So of all the types of content out there, which would you say is the one that delivers the most?  Which one – day in, day out – helps tell your story, generates more leads and provides you with the best new business?  As if the title of this post isn’t enough of a give-away… YES… it’s the testimonials from your previous clients.  These little juggernauts of positive opinion can take any small startup and put it on a one way flight to success.

Of course, we all know the exponential growth and benefits of social media, the tried and true power of email marketing and other important tactics, but ask yourself this: are any of these coming from someone else? (ie. Not you)

People love hearing what other people think. It’s that simple. Look at epinions.com. How about Trip Advisor or Amazon reviews? What would they be without those trusted opinions?  Rule # 1: It’s got to come from a third party. (ie. your clients)  This is what gives it the power.

A Few Helpful Reminders when it comes to Testimonials:

• Ask every client for one – don’t leave any out. I made this mistake once and finally got a call from the client – no joke…9 months later…who had a glowing review ready for us to use.  Geez, I wish I could have had that right after the project was completed!
• Put together a nice email that you can send out to all of your previous clients at once. Explain that you “always like to know how our service was and would love to see how we did for you… if you wouldn’t mind providing us with a quick testimonial, we’d appreciate it!”
• If you like, tell your client that you will provide them with a free report, white paper or discount on future service in return for the testimonial. This isn’t bribery. It’s just plain smart.
• See if you can get a variety of testimonials from various industries that you serve. The more breadth and depth you have, the better. Like most companies, you probably serve a large number of unique accounts… leverage this and you appeal to a wider group of prospects
• You may have to ask 2-3 times, but definitely stay after them. If you don’t hear back after three times, assume that you may not get one from them.  At that point, you may want to see if there was a problem with service… not a great thing to learn about, but gives you the chance to make it right.
• Going forward, ask for a testimonial about a week after the project is completed.  This is your best chance for success.
• If the benefits of your service take time to take effect for your client (like SEO Services for example), perhaps ask them again in 3-6 months to see what the positive change was.
• Add your testimonials to your website – maybe one on the home page, a page that lists all of them, and then use them in all of your other materials – email newsletters, blog, printed collateral, proposals, etc. LEVERAGE – LEVERAGE – LEVERAGE.  Just let your clients know you will use them in this way.

If you have a client that turned out to be an amazingly successful project, you may want to consider doing a Case Study with them. This is great content to consider as well, and is essentially a testimonial on a much wider scale.  It includes before and after examples, metrics, project goals, outcomes, etc..

Want to supercharge your testimonials?  Add a photo and contact email or phone number for them (assuming it’s okay with your client). Better yet, add video to the equation and let your client verbally explain how well you did.  Can you imagine how powerful your site would be with 10 high impact video testimonials on your site?  Now, that’s content. Content that converts.

Want to see how it’s done?  Take a look at some of ours…

So, now its time. Get out there and start gathering those client testimonials!  You can thank me later.

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