Customer Testimonials

[Deeger]

I'm in the process of restructuring the company website, and soon, it will include a page/section for customer testimonials. What's the best way to get and display effective testimonials?

I searched the internet for ways, but ideas seem to be all over the map.

[torka]

The best way to get them is to ask for them.

As to how to display them, in my experience it's best to include them on the page describing the product or service they relate to. It's nice to have a separate page with all your testimonials collected in one place, but it's very powerful to have some strong testimonials right there on the same page as the product description.

My

--Torka

[Karri]

Often you can help your client write them too. Just make sure they sign off (approve) whatever version you decide on in the end. And give them a back link too! Good for them and good for testimonial credibility.

Karri

[Nordstrom]

Testimonials are usually stronger than "previous clients" as it gives a hint not on who you have worked for but how you have performed. You should approach every client with ONE single question, such as: How have we performed, What did you like our work, Did we surprise you positively etc. Make sure ask different questions as you do not want a testimonial list of 200 persons saying "Deeger have done a very good job" that would make the testimonial quite poor.

Like Karri is saying, a backlink from all of these testimonials will assure the "purchaser" not to doubt your trustability at least.

[Dave Charest]

Hi Deeger,

Re: your questions,

1. What's the best way to get effective testimonials?
2. What's the best way to display effective testimonials?

Here's what I've found.

1. What's the best way to get effective testimonials?

The best way to get the testimonial is to ask, as torca has mentioned.

But when should you ask?

If you're in the service industry it's usually best to ask immediately after finishing a project your client is satisfied with.

If you have a product, it's best to ask once your customer has had ample time to use your product. But not too long, you want your product to still be fresh in the customer's mind. You'd have to estimate that time based on the nature of your product.

That's when to ask. But more important is what to ask.

What to ask to get effective testimonials?

A major problems these days is that testimonials often just show the bright and sunny side of your product and service. So testimonials that say things like, "Great!," "Highly recommended," while they still help, they're are often overlooked due to the testimonial blindness many customers suffer from.

They've learned to tune them out. Just like the thousands of ads they're bombarded with. So how do you solve this problem and get testimonials your prospect are compelled to read.

Try these six questions:

1. What was the obstacle that would have prevented you from buying this product/service?

2. What did you find as a result of buying this product/service?

3. What specific feature did you like most about this product/service?

4. What would be three other benefits of this product/service?

5. Would you recommend this product/service? If so, why?

6. Is there anything else you'd like to add?

I wish I came up these questions myself but I was lucky enough to learn them from Sean D'Souza of Psychotactics (Thanks Sean!)

You'll find these questions get very detailed responses from your customers. These responses go beyond the typical sugary testimonials seen most frequently. They also give you firsthand insight into your product/service from the customer's perspective.

So how do you get the questions answered?

By phone is usually best. Get yourself a digital voice recorder and record the answers. The process usually takes about 6 minutes. Longer if the customer loves your product/service. (That's not a bad thing!)

Then you can transcribe the testimonial for use in your marketing.

If phone isn't an option, email will work too. But you'll find they're not as detailed or in-depth as talking on the phone.

2. What's the best way to display effective testimonials?

Once you've transcribed your testimonial you'll be able to select snippets to support and promote your product at specific points within your marketing piece.

Here's an example of a snippet used in a piece for a pricing package for one of my clients. The response is from the Question #3:

“Specifically, it’s kind of hard to pick one feature of working with Justin I like best because there’s a lot. He’s easy to work with and has a really clear artistic perspective. And he gets your artist perspective. He runs with it and then he evolves it. And that’s what I really like about him the most.”
Ginger Cox, choreographer/artistic director, LiNK! the movement

But you'd also want to have a page on your site with the complete testimonial. You can format it with headlines and subheads pulled from the body of the testimonial. Use a picture if possible and of course include their name, title, business and website.

These full testimonials actually create more of a case study and tell a complete story about your product/service.

If you like I could post the complete version of the above testimonial for you to see.

Maybe I'm going to have to put together a full report on testimonials. If you're interested send me a PM. Maybe you can help me by asking questions. Then of course I'll send you a copy of the report.

Anyway, I hope this helps.

D.

[StephanieCox]

great tips!

[khaty]

Well said. I don't have anything to say.

[bdorland]

Yes, great direction Dave. I would also add one more thing regarding the "how to get them" question. In certain instances, it may be prudent to get a third party writer involved.

On a few different occasions, I've asked my clients to provide me with some good testimonials to add to their new websites (as I'm building them). For one reason or another, this is often a difficult task for my clients(people aren't comfortable with just asking for it, or the testimonial ends up sounding contrived), and they're obviously not alone.

So, we've had a lot of success by having one of my copywriters take on this task. She gets the customer list, does the phone interviews and then rights great testimonials. The benefits of this are three fold:

1. It gets done quickly.
2. The testimonial tends to be much more genuine, less contrived.
3. The testimonials tend to be better quality and more effective overall.

This is certainly a more costly approach (may be a few hundred dollars), but most of my clients have indicated this was money well spent.

[youbetcha1018]

Dave has mentioned all the helpful tips. Very nice. I have nothing more to say or add.