How To Get Great Testimonials
How To Get Great Testimonials
Here are two ideas for generating testimonials that I have found to be effective.
I have my phone set up, so that I can record directly to my computer, using the Sound Recorder function. I use it for when I am doing consulting on the phone. This way I can produce a CD of suitable discussions, or develop transcripts. However it has another very powerful use and that is for recording testimonials.
Whenever you are talking with a client on the phone, and you receive a compliment or have just completed a significant piece of work, you should ask for a testimonial. Tell the client how important testimonials are for you and how they help you keep marketing costs down, and most people will be happy to oblige. Ask the client to give it to you right over the phone and record it there and then. Of course you have to tell the client you are recording it and you have to ask for permission to use what they say.
Once you have a recording, you can transcribe it and send it back to your client asking them to put it on letter head and to sign it. Alternatively you can put it as an audio track or as text on your web site. For an example of this visit our web site and listen to the audio track from a recent conference call, where we had several graduates of our More Business For Your Business coaching program talking about their experiences. www.results-exchange.com
Another way to really boost the number of testimonials is to run a contest for your customers. Bill Phillips of Body For Life, holds a contest every year to find out who in his customer base has had the most dramatic improvement in their body as a result of his program. He offers very generous prizes. Up to a million dollars in prize money is offered.
The contest rules are very effective in generating the right kind of testimonials. First you have to supply before and after pictures. In addition you have to write an essay on how BFL has changed your life. The right to use your entry as promotional material is written into the entry process. This ensures BFL has a steady stream of testimonials every year. Visit www.bodyforlife.com to see how they do it.
You may not have a large sum of money to offer as a prize, but with some ingenuity, Street-Smart Marketers can find creative ways to offer very attractive prizes that will encourage people to enter. Use the best testimonials to promote your business. Use them in direct mail, in your advertising, on your web site, arm your sales people with them.....use them anywhere you can
How To Get Great Testimonials - To learn more about this author, visit Michael Hepworth's Website.
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As customers become more cautious and more skeptical, so does the need for great testimonials become more critical. Most of us have a few testimonials, but almost no one has a process for systematically going after them as a strategic priority. Social proof is one of the most powerful selling tools available and Street-Smart Marketers make it a priority to obtain it and provide it to prospects.
Here are two ideas for generating testimonials that I have found to be effective.
I have my phone set up, so that I can record directly to my computer, using the Sound Recorder function. I use it for when I am doing consulting on the phone. This way I can produce a CD of suitable discussions, or develop transcripts. However it has another very powerful use and that is for recording testimonials.
Whenever you are talking with a client on the phone, and you receive a compliment or have just completed a significant piece of work, you should ask for a testimonial. Tell the client how important testimonials are for you and how they help you keep marketing costs down, and most people will be happy to oblige. Ask the client to give it to you right over the phone and record it there and then. Of course you have to tell the client you are recording it and you have to ask for permission to use what they say.
Once you have a recording, you can transcribe it and send it back to your client asking them to put it on letter head and to sign it. Alternatively you can put it as an audio track or as text on your web site. For an example of this visit our web site and listen to the audio track from a recent conference call, where we had several graduates of our More Business For Your Business coaching program talking about their experiences. www.results-exchange.com
Another way to really boost the number of testimonials is to run a contest for your customers. Bill Phillips of Body For Life, holds a contest every year to find out who in his customer base has had the most dramatic improvement in their body as a result of his program. He offers very generous prizes. Up to a million dollars in prize money is offered.
The contest rules are very effective in generating the right kind of testimonials. First you have to supply before and after pictures. In addition you have to write an essay on how BFL has changed your life. The right to use your entry as promotional material is written into the entry process. This ensures BFL has a steady stream of testimonials every year. Visit www.bodyforlife.com to see how they do it.
You may not have a large sum of money to offer as a prize, but with some ingenuity, Street-Smart Marketers can find creative ways to offer very attractive prizes that will encourage people to enter. Use the best testimonials to promote your business. Use them in direct mail, in your advertising, on your web site, arm your sales people with them.....use them anywhere you can
How To Get Great Testimonials - To learn more about this author, visit Michael Hepworth's Website.
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Dave KurlanDave Kurlan is the founder and CEO of Objective Management Group, Inc., the industry leader in sales assessments and sales force evaluations, and the CEO of David Kurlan & Associates, Inc., a consulting firm specializing in sales force development. Dave has been a top rated speaker at Inc. Magazine's Conference on Growing the Company, the Sales & Marketing Management Conference and the Gazelles Sales & Marketing Summit. He has been featured on radio and TV, including World Business Review with General Norman Schwarzkopf, in Inc. Magazine, Selling Power Magazine, Sales & Marketing Management Magazine and Incentive Magazine. He is the author of Mindless Selling and Baseline Selling – How to Become a Sales Superstar by Using What You Already Know about the Game of Baseball. He created and wrote STAR, a proprietary recruiting process for hiring great salespeople, and he writes Understanding the Sales Force, a popular business Blog and is a contributing author to The Death of 20th Century Selling and 101 Great Ways to Improve Your Life, Volume 2. - Visit Dave Kurlan's Website |
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David AchesonDavid Acheson is the founder of DCJA Consultancy. DCJA Consultancy is a management consultancy business specialising in B2B sales consultancy. They offer bespoke and packaged sales consultancy including Sales Optimisation Review, Interim Sales Management, Sales & Marketing Review, 1:1 Sales & Management Staff Analysis, Management Training, Solution Sales Training, Creation of New Pay Plan, KPI's, run Customer Feedback Campaigns, assist with Recruitment, Coaching, Appraisals and set up Strategic Marketing Campaigns. David spent his early career in accountancy and then moved into sales in 1982, working in Office Equipment, IT, Advertising, Training, Outsourcing and Consultancy. He has held many Senior Positions in SMBs and Global Organisations including Head of Sales Operations & Head of Business Development. His knowledge, skills and great experience of the Sales Industry has led to David making keynote speeches and running educational sessions to key businesses through organisations including The Chamber of Commerce and Business Link. - Visit David Acheson's Website |
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Linda RichardsonLinda Richardson is the Founder and Executive Chairwoman of Richardson, a global sales training and performance improvement company. As a recognized leader in the industry, she has won the coveted Stevie Award for Lifetime Achievement in Sales Excellence and she was identified by Training Industry, Inc. as one of the “Top 20 Most Influential Training Professionals.” Ms. Richardson is credited with the movement to Consultative Selling and is the author of ten books on selling and sales management, including Sales Coaching — Making the Great Leap from Sales Manager to Sales Coach, and Stop Telling, Start Selling. She teaches sales and management at the Wharton Graduate School of the University of Pennsylvania and the Wharton Executive Development Center. Linda is a frequent speaker at industry and client conferences, has been published extensively in industry and training journals, and has been featured in numerous publications, including The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Nation’s Business, Selling Power, Success, and The Conference Board Magazine. Learn more about Richardson's sales training and performance improvement solutions at http://www.richardson.com web - Visit Linda Richardson's Website |
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