References are powerful foundations. Positive customer reviews of your website and publicity material are real proof to prospective clients that you can deliver on your promises. If the satisfied customer is a celebrity, even better.

In the following lines, we'll introduce you to a story that illustrates the power of a strong celebrity endorsement.

Daniel Thomas reveals how he managed to convince one happy client, Sophie Ellis-Bextor, to be featured in a promotional video on his website.

For the past seven years, Daniel's business has been selling hot tubs online. In that time he has sold thousands of hot tubs to every corner of the UK as well as all over Europe.

As part of a PR campaign, Daniel decided to look for a celebrity to be the advertising face for his products but was shocked by the price.

Customer reviews

Returning to his PR efforts, Daniel decided to focus on testimonials and recommendations from his database of satisfied customers. While searching through his customers' reviews, an idea struck him. What if he already had a celebrity among his satisfied customers? Then he could ask for real feedback that he could use as collateral.

Following this idea, he starts going through his database all over again and looks for famous names among his customers. It turns out there are quite a few such customers. Daniel finds that his business's database includes a number of famous athletes, pop stars, and TV hosts.

Customers "Stars"

Daniel decided to call each of these Stars customers and ask them personally if they were satisfied with the products and services they received from his team. All of the responses were positive. So he also decided to ask them if they were willing to post their positive testimonial on his website to be used for advertising purposes.

A couple of his most famous clients referred him directly to their managers, but Daniel hit the jackpot when he contacted singer Sophie Ellis-Bextor, 'Star' of Strictly Come Dancing. Sophie had bought a hot tub in 2011. She was happy to help and even agreed to have a video filmed at her home in West London.

Celebrity rate

Daniel hired a professional presenter and crew for the day of filming.

In her interview Sophie tells how her husband, Richard, wanted a hot tub, the purchase was successful, they thought they had made a great deal. Daily use of the tub has become a small celebration for their family. The two spouses could get in the tub, relax and talk about what had happened to them during the day.

Daniel says that after filming this video, the results were amazing. Staff motivation increased, and so did customer opinion of his company.

Finding a brand ambassador

Daniel hopes that the video made will encourage other business owners to seek out celebrities among their customers. Mr Thomas draws a conclusion that should make any director think, that by getting caught up in the day-to-day tasks and complex issues involved in running a business, people often forget who their customers are. You don't need to pay popular faces to act as "celebrities" for your business when you can look around at your customers and find people who are "Stars". They are ordinary people who buy all kinds of goods from all kinds of businesses.

Have you already reviewed your database for your client "Star"?

The fact is that customer feedback and recommendations matter. A Celebrity customer can provide you with a valuable opportunity to improve your brand image. But remember, all your customers need to know everything about you and would explore different opinions about your business.

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