Why are testimonials important?

All businesses, especially new companies or those launching new products, need all the help they can get to win new clients. Testimonials, or endorsements, from existing customers who have used your goods or services are a valuable tool to support your Sales and Marketing – after all, a potential customers are more likely to believe somebody who has already purchased from you than they are to believe your own marketing material!

So, if any of your customers says anything positive about the experiences they have had with your products, or with the service you have delivered, make sure that you use this to help your sales effort.

Where and How should I use testimonials?

The short answer – anywhere they could enhance your sales prospects

The longer answer :

1. On your website, blogs, and social media sites – you probably get a lot of traffic to your web pages from people who have found you because they searched for your product or service in a search engine. They generally would not know anything about your reputation and so any reassuring commentary you can give them is vital
2. In adverts you place in the media – use short, snappy pieces, as you may well be paying for the space you use
3. As part of your marketing brochures and other materials – if possible, support each marketing point with a short testimonial from somebody who has experienced that particular benefit
4. Anywhere else that you market your business

Guidelines for getting and using great testimonials

1. Be great at what you do! This is surely the most important point. If your product or service is amazing, your customers will want to tell others. Word-of-mouth referrals are brilliant, and a written testimonial is really an extension of this
2. Don’t be shy – if you think you deserve it, why not ask your customer to give you a testimonial?
3. Offer to help – if your customer is too busy, you could always offer to write the testimonial for them and then run it past them to get approval. You are the one most likely to have the time and the incentive to do this; you should be aware of the experience your customer has had and will know where the emphasis needs to be
4. If placing testimonials on your website or weblog, either place the testimonials on a ‘What our customers say’ page, or place groups of testimonials on different pages throughout the site according to their subject – in other words, if you have a page on your site that is all about the Project Management service you provide, it makes sense to put the Project Management related testimonials on that page
5. Refer your customers to our Guide to writing testimonials to help them understand what they should be aiming for
6. Ideally, your customers will be so delighted with you that they will willingly dash off a hundred words praising your products, but in case you need to incentivise them it might be worth offering to add a link to their website. You can do this either from the testimonials itself (for example, by making their company name the anchor text for the link) or by adding them to your links page
7. If you have loads and loads of testimonials, try not to list them in one single block on your website. Better to split them up according to product type and show them on the most relevant pages within your website
8. Consider Search Engine Optimisation. If you have any input into the testimonial writing process, then try to ensure a good smattering of optimal, relevant keywords and phrases in the testimonial. This will help your website attract more search engine traffic
9. Get your testimonial providers to act as a reference. Ask the person giving you the testimonial if they would be willing to be contacted by your potential customers. Although this might not be something that all of your clients would be happy to do, getting a few to say yes might just give you the edge over your competition. Although you might already have a number of people who have agreed to provide character and professional references further down the sales path, adding a ‘Ask this person about me’ link as part of the testimonial might just hook more potential customers earlier in the pipeline!
10. Get your testimonials verified. This gives confidence to your visitors that the testimonials they are reading are genuine, which should increase your chances of converting them into your next customer! Vouchforthis helps you do this, as well as giving you a way to manage all your testimonials in one place and to control how and where they are displayed.