Use Testimonials to Pump Up Your Marketing

One of the most powerful marketing tools you can use is the customer testimonial. Since the person giving the testimonial has actually paid for your product or service, prospective customers often give these more weight than other marketing materials you may produce. Who should use testimonials? Anyone. Contractors can have a folder of written testimonials to show clients when they are quoting on a job. A clothing store can use excepts from testimonials in its newspaper advertisements. An interior decorator could have testimonials throughout her portfolio. If you have satisfied customers, use them to sell to future customers. If you don't have stacks of glowing letters from happy customers to pick from, don't think you're out of luck. It just means you have to dig a bit. Search through e-mails and letters for unsolicited praise. While an entire letter praising your company is nice, even a single line that is honest and not taken out of context can be used. Call your best clients and ask them why they continue to choose your company. If you want comments about a specific result or product, ask. "How much money did you save by using our product?" You are trying to get detailed benefits in your testimonials. "My heating bill was cut by 50% after your furnace was installed," is more powerful than, "Your company is nice to work with." Once you have the comments you want to use, write them up and sent them to the customer to make sure they are okay with the wording. Distribute a customer survey and ask what they like about doing business with your company. Be specific and ask open-ended questions. "What are the top three reasons you chose our company?" or "Would you recommend our service and why?" Make it easy for your customers to reply. Include a self-addressed stamped envelope. Be sure customers are aware you may use their comments in your marketing message. Once you have some testimonials you are ready to start using them. Some letters can be used in their entirety. Others will need to be excerpted or edited. Just make sure you have the person's permission to use their testimonial and run any major edits by them first. Try to include the person's full name, company or hometown. Using the full name and details such as CEO of ABC Corporation or grandmother of five shows readers these are real testimonials from real people. If you have a number of testimonials that are hand written or on your customer's letterhead, place them in a separate binder to show potential customers. Use testimonials in brochures, advertisements and sales letters. Make them stand out by putting them in italics, a different colour or in a separate box. If you have space, you can use a separate page. Try to have at least one testimonial for each product, service or result you are promoting. Testimonials on a website are a must. Whether your website is just an electronic brochure or customers can purchase directly from your website, testimonials add credibility to your on-line presence. On-line, customers can't look you in the eye and decide if you are trustworthy. Having on-line testimonials helps them get closer to the level of trust they need to make a purchase. On your website you can have a page dedicated to testimonials or spread them throughout. As in print, ensure they testimonials stand out from the rest of the text. Scanning signatures and including them with the testimonial adds credibility. So does using the entire letter rather than just an excerpt. As you get new testimonials, keep adding them to your website. Many people visit a website several times before purchasing. Seeing new testimonials at each visit will add to a prospect's comfort level. Once you have incorporated testimonials into your marketing materials, don't stop. Keep looking for praise. Continue asking satisfied customers to give a testimonial. By keeping a file of current testimonials you will be ready with a fresh and current batch for you next marketing campaign.