BENEFITS OF GOOD TESTIMONIALS
We thought you might benefit from a very effective form of marketing that again will not cost you but will provide kudos and all-important third-party endorsement. It can be particularly effective when promoting your business to new potential customers who might not have heard of your company before.
We are referring to the good old client testimonial. Who better to sing your praises than your satisfied clients?
Of course, the best way to get terrific testimonials is to do a wonderful job. If you have not done a great job, do not ask for a testimonial, fix your service first!!
Here are a few ideas that work:
- You have done a great job for a great customer. They are happy and so are you. Now is the time to approach them for a testimonial.
- Don’t just say, “Would you mind giving us a testimonial?” They will say yes, but never bother to write something or send you the form back. The key is to call the person that you have worked with or have the relationship with to do the interview. Ask customer service type questions (at the same time also establish if you can offer them any other products or services – remember my last email!). If the answers are positive, then ask if this could become a testimonial to put on the website.
- Our preferred option is to write the testimonial ourselves and then send it to the client for their approval. By doing it this way, you can focus on a specific element of your service or product range. This also makes the process so much easier for the client and the response time is immediate.
Another way to get better testimonials is to use fill in the blank questions so your clients do not have to write it all from scratch. Ask them to print it on their letterhead. Try to use some open-ended questions like these:
The best thing about _____ services was: ____________________.
- The reason I selected ______ to be my ______ service provider was _______.
- I would recommend _______ ’s services to a friend who needed this service because
- At the end of the project I felt
Make sure you tell the client where you intend using the testimonial. If you are using testimonials on your own website, offer to include a link from the testimonial to their website – this is free promotion for them and the fact that you want to use their company name to endorse your business demonstrates the respect and value you place on your relationship.
We hope you found this useful and for more simple to use marketing tips and advice or to benefit from our extensive commercial industry knowledge and experience please get in touch.
