Testimonials used to be worth their weight in gold. And while they are still important their value has decreased as social media has expanded. The main reason their value has decreased is because of the amount of fraudulent reviews that are posted. It has placed consumers on high alert and rightfully so.
In 2004 Amazon’s Canadian site mistakenly unveiled anonymous reviewers only to reveal that many of the testimonials and reviews had been written by the authors themselves to help boost ratings.
Finding out that some reviews were fake threw cold water on the believability of business and product testimonials for awhile… until they tightened controls.
Since that time a lot has been done to restore the consumer confidence in testimonials. It is still important for customers to see that others have enjoyed a product or are satisfied with a service your business provides.
In fact, one of the interesting side notes about testimonials is how their relevance is viewed among men and women. Women tend to place more importance on them than men do. So the amount of testimonials you have on your website could depend on the type of clientele you are trying to appeal to…
… but before you act… read on!
Testimonials On Steroids!
I actually discovered an interesting fact about how to increase the overall importance placed on testimonials while researching for this article. This is a technique I would have never thought of using until now but one I will definitely apply ASAP and I hope you do too!
It involves combining a testimonial with a case study to boost the credibility and importance of the testimonial! Case studies carry much more weight in the eyes of consumers because they highlight actual results, not just whether the customer was happy or not. This, coupled with a testimonial demonstrating customer satisfaction wield a powerful one-two punch on consumers decision making.
Rather than just a bare testimonial such as “So and so’s business really helped me out. I loved their product and their service was first rate”… you might also tie in a short video interview with the customer asking them how the problem started and how your product or service help solve the problem. Highlight their actual results so your customers know what to expect when they purchase your product or service.
Everything I have researched points to this being very powerful in influencing buyer behavior in a favorable way. Plus, this technique is not just relevant among women, it also raised the credibility of testimonials among both men too.
I Hate ASKING For Testimonials… So How Can I Get Them?
The best way to get a testimonial is to make it fast and easy for your customers to leave you one.
All you have to do is create a web page called “Recommend Me” or something similar and ask for a testimonial and a contact form.
The contact form I like to use is Contact Form 7 because it is easy to customize. It is a free WordPress plugin that you can use if your website is a WordPress site (which I highly recommend by the way) or you could have someone build you one for a couple of bucks on Fiverr.com.
After setting up this page just add the “Recommend Me” page to your main menu and you are ready to start collecting testimonials right from your website.
Another easy way to capture a testimonial is when a customer is happy and gives you a compliment. Lets say during normal conversation your customer says “you know… I’ve really enjoyed working with you. You make this process easy and affordable and I like that”. All you have to do is ask “I really appreciate that a lot. Our business was built on satisfied customers like you. Would you mind if we used your kind words in our marketing material to tell others about our services?” When they say yes… you’ve just gained another testimonial. But always make sure you get their permission to use their words.
Give your customers the opportunity to say nice things about you and your business. Satisfied customers say positive things all the time. All you have to do is be on the lookout for complimentary comments and ask for permission to use them to tell others about your business.
What Is Included In An Awesome Testimonial?
The most compelling testimonials include information that overcomes objections! That bares repeating!!! The MOST COMPELLING testimonials include information that overcome other peoples objections!!! Think about that for a second. When you have OTHER PEOPLE directly address objections that commonly come up in your business it delivers an incredible amount of authority and credibility to you and your business. And the power is not only in the objection that is being answered… but that it is NOT coming from you, it is coming from an unbiased third party who the customer views as more believable!
Talk about a credibility builder! WOW!
Lay out your testimonial boxes with questions that are typical objections in your market. That way you can have OTHER PEOPLE overcome your general objections in THEIR testimonials. It’s is like your doctor recommending you to a specialist. If your doctor told you “I recommend you see this specialist because she is the best in the filed and because she takes time to answer all your questions to make sure you are totally comfortable”. What would you think…
… probably the same thing I thought.
That’s DAMN Powerful!
And the same applies to your testimonials when you get the proper information in them. Any testimonial is good, but testimonials that directly address common objection are testimonials on steroids!
The Testimonial Hierarchy
You’ve got the right information in your testimonial. Now lets see if we can move it up the credibility ladder by taking a look at the testimonial hierarchy.
The testimonial hierarchy is made up of different levels of identification. The more personal information the person leaving the testimonial is willing to share, the more influence the testimonial will have.
Here is the list with the first being the least impactful and the last being the most impactful.
1) Name with only part of first or last name: Judy S, or J Smith.
2) Name with only part of first or last name including location: Judy S /Denver Colorado
3) Full name: Judy Smith
4) Full name and location: Judy Smith /Denver Colorado
5) Full name with picture: Judy Smith / pic
6) Full name with picture and location: Judy Smith / Denver Colorado / Pic
7) Full name and picture and location plus an audio testimonial.
8) Full name and location plus a video testimonial.
9) Full name and location plus a video testimonial and contact information (email/ phone/ etc)
As you can see, the more information the person is willing to share the higher on the credibility ladder your testimonial goes.
Don’t over complicate the situation. Lead people in the direction you want them to go by putting together a template that guides them through the process.
Chances are they won’t know exactly what to say away… so giving them an idea of what your looking for in a testimonial will make it easier for them to give you a quality one and make it a “game changer” for you.
Source by Gregg Zban
