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How
To Get FREE Testimonials And Use Them To Increase Your Sales
by
Bob Leduc
One of the most valuable marketing tools for a business is the
testimonials it receives from satisfied customers. Yet, many
businesses never use these testimonials in their sales efforts.
Testimonials are valuable proof to prospective customers that
your product or service actually delivers the benefit you claim
it will. In some ways, testimonials are like referrals. A
customer coming to you by referral from one of their friends or
acquaintances is already pre-committed to do business with you.
You don't have to convince them that your product or service
will provide the benefit they seek. Your ability to deliver is
already "guaranteed" by the person giving the
referral.
Testimonials from satisfied customers provide that same
assurance to a potential customer coming to you without a
referral. In every test I performed using the same messages with
and without testimonials, those with testimonials increased
sales, often by as much as 65% or more.
How To Get Good Testimonials
Satisfied customers will occasionally call or write to you
expressing their appreciation without any prompting from you. If
you've been in business for some time you probably already have
a file of these. However, if you're new in business you may have
few or none of these "spontaneous testimonials". How
can you get some... and get them fast?
Here's a simple procedure any business can use effectively. A
short time after completing a transaction, send your customer or
client a personal postcard asking what they liked best about
your product or service. You'll be amazed at some of the glowing
comments you'll get. When you receive comments you want to use
in your advertising, simply ask the customer to sign a release
giving you permission to quote those comments in your
promotional material.
The release form I use includes the full text of the customer's
comments. I request permission to use the comments "in
complete or edited form" so I can shorten the text when
it's too long. I also request permission to use the customer's
name, city and state so it appears as "Ann Smith, Austin,
TX" instead of "A.S., TX". The customer's privacy
is protected by omitting the street address.
How To Use Testimonials Effectively
My online and print sales letters usually include 3
testimonials. Each one is only 2 or 3 lines plus the customer's
name, city and state.
Be sure to select testimonials stating a specific benefit gained
by using your product or service. A testimonial saying, "I
bought your widget and am very happy with it" won't
motivate anybody else to buy your widget. Instead, use
testimonials like this actual testimonial I received from one of
my customers: "Hi Bob. I purchased your manual and
used one of the ideas to do a mailing which received about a 10%
response rate." That's a powerful testimonial and I use it
regularly in my promotional material. It states specifically
what the customer gained by ordering my manual.
What do testimonials cost? Nothing! They're FREE! I've learned
by experience that some customers get offended if I offer to pay
for the right to quote their comments. Therefore, I don't offer
any compensation. I simply send the release form with a
pre-stamped return envelope and ask them to sign and return the
form. I don't remember the last time somebody refused my
request.
If you're not using testimonials in your promotional material,
start using them today. Begin by looking in your customer files
for comments you can use. Send postcards to some recent
customers asking what they liked most about your product or
service. Get permission to quote their comments and include them
in your sales material. You'll soon discover FREE testimonials
have the amazing power to increase your sales and profits
without increasing your costs.
Copyright 1999-2000 Bob Leduc
Bob
Leduc retired from a 30 year career of recruiting sales
personnel and developing sales leads. He is now a Sales
Consultant. Bob recently wrote a manual for small business
owners titled "How to Build Your Small Business Fast With
Simple Postcards" and several other publications to help
small businesses grow and prosper. For more information...
Email:
BobLeduc@aol.com
Subject:
"Postcards".
Phone:
(702) 658-1707 (After 10 AM Pacific time)
Or write:
Bob Leduc, PO Box 33628, Las Vegas, NV 89133
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