Getting testimonials is difficult to time the ask. Ninety-two percent of consumers say they trust word-of-mouth recommendations above all other forms of advertising, according to Nielsen. Needless to say, customer testimonials are among the most effective marketing tools available, because they:
- Serve as social proof.
- Build credibility and trust.
- Transcend platforms and marketing channels.
- Allow you to pinpoint your company’s strengths.
Below are tips for getting testimonials for convincing your customers to leave meaningful testimonials.
Ask for testimonials
It is the most simple thing and yet very hard to do. You have to be confident in asking and make sure you have the right set of questions as well. If you simply ask for a testimonial that is not enough. You have to place yourself in their position. What you assume may not be what is the truth resulting in a eye opener for you.
Remember to think if you honestly solved their problem? If they are a repeat customer chances are good that you will get a testimonial and it’ll be positive.
Ask for what you want
Questions that you ask are important to aid in generating thought about where the relationship is and if it’s healthy. If you just ask “leave a testimonial” then you may not hear anything from them. Instead ask a question that is intended to be a praise to the company. Be careful to not ask questions that would serve as kindling for a negative session for either of you to point out each others faults.
- What problem did we solve for you?
- What was the main reason you chose us?
- How satisfied were you with the service?
Ask at the right time
Asking for a testimonial within the first 30 days of the relationship could be disastrous, especially if you don’t have expectations aligned.
Wait for the client to be in that moment of “happiness” with you and your team. If you try to ask after dust was kicked up because of an error or other negative moment, then you will likely not get a praise, but a critic. Remember it takes only 1 mistake to undo 100 rights.
When the customer is happy, they are responsive, attentive, and most likely to give a review worth bragging about. Don’t wait weeks down the road to ask them for a testimonial. Ask right then and write it down.
Make it a part of the sales cycle
Your sales team spends most of the time in front of the customer so having someone in your company that they’ve never met could result in confusion and a rejection of giving a testimonial. Your sales team should have a process in place to know when and how to ask for a testimonial.
Have a web page with minimal fields
This goes to the previous point. When your sales team asks for a testimonial it would be terrible to not give the customer the option to leave one online. Testimonials don’t need to be paragraphs, they can be brief and to the point. Quality is better than quantity.
The form on the page to leave one should be simple and easy to fill out. Don’t ask for a lot of information. A simple name, company and message field should suffice.
