10 Steps To Better Testimonials

Using a testimonial on your web site adds credibility. You knew that. The problem is how do you get those testimonials?

Here are 10 steps to better testimonials.

1. Do a good job. Listen to your customer. Set their expectations correctly, then meet those expectations. Make your customer happy. It’s not really hard to have a happy customer, but without one, you can’t get a testimonial, at least, not one that you want to publish.

2. Ask before you’re done. If you are working a project for them, during the project, ask them how things are going, what their thoughts are and if there’s anything you can do better. If there is, do it better, then ask again. If they say you’re doing fine, write that down. Progress reports are good for the project and for you.

3. Ask after your done. After the sale or the end of the project, ask for a testimonial. It’s easy to let this slip away. Half of being successful is showing up, so show up and ask. The main reason that you don’t have a testimonial now is that you didn’t get up the nerve to ask for one, right?

4. Be specific. “Oh, you were great!” feels good, but doesn’t sell you to the next client. Ask what they liked the most about your services, about working with you, about the results they got. If they can give you statistics, that’s golden. If you can tell people that you increased a client’s sales 32% by redesigning their web site, the result is huge credibility. If it’s a statistic, it must be true, so stats are money.

5. Be persistent. Without being annoying, ask specific questions over and over again until you get an answer. A lot of people have positive feelings about you, but don’t ever quite get around to writing them down for you.

6. Ask for permission to use their comments. If you just saved emails or comments they made along the way, show them what you have and ask for permission to use it.

7. Interview them. Set up a time to call them and ask them about their thoughts. Record the call, letting them know that you are. After the call, listen to the recording and write down anything appropriate.

8. Edit their comments. You can imagine what some people will say. You don’t want to put all of that on your web site. You want to edit and pick the best parts. Think about what they do to movie reviews on movie posters. Shorten it up until there’s nothing left to edit out.

9. Ask for a photo if they have one. Words on a page are nice, but adding a photo adds credibility, which is what we’re aiming for here. Most people hate photos of themselves, but ask anyway.

10. Don’t make stuff up. The goal is to gain credibility, not prove that you are a lying liar who lies. It may look great on your site to have glowing testimonials, but if someone asks about them and you can’t back them up, then word gets around that you can’t be trusted. You might as well get a job at MacDonald’s in that case.