of pages and hundreds of hours of radio and television coverage for his various local, national, and international clients and employers, and has secured press coverage for political, art, sports, telecommunications, manufacturin