A new client of mine just sent $4000 to my PayPal account for me to do some copywriting for him. The money is nice, but that's not what this article is about. This article is about the way I acquired this new client. He was trying to decide between me and two other copywriters. He liked all of our work equally, so it came down to one determining factor. What was that determining factor? My testimonials. He was more impressed with my testimonials than he was the testimonials of the other two copywriters, so he chose me over them. I'm not making this up. That's what my client told me.
Such is the amazing selling power of customer testimonials. Look, anyone can say they offer a quality product or service, but saavy customers want proof. And the best proof you can give them is a legitimate third-party endorsement. The more the better. With so much competition on the internet, customer testimonials can often mean the difference between success and failure. But when I surf the internet I'm amazed at how many e-commerce websites I come across that don't have any customer testimonials at all - not a one. In my opinion, this is not only foolish, it's inexcusable and will cost you a boatload of profits. Can you afford that? I didn't think so. Not many businesses can.
But I have a question for you. Why don't you have any customer testimonials on your website? They're easy enough to get. All you have to do is ask your customers to give you one. If you provide good value for the dollar, most people are happy to give you a testimonial if you ask for one. But you have to ask, because customers don't always give testimonials voluntarily. Sometimes they do, but not always.
The excuse I hear from marketers more than any other is, "I asked my customers for a testimonial, but they never got back to me." My answer to that is ask again. Ask as many times as you have to to, until you get a testimonial. If you find that your customers are reluctant to give you a testimonial, it could be a signal that there's a problem with your product or service. But the only way to know that for sure is to ask. When you contact your customer to follow-up after the sale, come right out and ask them if they're happy with your product or service, and if they would recommend it to others. If they say yes, that's your cue to ask for a testimonial. You do follow-up after the sale, right?
If your website is brand new and you haven't yet made any sales, the quickest way to acquire testimonials is to give away free samples of your product or service in exchange for a testimonial. Unfortunately, many marketers are reluctant to give away their product or service in exchange for a testimonial. They feel they can't afford to do that. But that is short-sighted thinking. The valuable testimonials you get back in return will more than make up for the few samples you give away.
Also, always use "real" testimonials - not made up ones. And give full attribution. Testimonials that read from "J.B. in Oklahoma" or "Jane S. in Chicago" look highly suspicious, and many consumers are clever enough to figure out that they're phony. Besides, it's a violation of the FTC's truth-in-advertising regulations to use bogus testimonials.
Frequently Asked Advertising Questions:A Guide for Small Business
To increase the believability for your testimonials, include the person's name, city and state, and (if it's a business customer) their job title and company name (for example, "Don A. Silver, vice president, Acme Corporation, Albany, NY"). Also, ask your customers if you can post their picture on your website along with their testimonial. Full-disclosure testimonials are much more credible than testimonials that conceal the identity of the consumer. Always get written permission to use any and all testimonials.
In closing, testimonials are a very powerful marketing tool. They have the amazing power to sell and persuade your prospects to open their wallets. They create instant credibility, and break down those natural barriers of distrust and skepticism that make acquiring new customers so difficult. Don't ever under-estimate the selling power of testimonials. Instead, use them to your advantage.
Dale King
The Amazing Selling Power of Customer Testimonials
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