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Shoppers aren’t looking for an idea, they’re looking for a product. The goal of your website is to turn your sales copy, your product images from an idea into an actual product in the hands of your consumer.
And your consumer’s goal is to predict the future: when they get that product in their hands, are they going to like it? Is it going to suit their needs? Will it improve their life or their business?
This is where testimonials can help out a lot. By offering real stories from real consumers, they can turn a picture of your product into a tangible experience; they let your consumer take a step closer to imagining your product as a real experience. On that note, let’s take a look at some real testimonials and see how they add depth to a product, and give the consumer a ’solid’ reason to buy.
There’s a couple testimonials for www.grapevinesurveys.com (note the Trusted Testimonials seal on their site). They specialize in web surveys, and here’s a couple things their customers had to say:
From Rhonda Suurd of Alderwoods Group:
“When I began using Grapevine, I had never constructed or deployed a survey. I was astonished by how easy it was, thanks to the helpful suggestions and options that Grapevine provides. Now, as a frequent user of Grapevine, I continue to be impressed by the intuitiveness of the product. Grapevine makes creating a survey fun - something I certainly didn’t expect.”
This, in my humble opinion, is beautiful. The whole thing just sort of connects to the typical consumer-people who aren’t necessarily web savvy and don’t have a lot of experience in that sort of thing. To me, this comes off as saying “I’m just like you, and if I can do it, so can you”. It’s the kind of message you like to hear from a fellow consumer-and it lends a great boost of confidence for the product. This is a great example of taking an idea (web surveys) and turning it into something real by answering the all important question “will this actually work?”
From Michael Pearce of the Richard IVEY School of Business:
“We have found Grapevine invaluable for our Executive MBA program. We are now able to summarize and analyze our student feedback within minutes, rather than the two-weeks it was taking us before we used Grapevine. Grapevine is an excellent tool and we recommend it without hesitation.”
This testimonial transforms the product from an idea into a tangible thing by providing a concrete example. And being written by a member of a very respectable institution helps out a lot (look around this site for the “Social Proof” blog to find out more about why). A testimonial like this tells the consumer that this product actually works-and works for someone that knows what they’re doing. I see this as “If it works for him, then it will definitely work for me!”
I think everyone should be thinking about putting testimonials on their site, or making sure that the existing testimonials suit this purpose: to turn your product from an image on a website into something that consumers believe will be a good product for them.
Do you pick your favorite tunes from the top 10? Do you dress in style? A lot of people do, and there’s a good reason for it: the so-called “Social Proof”, a term introduced by Robert B Cialdini in his book “Influence“[1]. And it turns out that Social Proof goes a long way to explaining why testimonials are so effective, and so important.
“If other people like this, it must be good“[2]. When faced with a decision, and not quite sure of which answer is ‘right’, people often look to other people for guidance. From watches to cars to dish soap, we look to the media and our neighbors for role-models, people who seem to have it all figured out, and we copy them in the decisions we make and the stuff we buy. This is important to know when you’re selling a product: people will buy it, if they see others buying it. It sort of validates their decision. Your consumers know they’re making the right choice if they know other, smart consumers, have made that choice too.
Have a look at the article “The Power of Social Proof” from ConversionChronicles.com[3]. It’s good reading if your interested in boosting your sales conversions with the power of testimonials.
[1] “Influence” by Robert B Cialdini on Amazon.com
[2] http://firststep.com.au/testimonials
[3] http://www.conversionchronicles.com/The_Power_Of_Social_Proof.html
Before consumers will do business with any company, one critical element must be present: trust. You can’t buy it. But you can build it, thanks to the power of customer testimonials.
Customer testimonials provide a positive endorsement of products and services. They add validity to your claims about your product because they come from an unpaid, unbiased source. And they are a key strategy to building consumer confidence and sales.
Testimonials speak to potential customers in an honest and believable way, which can help to humanize an impersonal sales message. People trust people, and that’s what makes testimonials so effective. In fact, testimonials have been known to increase sales by as much as 250 percent.
Making purchasing decisions can be intimidating—especially online where you can’t touch or “test” products prior to sale. Before buying a product people often want to know if the product actually does what it promises, if the company is reputable and if the Website is secure. That’s where customer testimonials come in.
Customer testimonials provide answers to important questions, build trust and close sales. And, in fact, research shows that consumers often rely on customer testimonials when making purchasing decisions. Testimonials sell.
Anatomy of a Testimonial
The typical testimonial includes comments, a full name and descriptive identifier, such as a professional or informal title. Each of these elements is important to the anatomy of a testimonial for unique reasons. Comments from customers—preferably placed inside direct quotes—deliver a powerful endorsement because they are unbiased. Attaching a complete name to clearly identify customers adds validity and punch. You might even include the person’s city and state. And providing a descriptive title can add even more weight, especially if the person has particular relevance to the product/service being endorsed.
Incidentally, it doesn’t matter if your testimonials are long or short. What counts is that the comments are accurate, enthusiastic and compelling. A glowing customer testimonial is worth a 1,000 words of self-serving sales copy.
Obtaining Testimonials
Collecting testimonials is relatively easy, as most satisfied customers will be happy to assist you. The most direct way to obtain testimonials is to simply ask. Whenever you complete a project with a customer, ask what they liked best about your product or service. You can gather their comments by telephone, blog, email, postcard or letter. If you solicit feedback by mail, be sure to enclose a self-addressed, stamped envelope that customers can use to return their comments.
You can also gather feedback by providing a free trial to select users in your target market. Then ask them what they liked, didn’t like and their suggestions for improvement. Along the same lines, you could offer product trials or samples to an industry expert who is well suited to judge how your product works.
Regardless of how you acquire customers’ comments, always get permission to use their testimonials in your marketing materials. Better yet, have them sign a release form granting their permission.
How to Use Testimonials
Testimonials are valuable tools that can be used throughout your company’s marketing efforts. Offline, they can enliven brochures, print ads, posters and newsletters. Online, testimonials can be an ideal way to augment your Web content. You can group them on a single Web page or sprinkle them throughout your Website.
To make your online testimonials even more believable, considering having them validated by a Web testimonials verification service available through Trusted Testimonials. The patent-pending service verifies testimonials by email and telephone, and then provides companies with a seal to display on their Website. This instantly shows that the site has real testimonials provided by real people, which will enhance visitor’s trust, loyalty and sales.
Testimonials can reinforce key benefits of your product or service. But for the biggest impact, they should also quantify those benefits. For example, “Product X is less expensive and more effective than other similar products on the market. It cost 20 percent less and has helped my company save 30 percent in labor costs.”
Remember, the words of a satisfied customer are powerful tools for building trust, promoting your reputation and increasing sales. So start tapping into the power of testimonials to promote your business.
Here’s a nice writeup by Matt Cutts from Google about sketchy website testimonials.
Matt Cutts on Sketchy Testimonials
Although testimonials are supposed to increase consumer trust in a site, I think the obviously “made-up” testimonials on many sites make them less effective. Everyday I have new competitors opening for business with 15 testimonials on their site on day 1. This hurts us all and makes it harder to run a legitimate business. Stop the fake testimonials!!!
1. Be Specific
Use specific metrics your visitors can identify with. For example, instead of saying “this blue widget delivered significant savings!”, it would be more effective to say “I saved $1,593 in 4 months since buying the blue widget!”
2. Limit Benefits
Limit each testimonial to highlight one benefit of your product or service. A testimonial with multiple benefits will be harder to recall and will be less persuasive. If you must have multiple benefits, ensure that each benefit is in a separate paragraph.
3. Preserve the Language of your Customer
Do not try to polish the testimonial provided by your customer. The exact words provided by your customer will often be more compelling even if not grammatically correct.
4. Include the Specifics of your Customer
Include your customer’s name, geographic location, business title (if it was a company purchase) etc. These specifics add to your testimonial’s credibility.
5. Use Emotion
The best testimonials mirror the emotions of your customers. They echo their true feelings about your products and / or services.
6. Leverage Expert Opinions
A testimonial from an expert in your industry will be extremely persuasive as he or she will already have a high degree of credibility in the minds of your visitors.
7. Never Use Fraudulent Testimonials
This should go without saying. It is unethical and will negatively impact the long-term viability of your business.
© 2006 Trusted Testimonials Inc. You may reprint this article online and in print provided the links remain live and the content remains unaltered (including the “About the Author” message).
About the Author
Adam Wallis is the Director of Sales and Marketing for Trusted Testimonials Inc. which provides patent-pending testimonial verification services for websites to prove that they represent real businesses with real customers who provide real testimonials.
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