Quantcast
Channel: Guest Posts – Joel Hughes Blog
Viewing all articles
Browse latest Browse all 4

5 Ways Your Testimonials Sabotage Your Business

0
0

5 Ways Your Testimonials Sabotage Your Business

Got a great treat for you today, a cracking guest post from Ian Edwards about “testimonials”. Now I’m a great believer in ‘people buy from people’ / word of mouth and a cog in that machine is testimonials; but not poor quality ones; we want crafted ones that actually convey something meaningful to your potential buyers.  For an example of how Ian has helped elicit much more meaningful testimonials (whilst, at the same time, making sure that they are 100% authentic), check out some he helped with on my website.

Anyway, enough of pimping Ian’s magic services…on with the guest blog post! (There’s a bio on Ian at the very bottom of this post).

5 Ways Your Testimonials Sabotage Your Business

People check you out. And they check out your business. Often without you even realising they’ve doing it.

I’m sure you do it to others. Regularly.

Buyers research potential suppliers and their employees. Sellers do the same for new and existing customers. Prospective joint venture partners take a good look at each other before committing to work together.

But what do they find out about each other?

More importantly, what does their research uncover about you and your business?

Your Words Don’t Count

You probably have ‘pretty’ words on your websites, social media presence and directory listings. Yet these aren’t the words that really count. Because they are your words.

The researchers are far more interested in what others say about you. They know what others say about you is worth at least ten times what you say about yourself. It’s the same for everyone.

Unlike you, they will make an impartial opinion based on what others say. It’s much harder for you to take that view on your own testimonials.

Yet, you must take off your ‘rose-tinted’ glasses to look deeper, and more objectively to see where you’re not helping yourself.

Just by reviewing your own testimonials, you can put right the mistakes that currently lie among your own endorsements. Taking action on these five key factors will quickly elevate you in your prospect’s mind, when measured against your competitors:


1. Don’t Just Feed Your Ego

Avoid the flawed concept of ‘the more testimonials you have, the better you will appear’. It may feed your ego and make you feel good but it’s unlikely to make prospects feel good about you.

Volume testimonials most commonly appear on social media sites, particularly LinkedIn.

If you ask anyone and everyone to endorse you, you get testimonials which say little of substance from people who clearly have never engaged your services. Bad for your credibility, and theirs.

You do need more than just a couple of testimonials. Beyond that, quality will always serve you better than quantity.


2. Do Stand Out From the Crowd

Read your testimonials to be sure they differentiate your business from your competitors. Most don’t.

If what clients say about you can equally apply to your competitors than you have a problem. This is most easily recognised by testimonial statements that focus on ‘great service’, ‘timely delivery’, ‘kept within budget’, ‘nice people to work with’……….. .

Let’s face it, these words can be said about anyone, any business, any sector.


3. Don’t Confuse Your Prospects

This one is simple. Just make sure your testimonials are in alignment with your core skills and services.

You will confuse the reader if, for example, you sell online marketing services and you have a testimonial which praises your skills as a business coach.

Keep your core message crystal clear.


4. Do Highlight Results

However laudable your good personal traits and company values, the main job of a testimonial is to sell the result(s) you deliver.

Prospects are looking for confirmation that you consistently deliver the results they need. You will remove or reduce the risk in any transaction by letting your clients demonstrate this to them.


5. Do Show Variety

When testimonials look similar, it’s a giveaway that they have been created from responses to a client survey. Such surveys tend to have ‘loaded’ questions with sample answers or multiple choice questions. The outcome is customer comments that don’t appear real or believable.

Customer surveys are the easy option to get testimonials. But in this case, easy doesn’t equal best.


Word of Mouth

Though it may not have occurred to you, testimonials are a very effective form of Word of Mouth Marketing. Once created, they work for you 24/7/365 on your website and other online properties.


In my judgement, it is a crucial to get them right and working as hard as they can.

Ian Edwards


…And You’re Back In The Room!

So, many thanks to Ian for that excellent guest blog post. I’d like to end with his bio to give you a bit more info:

Ian Edwards is a Testimonial Marketing Expert. He specialises in crafting customer experience stories for his B2B clients which improve their services, attract great prospects and directly generate extra referral business. You can reach Ian at ian@ianedwardshq.com or 07738 554651.

ps the image at the top is one of my masterpieces from Instagram 😉


Viewing all articles
Browse latest Browse all 4

Latest Images

Trending Articles





Latest Images