Those of you who are familiar with my website will know that I am a great believer in testimonials but how do you get them in the first place?
1. Be ready to write down anything which is said and ask if you can use it. I firmly believe that verbal off the cuff testimonials have a lot more energy than those written down. You avoid the inevitable “I would thoroughly recommend Fred Bloggs to do your website” which has about as much energy as a damp squib
2. If someone has been generally complimentary to you send them an e-mail saying “You were kind enough to say the following about my business – would you mind if I used that in my marketing materials” This sort of approach has never failed me and people are often relieved not to have to think up something warm and witty (no pressure there then) when asked “Would you mind giving me a testimonial?”
3. If you are new to self employment and lack testimonials due to having had very few customers so far, look at things people have said about you before. When you were employed, did colleagues and clients say anything nice about you personally? Well that still works, you are STILL you - so testimonials like “John has the ability to instantly understand the challenge and sort it” or “Mary instinctively knows when to help and when to let people try for themselves” will still have resonance
4. You are, of course, asking questions on your client feedback form that evoke testimonials aren’t you? For more detail on customer feedback forms please see this previous post
5. Are you able to talk about your business at business presentations? Plant a seed in the heads of the audience – “I really hoped you enjoyed this morning’s talk, please do e-mail me with any comments you would like to make”
6. If you are a member of a networking group, have all the members done a testimonial for you? Even if they have not used you personally, if they know you well enough they should be able to say something like “I have heard nothing but super comments about Bill’s business…..”
By the way if a contact of yours happens to be on LinkedIn ask them if they would mind cutting and pasting their most complimentary e-mail as a recommendation and if you are on Twitter thank people for their testimonial and quote it – “Delighted to get this reaction from a client this morning – Jane, your postcards are brilliant”
Do this because in terms of marketing getting testimonials in is one thing but tactically sharing them is another. So don’t miss the opportunity I am giving you here on this popular blog (!) - what’s the nicest testimonial you have ever had?
