From what restaurant to choose on a Saturday night, to big purchases like a car, you already know what a glowing recommendation from a trusted friend or colleague can do to impact your decision. In business, customer testimonials allow you to tap into the power of trusted recommendations. When someone hears about your business from a peer, they’re finding out first-hand from trusted sources what it is that makes you great. So how can you work on acquiring testimonials? Here are a few tips.
Make it Worthwhile for Both Parties
No matter how enthusiastic customers are about doing business with you, they are still busy people who are continuously choosing how to allocate their time and resources. If you want them to give your business a nod, give them a good reason to do so. Offer them something in exchange for a testimonial, such as a featured piece of content on your blog.
Make it Easy
If you want your customers to submit a testimonial, make it as easy for them as possible. There are many ways you can do this, for example, when a customer compliments the work you’ve done for them in an e-mail correspondence, ask if you can use that compliment as a testimonial. Just be sure to receive approval before using the words of others.
Choose the Right Time
Constantly asking your existing customers for testimonials might not fare too well. Be sure to keep track of who and when you receive testimonials from. In my experience, after completing a job or throughout a job’s correspondence is a great time to ask for a testimonial.
Choose your time carefully—your customers are more likely to give you a positive review when they are feeling most positive about the work you’ve done for them.
There’s nothing like a personal testimonial to build stronger customer and prospect relationships. Make it easy and beneficial for your customers to provide testimonials, and be sure to show your prospects how positively great you are to work with!
- Categories:
- Business Management - Marketing/Sales
John Foley Jr. is the CEO of interlinkONE and Grow Socially. John and his team help printers get on a strong path to marketing success. Their approach includes software solutions, consulting, Website development, marketing audits, and strategic marketing plans. interlinkONE’s software solutions for the print industry include their marketing automation platform, MAX, and ilinkONE V8. Learn more about MAX: Marketing Automation. Executed. by visiting MarketWithMAX.com, John at JohnFoleyJr.com, and his companies at interlinkONE.com and GrowSocially.com.