Tweet

Get the Most From Your Written Testimonials

Guest post by: Ivan R. Misner

Article Overview: Make it standard practice to ask clients and contacts for testimonials and you'll build your credibility and your business.

Get the Most From Your Written Testimonials

Written testimonials influence our actions and choices in myriad ways, sometimes without our even thinking about them. For example: You and a friend decide to catch a movie, but your tastes don't always coincide. So you open the local paper and check out the film reviews. You decide you want to go to dinner first, but there are so many restaurants in your area that you don't know which one to pick. So you open up a local magazine and scan the recommendations of the magazine's food critic.

Even more powerful than these "professional" testimonials, however, are those that come from trusted personal contacts. If you have enough time, you might call or e-mail a couple of other friends to get their movie and restaurant suggestions. You're likely to follow their advice, too, because you know that they know your likes and dislikes pretty well.

So it is in business. Before people come to your firm for a particular product or service, they often want the comfort of knowing what others have said about you.

Let's say you refinish hardwood floors. Many consumers, before they let you haul your refinishing equipment into their house, will ask you for either written testimonials or phone numbers of people who can attest to your work.

You may even have experience with another form of testimonial: providing references when applying for a new job. Those references are expected to respond by written or spoken word about you and your work performance; quite frequently, a testimonial can clinch the job for you. That's a lot of weight riding on someone else's words.

Why Testimonials Increase Business

Testimonials carry a level of credibility because they come from someone who has direct experience with your product or service. Consumers generally place more trust in testimonials than they do in a business's marketing message. They believe that the average person is unbiased and has nothing to gain from providing a testimonial. The business stands to gain--or lose--everything, so its own words are seen as less trustworthy.

Recognizing consumers' skepticism, some businesses make a practice of asking for customer testimonials. Ditto for businesses that serve other businesses. If anything, a business can be an even more demanding customer than an individual consumer because it has its own reputation and ability to function at stake. Thus, a written testimonial on professional letterhead from one business to another is a powerful word in your favor, especially if the business represented on that letterhead is highly credible.

Displaying Testimonials

Written testimonials can be used in many ways to enhance your credibility and set you above your competition--on your business's website, for example. Some websites have them strategically sprinkled throughout so there's at least one testimonial on each page. Others have a dedicated page where a browser can view several testimonials at once. Either way, scan each testimonial to keep it with its letterhead. This will enhance its credibility--and yours.

If your business attracts a lot of walk-in clients, it's helpful to display your written testimonials, each encased in a plastic sheet protector, in a three-ring binder labeled "What our customers say about us" or "Client Testimonials." Keep this binder on a table in your reception area, where your customers can browse through it while they're waiting for services. It's a good way to connect with your prospects and enhance your relationship with clients.

Another way to stand out from the competition is to include testimonials with your business proposals. This strategy works best if you have a wide variety to choose from; you can include a section of testimonials that are most relevant to a specific proposal.

Asking for Testimonials

Make it standard practice to ask clients (or other contacts) for testimonials. At what point in the sales cycle should you ask? This is a tricky question, but in general, don't ask for any testimonial before it's time--which may be before, during, or after the completion of a sale or project, depending on your client, your product or service, and your own needs.

Let's say that one month before finishing a project, you call your client to ask how things are going. The client tells you she's very happy with the results and that her life or business has changed for the better because of your product or service. At this point, your testimonial detector should be pinging loudly. It's the right time to make your pitch: "That would be a great thing for other people to know about my company. Would you be willing to write me a testimonial on your company letterhead by the end of the week?" If the answer is yes, the next step is to coach your client in writing a testimonial that fits your needs.

Guiding the Content

Ask your client to tell why she chose to work with you, how she benefited from your products or services, how you solved a problem for her, and what other people should know about your business. What things are most people concerned about when using a business like yours? Ask her to address those issues. Don't be afraid to offer suggestions; you'll make it easier for her to write an appropriate testimonial, and the result will be more valuable for you.

Updating Your Testimonials

Finally, review your testimonial file or binder at least every two to three years to identify testimonials that are no longer valid or credible. Specifically, you may want to discard or re-file a testimonial that:

• Is from a company that's no longer in business
• Is/was written by someone who has left the company
• Represents a product or service that you no longer offer
• Has begun to turn yellow with age
• Needs to be updated with new statistics from the customer

Now that you understand what testimonials can do for your business, try asking for three written testimonials on company letterhead this week. Make it easy for your advocates--specify what you would like their testimonials to cover, based on what you know of their satisfaction or successes from using your product or service. Ask for them to be typed on company letterhead, signed and submitted by a certain date.

One more thing: Remember the law of reciprocity. If you want to truly motivate someone to write you a testimonial, write one for him or her first.

Related Articles
  # The Invisible Close Sales Nugget - Using Written Testimonials to Boost Sales - 5 Quick Tips!
  How to Easily Get Customer Testimonials
  A very underutilized strategy to build your online credibility
  ••••••> Including Testimonials for as an SEO Methods
  Home Business Expert: Testimonials, Your Secret Sales Force
  The Secret to Adding Credibility to Your Business Testimonials
  “The Awesome Power of Testimonials For Marketing Your Business!”
  Testimonials Add to Your Credibility with Information Products
  Collect Testimonials
  A Critical Sales Tool - Testimonials
  Build Your Business With Testimonials
  The 2 Types of Testimonial Unsolicited & Solicited
  Best Practices for Using Testimonials
  10 Ways to Use Customer Testimonials
  Ten Major Reasons Why You Are Not Getting Referrals According To Your Strategic Thinking Business Coach
  Strategic Tips For Effective Testimonials According To Your Strategic Thinking Business Coach
  How To Get Great Testimonials
  Using testimonials
  7 Tips for Getting Glowing Testimonials that Will Increase Sales
  Your Million-Dollar Testimonial Strategy: Using Testimonials to Counter Objections

Article Tags: business growth, credibility, networking, word of mouth, written testimonials



Related Forum Posts
Franchise Models - There's a really interesting book about franchise models. Written by Michael Gerber, 'The E-Myth' is all about setting up an individual business and creating it in a franchise mold which will enable it's success. Definitely worth a read.
Dramatized the product - Tough one... It's going to have t be a mix of different media. 1. Testimonials of current owners of the product and how it's helped them. This can be done thru Video and print 2. Somehow I believe there will have to be Video of it being "dramatized" 3. People of influence will have to support or sponsor the product. just some that came to mind..
Kevin's Case Study #3 - Promoting something you can't try - [quote="jvprosperity":21pki4fw]Tough one... It's going to have t be a mix of different media. 1. Testimonials of current owners of the product and how it's helped them. This can be done thru Video and print 2. Somehow I believe there will have to be Video of it being "dramatized" 3. People of influence will have to support or sponsor the product. just some that came to mind..[/quote:21pki4fw] Hi Andy, 1. I like this idea of testimonials from current business owners of the product. But what if there aren't any to start? 2. I see your point about there being a need for video dramatization, but as a consumer, do you really buy into them yourself? Where's the authenticity from a dramatization? A security system can be expensive to install for your retail business, so you may not want to invest in something just because someone on TV is telling you to do so. 3. I think your 3rd suggestion has the best potential though! Personally, I would suggest holding a contest to award someone like a marketing student a $500 to $1000 prize for being able to come up with the most creative way to market this security product. It's an inexpensive campaign that could help to generate a lot of buzz (and even be featured as a "story" on a local news channel).
Re: Quick Ways To Utilize SEO Effectively - There are many different types of content: blog content, website content, newsletter content, audio & video content, the list can be endless. I'll just list 10 types of website content here: * Index/Introduction * Product Descriptions * Testimonials * Reviews * Resources * How-to Information * Downloads * Contact Information * Navigation/Site Map About/Company Info Anchor text as the others have said is the hyperlinked words on a web page - the words you click on when you click a link. Anchor text is important because it tells the search engines what the page is about. Used wisely, it boosts your rankings in search engines, especially in Google.If you use "click here" as the words people are going to click on, you're telling people the page is about the subject "click here", which is not the phrase you want to rank highly for, the text you need to use is a keyword that you have chosen for your website, blog or article. Take care, Carol
Re: Quick Ways To Utilize SEO Effectively - [quote="Carol Aston":fybrn2qt]There are many different types of content: blog content, website content, newsletter content, audio & video content, the list can be endless. I'll just list 10 types of website content here: * Index/Introduction * Product Descriptions * Testimonials * Reviews * Resources * How-to Information * Downloads * Contact Information * Navigation/Site Map About/Company Info Anchor text as the others have said is the hyperlinked words on a web page - the words you click on when you click a link. Anchor text is important because it tells the search engines what the page is about. Used wisely, it boosts your rankings in search engines, especially in Google.If you use "click here" as the words people are going to click on, you're telling people the page is about the subject "click here", which is not the phrase you want to rank highly for, the text you need to use is a keyword that you have chosen for your website, blog or article. Take care, Carol[/quote:fybrn2qt] This is a great topic and useful to anyone who runs a business on the internet. Carol as always your advice is excellent. As far as I know, it is important to use your main keywords as anchor text which lead back to your website or blog, because that is ultimately where you want your readers to go. MichelleJ


Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.

Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

12 Principles to Spark Innovation

Are You An Accidental Consultant?

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.