References Are Like Fine Wine – They Should Age Well!

References Are Like Fine Wine – They Should Age Well!

I’ve been active in consulting, offering seminars and speeches, and customized training programs for more than 20 years.

During that time, I’ve done hundreds of seminars and speeches, public and onsite, and I’ve trained thousands of people, many of whom have given me written evaluations and letters praising their experiences.

Tonight, in gathering some quotes to use in a seminar brochure, I had to wrestle with a few important questions:

(1) How old is too-old, if you have a reference or testimonial?

(2) If the reference’s company has been purchased by another entity, do you use the original company name, the updated one, or both?

(3) Can you count on someone to be willing to back-up a reference he wrote, say more than five years ago?

Maybe, I’m a rare breed to be concerned about such things, but I think there are some potential ethical as well as practical issues at stake, especially if you have been consulting, coaching, or simply running a business for many years.

Let’s say someone gave you a glowing testimonial about a program you did ten years ago, saying you were dynamic, interesting, relevant, and your seminar was “The best I’ve ever attended!”

(I have some of those; really, I do!)

Can you use it, today? Still, I believe I am all of those things and my programs are great.

But is it fair to attribute these qualities to myself, now?

I say, why not? I earned the accolades and they never bore a “use-by” date, like ground beef or milk at the supermarket.

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The next issue is a little trickier. Some companies change names without changing their basic composition or products. Sperry became Unisys, so there’s no biggie in listing it, I suppose.

Two of my references are from Baby Bells that we’re later merged into AT & T and Verizon. If I didn’t use these modern names, who would remember, or not be confused, if I said Pacific Bell and Nynex, which is where my references hailed from.

I have some “pure” AT & T references, too, so that’s not too much of a problem, I suppose.

But what about General Foods, which became Kraft or Flying Tigers, which was bought by and merged into Federal Express? Perhaps it’s the same thing, but I’m not so sure.

Finally, and maybe this is the most serious challenge, can we expect people to stand behind testimonials they gave years ago?

I believe they should! You may have trouble finding these folks after companies have come and gone and have downsized, but your contacts should prop you up as they said, or certainly implied they would do.

If you’ve been great at what you do for years, then why not tap that wealth of good will that you have stored in those references?

Certainly, you can use more current testimonials, and you should insert a few, but older references should age well, like fine wine, and like, you!

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Source: ArticlesBase.com