Customer testimonials are still powerful marketing tools. With more Americans depending on others’ opinions before buying anything from cosmetics to enterprise software, testimonials are more crucial than ever. To create effective customer testimonials, here’s what you need to know.
**Creating a Customer Testimonial Strategy:**
The main purpose of customer testimonials is to persuade potential customers to move forward by addressing their concerns. Start by identifying the most common objections that keep prospects from engaging with your business.
For instance, obstacles that might stop someone from hiring a personal trainer could be thoughts like, “Personal training is too expensive,” “I’m too out of shape to work with a personal trainer,” or “I don’t have time to work out every day.”
Once you’ve identified these common objections, find customers who had similar concerns. This ensures you gather testimonials from a diverse group of customers whom your prospects can easily relate to.
**What to Include in Customer Testimonials:**
Good testimonials should be genuine and relatable. Clearly explain who is giving the testimonial. For B2B sales, include the person’s name, company, and title. For consumer sales, demographic information such as age, city, job, marital status, homeownership, and whether they have children is relevant. When potential customers see people like themselves in your testimonials, it makes them more likely to consider your business.
Additionally, testimonials should specifically describe how your business, product, or service helped the customer. Avoid vague statements like, “This is an amazing product!” Instead, detail the problem the customer faced and how your business provided a solution. For example, a personal trainer might use a testimonial like, “I couldn’t lose the baby weight and my youngest was already 8 years old! I thought I didn’t have time to get back in shape, but with just three sessions a week, X Personal Fitness helped me lose 35 pounds.”
**Getting Great Customer Testimonials:**
Begin by asking your most loyal customers if they’d be willing to provide a testimonial. Then, reach out to those who have praised your business on social media or given positive online reviews. Sometimes these comments are ready to use as testimonials; other times, they need a bit of elaboration.
Most people don’t consider themselves strong writers and can become nervous when asked to write something for public use. Asking customers to write their own testimonials often leads to generic and unoriginal feedback.
Instead, offer some guidance to get the testimonial you need. Start with an email or social media message and ask if the customer can chat over the phone for 5-10 minutes. During the call, ask questions like:
– What problem or need made you consider our business?
– Why did you choose our business over the competition?
– What have our product or service helped you achieve?
– What do you like most about our product/service/working with us?
Don’t hesitate to ask customers to be specific. For instance, a personal trainer could ask clients how much weight they’ve lost, how many dress sizes they’ve dropped, or how much they can now bench press.
Recording the conversation can be extremely useful. It allows you to capture the customer’s exact words, making the testimonial more authentic. Plus, it lets you focus on the conversation rather than taking frantic notes. Just remember to ask for the customer’s permission to record, as it’s illegal in some states to record a phone conversation without consent. After the conversation, draft the testimonial and get the customer’s written approval before using it.
