Do you effectively use the power of great testimonials?
It’s been said that a good customer testimonial about your service is 20 times more powerful than anything you could say about yourself.
Why? Because it changes your business claims to verified facts, and actual customer’s comments carry a heck of a lot more weight about you than what you could possible say.
Wow! What a great concept… simply let your prospective customers do all your selling for you.
Sounds like a win-win to me.
So… why don’t more businesses take advantage of them?
After all, you really can’t overuse them, and they can give you a huge competitive edge over other companies that don’t use testimonials.
Think of testimonials as a sales message…and like all messages, they must match your market.
Of course, this means some testimonials won’t even get read, and others do virtually all of the convincing/selling for you.
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Here are some tips for great testimonials:
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- Every business can and should use customer testimonials in any situation they can
- Make sure they’re detailed and relevant to your message and market
- Use testimonials from a range of customer types and situations
- Use them to overcome different objections your prospective customers may have
- Include them on every piece of marketing collateral or sales copy you can. The more, the merrier. (I even include them in proposals or quotes)
- People will believe them before they believe you, adding even more credibility to your business
So start using them today! What are you waiting for?
What do you think? (Leave your reply below)
If you need help with website design, writing SEO optimized web copy, email marketing, or other online marketing strategies, I can help!
To your marketing success!
Merrill Clark
Website and Marketing Copywriter
Join my discussion by leaving a comment below…
We sometimes call them by another name – proof statements. Some of the best ones I ever had were being on magazine covers or being featured in newspaper articles.
The best one I has was being on the cover of our company magazine with the lead story. I had worked with a residential customer for eight years in a company which had been bought out several times. She two tracked me down even though I was now in the commercial department.
She insisted I come out to her house and upgrade her electronic security system because I knew her house best! At the time it was some 10 years since I had worked with her.
I was working for the largest company in the industry at that time. You might have heard about Tyco/Fire & Security’s company named ADT. They believed that this customer service triumph was significant enough to trump what I considered to be a better success story.
A commercial closed circuit camera system thwarted a confrontation between ex-spouses. The wife had a restraining order on her ex. The camera spotted him waiting for her at her car at the end of her work day. Instead of going to the car, she called security.
Thanks for your comments, Mike.
“Proof statements” is a great name and description of a testimonial.
Indeed – proof from other people is often what pushes potential customers over the fence to call your business.
Merrill
Always interesting, informative & helpful, Merrill. Often your commentary, as here, in itself serves as a great illustration of your topic.
Thanks for your nice comments Teak.
I do my best to get my points across.
Thank you Merrill. Here is another interesting story regarding testimonials from one story teller to another… My greatest testimonial when I began my career at ADT Security Services (before Tyco gobbled them up) was my wife, Judy. I began selling high end residential security systems in affluent areas of the northern Chicago suburbs. This started about four years after my wife graciously accepted my proposal and changed my life.
During the course of a sales process I ‘Stumbled Upon’ the fact that her reputation preceded mine. The subject of orthodontics came up, which was her field in school and she subsequently became office manager of a leading practitioner in the area. When my prospect learned Judy and I had wed, the reaction was, and I paraphrase: “If Judy married you, you must be OK!” I, of course, got the deal. As well as several more because I tried to make mention of it in other sales interviews where applicable. (Today we call that leveraging your brand.)
She was well loved in the community I worked in through the course of her employment. Although she had left that position a few years prior, her work brought her into contact with many of the same people I subsequently dealt with. And the impression was a lasting one. Judy and I are, still to this day some 30 years later, of like mind when treating customers as people first and matching their needs with our products and services. People recognized those traits then and still do today.
That’s awesome!
I would have never thought of that angle, but it sure makes sense, and it happens all the time. You just normally don’t think about your spouse being the source.
Moral of story:
“Personal” comments about you from someone who is trusted and respected by people who know them can be the most powerful type of testimonial you can receive. (even if they are your spouse) -:)
Thanks Michael!
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