The Power of Testimonials

By Lilach Bullock

The first thing a testimonial does is give your company credibility. By gaining credibility, people gain more confidence that your company does a good job and is reliable, taking away some trepidation about buying your services. It also differentiates your company, helping you to stand out from the crowd. People can see beyond what is advertised and share in personal experiences that really demonstrate why your company is the one they should go for.

But how do you go about obtaining them? Well, there are a few different ways. For my company, I always hand out surveys at the end of workshops to get feedback. I will also email regular clients and ask for them, and link back to their business on my website when I post their testimonial. Some businesses have surveys after appointments, or you can take them verbally as well. If you do take one verbally, just make absolutely sure that you do not misquote your client.

When you do get testimonials in, make sure they are compelling and will impact future prospects. A good testimonial should be very positive, not blase in any way. For example, “Overall I was pleased does not have the same impact as the service I received was brilliant, prompt and always with a smile!” It is not illegal or ethically wrong to edit out less exciting bits of a testimonial as long as you are not changing the intention of the statement. So for example, it would be okay to edit a statement as follows:

“I thought the seminar was good. I thought it was very impactful and would highly recommend it to anyone else.”

“I thought the seminar was very impactful and I would highly recommend it.”

Testimonials are great to use on your website, on leaflets, brochures and information packs. Really, they are good to use anywhere you are promoting your services. In shorter promotions, just use your strongest one to highlight how great your company is.

Another form of testimonials, which is actually the strongest, is video. Television is the most powerful media outlet, so if you have any way of exploiting it, I suggest doing so. Video testimonials give a person behind the statement, and are an avenue through which people can really connect with your business. It is real people, just like them, experiencing great results. It is genuine and unrehearsed, and people relate to people better than they do to printed materials.

So use your testimonials to give your business credibility and show potential new clients that you have proven your worth time and again. Otherwise, how would they know?

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Lilach Bullock runs 2 full time businesses, asklilach providing virtual pa services & Virtual PA Training, helping people set up their own successful virtual assistant business. Lilach recently attended an Award Ceremony at Downing Street for best Mumpreneur. asklilach.co.uk