Small Business Tips For Terrific Testimonials And How To Get Them

Testimonials are a critical part of effective copy to help build credibility and to reduce objections to purchase.But many of my clients have been asking lately how do we go about getting terrific testimonials?

Here are my top 5 pre-requisites before getting great testimonials.

1.Do great work.This should go without saying, but unless you do exceptional work you will not get people commenting about your exceptional quality or service.

2.Do what you say you will when you say you will do it.If you promise something, you need to deliver it either before or on time.It does no one any favours to promise much in order to get business and then under-deliver.

3.Be open and honest in your dealings with people.Give people your honest advice even if that means you do yourself out of an immediate client.They will remember the honesty and tell their friends.

4.Be consistent.Don't be brilliant one day and so-so the next.Keep your standards consistently high and you will get great results.That means if you promise you will deliver a newsletter weekly, quarterly or monthly, then stick to that schedule.Don't only send information out when you are trying to sell something.

5.Be friendly and warm.If you do great work but have the personality and warmth of a vanilla ice-cream you will not be memorable.Be friendly and warm with all of your clients.Discover the great things about each person you work with as this makes a huge difference in how you approach them.Focus on what you can do for them and not what they can do for you.

Before you go out and hunt down some testimonials here are a few rules to remember.

Ask!People mean well and may think great things about you, but unless you ask them they generally will not tell you what they are thinking.You need to ask for feedback.

Get consent.NEVER use someone's words without their recorded consent.

In their own words.This is a hard and fast rule.Never never never write a testimonial on behalf of someone else and get them to sign it.For starters it is not in their language style so it stands out a mile.If someone asks you to write it, these are great candidates to talk with them on the phone about what they like about your service.By talking with them and then jotting down their answers you can get around their writers block.

Don't make them up.It is illegal and will get you into very hot water with companies such as the ACCC.

Keep it current.The best testimonials come immediately after purchase, or within a short space of time after purchase.Don't leave your testimonial gathering too late after the event.

Specific is better than general.Mrs Mary Smith of Littletownship in North Stradbroke is much more powerful than MS, Brisbane.

Film is the most powerful.All testimonials are great but film is more powerful than recordings, which are more powerful than words.

Now, assuming you have the pre-requisites and the rules down pat, here are my top ways to actually get testimonials.

Systematize the process.Build in asking for testimonials as part of your process for purchasing.Send a follow-up email through your auto-responder program 7 days after purchase asking for feedback on the product or service.

Client satisfaction doubles as testimonial gathering.Finding out what your customers like and dislike about your product or service through a client satisfaction survey serves two purposes.You get early warning of things that need to be improved with your business as well as potentially some great testimonials you can use in your marketing.

Make it easy for them.Contact your best customers and ask them to "jot down a few words" about what they liked about your business.This could be in an e-mail or on a postcard.

You need to be clear that you only want them to "jot" rather than "write a testimonial".Jotting is much less confronting for people than writing a testimonial and you are more likely to get a favourable response.

Call them.Telephones are not dead in the age of email.You can call your top customers to ask them for feedback on your services both good and bad.As they are talking, jot down what they say.Action the things they mention that need to be improved (and tell them when you have actioned them).

If you get someone raving about you on the phone say "wow - thank you!I am so glad you loved our service.Would you mind if I used some of the things you just said in a testimonial for our business?" Email them the words they used and ensure you get written consent before using the words.

Use a tick sheet or scale.People often are more willing to fill in a tick-a-box survey, or circle their satisfaction with your service on a scale.This allows for some great statistical compilation data "98% of all our customers say we give great to exceptional service".

So now you have some great ways to get terrific testimonials.Use them everywhere in your copy, your website, your brochures, your flyers and all marketing.

Remember - words have power!

About the Author

Ingrid Cliff is a freelance writer and the Chief Word Wizard of Heart Harmony - a writing services studio that helps put your business into words.

For a free copy of the "7 Secrets of Compelling Copy Powerful Words" visit her website http://www.heartharmony.com.au "> www.heartharmony.com.au .

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