Ask for the Testimonials You Want!

ASK FOR TESTIMONIALS!

 

© 2016 Kristine M. Smith, Author and Copywriter

 

A passel of great reviews often lead to connections to mostly- or already-convinced people

 

 

If your weekly to-do list doesn’t include asking for testimonials from your clients, customers, readers, or audience members, you’re leaving wads of Ben Franklins on the table.

 

And here’s the bad news: a lack of convincing testimonials can lead to oblivion.

 

So at least one hour every week, make it your business to reach out for testimonials that you can post on your website, print in brochures, and publish on the social media channels you use. (And be sure to get each testimonial giver’s written permission to use their testimonials in your marketing materials without compensation.)

 

When you ask for testimonials from the people you’ve served, give them a hand. Let them know the elements of a convincing, un-put-down-able testimonial.

 

A stellar testimonial includes a great short story that is very specific about what you did for them, and it includes a signature and an image.  “Great job!” and “Fabulous!” sound canned, even when they’re 100% true. You need more than that to convince readers/listeners that you’re the full meal deal.

 

Here’s an example of a convincing, engaging testimonial: “I was looking to replace the deteriorating roofing on my home but didn’t know where to turn. So I asked around. Three people out of the 12 or 15 I asked all mentioned one company—XYZ Roofing—saying they wouldn’t go anywhere else because of the company’s customer service, rates and reputation.  So I called them. XYZ Roofing went the extra mile: they were transparent, their rates were reasonable, and they cleaned up after themselves every night, not just at the tail end of the project. Now we have a roof that’s both beautiful and durable—and great memories of a team of roofers who really know what they’re doing and how to do right by their customers. A couple of them have even become close friends and fellow tailgaters at sporting events since we connected over a failing roof that desperately needed well-qualified rescuers.”

 

When you get a great testimonial, ask the writer to post it on an online platform (Yelp, Google+, Facebook, Pinterest (before-and-after photos of something like the above will help with the show-and-tell nature of the testimonial on Pinterest, Snapchat and other image-based platforms), Facebook Reviews and your own website.

 

If you can get the testimonial writer to sign his or her name and add their image to the end (which most will love doing, since most people like seeing themselves in the limelight), it helps to establish them as real people.

 

Another way to get riveting testimonials is to have willing clients/customers/audience members video-record their comments, insights and kudos.  You or they can use a cell phone to capture a testimonial on the fly. If they want to go this route, they should start by identifying themselves before they tell their story about how you helped them.

 

Let them know you want to keep the video testimonial to 30 seconds, 45 seconds, and/or one minute. (You can even stretch the one minute mark a bit if you know the story they have to tell is a great one and that they’re sufficiently animated and enthusiastic to hold viewers’ attention for that length of time.)

 

Now…put a weekly appointment on your calendar and mark it “Get testimonials!”  Let me know how soon you begin to see an uptick in new visitors and more money on your bank account.

 

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