Testimonials are a great way to let prospective customers know what other customers think of you and your offering. But getting this feedback can sometimes be a little awkward. So here we’ll share some ideas on how to get great testimonials for your business.
TRANSCRIPT
So, first things first, are you asking for testimonials because, if you’re not, you really are shooting yourself in the foot. This is because you’re not enabling your business to gain that third-party credibility on your website and on your marketing that other people will want to look at. So let’s jump straight in.
What is a testimonial? Well, effectively, a testimonial is just a client or someone who’s done business with you telling you what they think of your product and services. It really is that straightforward. But, then, you can use this quote to establish credibility within your marketplace.
Just ASK!
Now, in all honesty, one of the easiest ways to get a testimonial is just to ask. You can simply say, “Thanks for being a client. We really appreciate it. Can you tell us a little bit about your experience with us that we might be able to use in our marketing?”
Now, just that kind of question is great. It usually gets a response from most people. Some might not, and you have to accept that not everybody will want to give you feedback. And some might not necessarily feel that their experience has been great, so they may be reluctant. And, in all honesty, some might be brutally honest and say, “You know what? I didn’t enjoy it, I didn’t think you guys were great, I didn’t think the products were that good”. And you have to acknowledge that not everybody is going to be on your side.
So first things first, if you want to get testimonials, you need to start asking. And it’s a good idea to make a point of asking every single customer where it’s feasible. So, that way, everybody gets the opportunity to feedback. And it could well be that you get some useful information that you can use to improve your business.
Always ask clients to be honest. Sometimes, you set yourself up for a bit of disappointment there, but I’d rather have clients who were honest and not just sugar coating things to me and then telling other people something different.
So what kind of questions should you ask? Well, this is an interesting one because there’s loads of things you could say. “On a score from one to ten, how do we rate on this, this, and this?” You could simply say, “What was it you enjoyed about us? Why did you buy from us?” and all things like this.
Ask an open-ended question
But I found that one of the best questions you can ask to get a great testimonial is something like: “If you were talking to a friend who was looking for what we had to offer, what would you say about us?”
Now, that’s a very open-ended question and, usually, when you ask that kind of question, you will likely get a very broad and varied answer. But what you’ll normally get is honesty, and you just don’t want it looking very mechanical or staged. You want to get it as if people are just saying it to a friend, which is usually very easy to understand, very easy to get across.
You should never be stuck on how to get great testimonials for your business
Now, okay, that’s the question out of the way. But the key is, how do you get more testimonials because, usually, if you email ten people, you maybe get a third of them back? And, if you follow them up, then they may just think, “Ugh, something else I have to do, go type this up for them. They just want a testimonial.” How can you help that situation? And it really is quite straightforward.
Do it on the phone
The most straightforward way is just to phone them up and say, “Look, we’d love to get some feedback from you on how it went between you and us so we could use it in our marketing with your permission. Is it okay if I just ask you a couple of quick questions?” And, so, one of the questions you could ask is, how would you rate us on one to ten in terms of our customer service? Or one to ten in terms of our responsiveness to your questions, etc.? And, then, ask them this question: “If you were talking with a friend who was looking for what we do, how would you describe us?”
And what I recommend that you do is you make very close notes on what it is they say because what you’re going to do next is going to help them and it’s going to help you an awful lot in terms of getting more testimonials.
The next step is to finish it off thanking them profusely. And, so, we say, “Look, I’m going to write this up and I’d like to publish it, but I want to run it past you first. So, if I email my write-up to you before I publish it, can you just have a quick once-over and let me know yes or no, whether that’s okay?”
Make it easy for them
Now, you might think, well, you’re actually setting yourself up for disappointment here because they could say no. And, yes, they could, but nearly no one does. But what you’re doing here, more than anything else, is making it easier for them to write you a testimonial. And, if you make it easy for them, they’re more likely to do it. And the chances are good they’ll just email you straight back and say, “Yes, that’s fine.”
But here’s the thing. If you email a question to them and ask them to type something up, it’s going to go in their inbox. It’s going to go in their list of things to do, and they may never get around to it.
With phoning people up, you’re actually making it easy for them to respond. You’re making it easy for them and simple for them to give you the answers that you want. And it’s a great way of strengthening the relationship in a more personal manner. This is because you’ve had a chat with them, you’ve thanked them, you were able to say, “I appreciate your business,” etc.
But the key is this. You made it easy for them. And you’ll get more stuff done like this if you make it easy for people.
So, the first question is, are you asking everyone for a testimonial, and if not, why not? Next, ask the question: If you were talking with a friend who was looking for what we have to offer, how would you describe us? And the next thing is phone them up, write it up, and email it to them, and ask them to send you a quick reply yes or no, is that okay, or to make any amendments that they see fit.
I promise you, you will get so much more response. You’ll get much better testimonials out of people. And it will improve your marketing collateral because you have third-party credibility that you can use almost anywhere – website, social media, flyers, business cards, leaflet adverts, everything.
Need more help?
Armed with this information you shouldn’t be stuck on how to get great testimonials for your business. But If you’d like some help with putting this together then give us a call on 0116 3552194 and we’ll have a chat about our marketing support services.
