Matt Lerner’s Post

I've helped over 200 startups grow 10X-100X. Ask me anything (next week on LinkedIn Live) Drop your questions in the comments below 👇🏼 I'll start with the most 👍 upvoted questions below, and then take live questions on the call. When: May 1 @ 14:00 BST / 9:00 EDT

Here's 2 testimonial formats that don't sound like bullsh*t: It’s tempting to showcase your most effusive reviews, but that’s a missed opportunity. We got this one last week: "I've been an entrepreneur for almost 30 years and this is the best thing I've ever done. Wish I did it 30 years ago.” I love reading testimonials like that! But I don't post them on our site. Why? Because they sound like bullsh*t. Think about it from your prospect’s perspective: If they read a review that says “This product is awesome!” will they think “Wow, this product must be awesome. Lemme grab my credit card…” (No. No, they will not.) Effective testimonials don’t just say “It's awesome,” they break through by addressing prospect’s specific goals and fears. Like this... 𝗛𝗲𝗿𝗲'𝘀 𝟮 𝘁𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗼𝗻𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝘁𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝗢𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝟭: 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗲𝘅𝗮𝗰𝘁 𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝗵𝗼𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗼𝗿? Share quotes from people describing that exact outcome. For example: • “We cut production times by 30% while lowering defect rates, I didn’t think that was possible.” • “We quadrupled the engagement rates of our outreach campaigns, now we actually need to hire more salespeople.” • “We were able to achieve 100% FCA compliance without hiring additional people." 𝗢𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝟮: 𝗪𝗵𝗶𝗰𝗵 𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗰 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗿𝘆 𝗶𝘀 𝗯𝗹𝗼𝗰𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘂𝗽? Call it out and knock it down. Examples: • “Normally my sales reps hate new software and refuse to use it, but they love [product] and they’re 24% more productive after the first week.” • “I thought migration would be a huge hassle, but we were up and running in 2 hours, no engineering required.” • “Our CEO was watching this project closely, so I was nervous about working with software from a startup. But [product] not only did the job, it made my whole team look like rockstars." For both options, the key is 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘵𝘺. The more directly you can address the reader’s exact desire or blocker, the more the quote will resonate with them – and the less it will sound like bullsh*t. 𝗕𝗼𝗻𝘂𝘀 𝘁𝗶𝗽: What if your customers don’t give you the right words for your ideal testimonial? You can always reply to a happy customer and ask “Would you mind if we phrased your testimonial this way instead?” They’ll usually say yes. Who else needs to read this? Tag them 👇🏼 Are you a little smarter than you were 2 minutes ago? Follow me: Matt Lerner so you don't miss my future posts.

I'm hosting a LinkedIn Live AMA* next week. Drop your questions in the comments below 👇🏼 I'll start with the most 👍 upvoted questions below, and then take live questions on the call. When: May 1 @ 14:00 BST / 9:00 EDT Register here: https://lnkd.in/e7Xkv_5r * AMA = Ask Matt Anything 😏

“For so long, I've felt like I was sort of stumbling along making half-decent guesses, some of which sorta worked. But now I have a PROCESS: a clear approach, with measurable results.”

A huge win from our most recent cohort: How Zelta AI was able to 6X their weekly demo requests by updating their site to use their customers' actual words. (And they "dogfooded" their own Gen-AI tool to text mine 500 hours of sales call transcripts to find the magic words.) Congrats to Pierce Healy. cc. Nopadon Wongpakdee

If you're one of those ppl who likes to listen to a podcast before they buy the book... this one's EXCELLENT. My convo with Dan Blumberg is PUNCHY. We cover: • Mindset shift, how to get people to be more fast and bold • How to get new signups to the "aha moment" as quickly as possible in a deep dive on activation and retention • Jobs to be Done for the non-expert, simple and actionable • The most expensive mistakes I see founders making in 2024    Plus zero faff. You know I love CONCISE content. The whole episode is just 33 minutes long. All podcast formats linked here: https://lnkd.in/ehAnj5jY

Kindle lets me see my book's most popular highlights. And the most popular one, by far, is the story of the locksmith. 👇🏼 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗖𝗹𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗟𝗼𝗰𝗸𝘀𝗺𝗶𝘁𝗵 In 2006, I lived in an apartment complex surrounded by a wrought-iron fence with a locked gate, and each tenant had a key. One day, a sticker appeared on the gate: "24-hr Emergency Locksmith - 1(800)444-1234" Genius! For 99.999% of my life, I won’t need a locksmith. But when I do, I’ll be right here at this gate. The locksmith knew exactly where to find me in my moment of highest need. She could’ve bought billboards, mailed brochures, and sponsored podcasts. But I would’ve tuned it all out. The same point applies to your customers: 99.99% of the time, they won’t need your product, and they’ll ignore your messages. Where will they be when they suddenly realize they need you desperately? What’s their 𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘬𝘴𝘮𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘮𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵? Huge success stories all have “locksmith moments.” A few examples: 1. 𝗖𝗮𝗻𝘃𝗮 ranks for 700,000 search terms around “how to design….” certificates, posters, social posts, etc. 2. 𝗦𝗽𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗳𝘆 gave free pro accounts to personal assistants of a-list singers knowing the artists would eventually find out. 3. 𝗦𝗼𝘆 𝗠𝗶𝗹𝗸 sits in the dairy aisle at the supermarket, even though it doesn’t need to be refrigerated. 𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗼 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝗟𝗼𝗰𝗸𝘀𝗺𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗠𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁: Contact recent signups and ask them to think back to the exact moment they first realized they 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘦𝘥 your product. Ask them about that exact moment. Where were they? What were they trying to do? Where did they look? Who did they ask? What did they 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 they were looking for? Turn up there and look like that thing. Just like the Locksmith. Each week I send a 2-minute email for impatient startup founders. There's a link to read them all in my profile: Matt Lerner .

In 2017 my life changed forever after a 10 minute conversation, in a hot tub, with Dan Priestly. We were at a founder’s retreat in St. Anton. Dan told me he was writing a book called Key Person of Influence, and he explained how he’d established himself as a thought leader in his industry, and that enabled him to build his lifestyle business helping entrepreneurs while doing work he enjoyed. I spend my life helping high-growth startups achieve massive success. Dan does the same thing, but for services businesses with more “lifestyle” ambitions. Back then, I was still a VC, had not yet started my own business, so I peppered him with questions. He talked me through every step of the process, I guess I was thinking about my next chapter. Next chapter in-deed, here I am, seven years later, a bestselling author myself with my own little audience, running a business that pays me to do exactly what I love doing most – helping entrepreneurs figure out how to grow their startups. Professionally, I couldn’t ask for more. Dan, and his books, proved a valuable resource at every turn. And it all started with a chance meeting in a hot tub. (Dan’s a busy guy, these days. But everything he told me is in his books, some of which are free. I’ll link in the comments). If you're building a services business, I suggest following Daniel Priestley