A System For Getting Meaningful Testimonials     

When someone visits your website, especially someone who is seriously considering your services or product, you WANT them to feel they're making a smart, informed decision.

A strong testimonial from someone who has benefitted from your services will go a long way towards instilling this feeling of confidence in your reader. 

Testimonials help prospect's rationalize their buying decision. 

In fact, a rock-solid thumbs up from a satisfied customer can often be the tipping point that results in having a prospect sign on the dotted line. Or, as Alec Baldwin articulated in the movie Glengarry Glenross, 'getting them to sign on the line that is dotted.'

Yet, surprisingly, many of the testimonials you see on websites are weak and diluted and virtually void of any meaningful selling power.

Effective testimonials generally feature four characteristics:

1. They are specific. What do you do when you hear someone claim they'll cut your heating costs by 50%? ZZZzzzzzzzzz. That's right. You tune out because it's the same old same old. But when you read a testimonial that says, 'The ABC Time Planning System saved me 7.5 hours the first week I used it', you start imagining what you could do with those 7 ½ hours. Specificity sells.

2. They focus on one benefit. By sticking to one benefit, the testimonial becomes more powerful. If you try to jam in too many, your message gets watered down. The way around this is to offer 4 or 5 testimonials - each focused on highlighting a different benefit your product or service delivers.

3. They must be believable. People know how people talk. When you write the testimonial (using customer supplied details, of course), keep the tone conversational. If you make it too formal, it will look contrived. And another thing...use full names and addresses (and pictures) if you can. A company name will suffice. Without something to indicate to the prospect that the person actually exists, you're way down on the believability scale. Probably not even on it if I'm being honest!

4. They must be targeted to your audience. Make sure the testimonial is relevant and doesn't include anything that is potentially offensive to your intended audience.

Ok, so now you know the rules. How do you go about putting them to good use?

If you simply call and ask your customer for a testimonial, you'll likely get something vague like, "The new duct cleaning system you installed works great." (Hmmmmm, not exactly the gold we're looking for.)

Here's what to do: Create a "customer feedback" questionnaire that will get the customer's honest, unrehearsed answers regarding the value your service or product delivered. 

Then pick up the phone and give the customer a call. Tell her what you're doing and then, dive in. 

Your questions might go something like this:

• Why did you purchase (name of product or service)? This question establishes the phone call as a genuine customer-feedback call.
• What three things do you like most about (name of product or service)? Here, we force the customer to think specifically. You won't always get three. Just be sure to write down everything they say. This is WHAT your customers are buying and should be prominent in all your headlines and sales copy.
• What, in your opinion, is the strongest feature of your (name of product or service)? This question forces the customer to be more specific.
• How has (name of your product or service) saved you time, money or frustration? This is EXACTLY the information we're looking for. The customer will tell us how the service or impacted their life.
• Is there anything about your (name of product or service) you would like to see changed? This can be an eye-opener. Depending on what the customer says, it may clue you in to ways to improve your product or service.

Now the last, but very important question.

May we use your comments for promotional purposes? This protects you from legal repercussions. Very few people will say no. Even if they agree verbally over the phone, it's a good idea to send them a copy of the quote with a dated sign-off release.

Once you have the feedback, just cobble together the answers and you will have a meaningful testimonial.

 By following the guidelines above, your testimonials will pack a punch and boost your credibility.

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