Our blog post this week comes from Hal Coleman. Hal is a seasoned small business professional based here in Roswell. He is a superior speaker and helps small businesses grow. Hal can be reached at Hal@Halcoleman.com
The Awesome Power of Testimonials
by Hal Coleman
Do you collect testimonials from your customers and use them to market your business?
If you don’t, you need to start right now…TODAY! I’m dead serious.
There is nothing more powerful than a great testimonial to persuade other people that YOU are someone they should be doing business with.
FACT: What someone else says about you is a thousand times more powerful than what you say about yourself.
You should get testimonials from any and everyone who is willing to say something good about you and your product/service. And you should show those testimonials to as many people as you possibly can via your marketing and promotional efforts.
You should include at least one really good testimonial on your…
• Websites
• Advertisements
• Sales presentations
• Brochures
I use testimonials on all of my websites and ads and I can honestly say that those testimonials have played a major role in bringing new clients and new customers to my door ready to do business with me.
I always include (with permission from the testifier) first and last name, city, what business they are in and their telephone number. I don’t think I’ve ever had anyone refuse to allow me to include their contact information.
Example of a POOR testimonial: “ABCXYZ is a good company and I would recommend them to anyone needing pest control.” Mary S.
Example of a GREAT testimonial: “ABCXYZ showed up on time and solved my problem when 3 other companies had failed to do so. I’ve been using them for 5 years and they have never been late a single time. And they always deliver more than what I expected. Their employees are clean, neat and polite. They truly are an honest company you can trust them to do the job right!” Fred Johnson – Attorney, Atlanta, Ga.
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Here’s a simple and highly effective technique you can use to gather great testimonials. Anytime someone brags on you or tells you how much they appreciate the good job you did or how you were able to solve their problem quickly and efficiently, you simply ask, “Do you mind if I use what you just said as a testimonial?” That’s what I do and I can’t recall ever having anyone say “No you can’t.”
Then you simply write down what they told you and email it to them for approval or just call them and read it to them over the phone.
When I owned and operated my own business, I even offered to pay my people a bonus when they brought in a testimonial. Testimonials are like gold. They lead to more sales.
Bottom line: I can’t think of anything that will help you close more deals and get more new business than the proper use of great testimonials. You need to start collecting them TODAY!