Testimonials are a crucial tool for inspiring confidence in your product or service. They are perceived as impartial third-party evidence of the quality of work that your company provides, and are an essential part of your sales arsenal both online and offline.
So let’s look at what you can do to make your testimonials even more powerful.
Third Party Publication: If you publish testimonials on your website, everyone knows that you could be making them up, editing them, or simply choosing to print the best ones. If your testimonials are on a third party website, however, people know that you have less control. Consequently, these testimonials are more believable. So encourage your happy customers to leave reviews on Google, Angies List, Epinions, Yelp, or any other review site that is relevant to your industry to get that “indisputable” seal of approval.
Script It: Wouldn’t it be great if you could script each and every one of your testimonials? You would make sure they focused on results and gave specific statements about the impact of your products or services. Well, unfortunately, you can’t script testimonials. But you can structure the testimonial by giving appropriate questions. Rather than just asking “Could you write a testimonial for our company” be specific. Ask questions like (1) How did our product / service change your day to day life? (2) How would you compare our product / service to those of our competitors? (3) What is the biggest benefit you have received from our product / service? These specific questions will produce powerful testimonials!
Personal Connection: The stronger and more personal the connection between the author and the reader, the more effective that testimonial will be. This is why written testimonials are best accompanied by a photo. From a psychological perspective, this visual reference helps the reader to trust the person and their word. Any credentials you can attach to the person also help create a sense of connection and trust. Whether they are a mother of three, a published author, or a manager in their workplace, knowing a bit more about the author helps the reader feel that they can relate to them.
Video: Video is the best form of testimonial. First of all, it is the most entertaining. We all love TV and Youtube – and a video testimonial on your website isn’t all that far off. But more importantly, (1) video testimonials are more believable because they are hard to fake and (2) they create the most powerful relationship. A photo accompanying a written testimonial is a great start, but videos are even more powerful because they give the viewer the feeling that they truly know the person who gave the testimonial.
