There really is no more effective sales clincher than the words of existing clients or customers. As well as boosting your sales, good, believable testimonials can bolster your credibility — an important factor in an increasingly cynical world.
Nine times out of ten, customer testimonials, or even positive feedback on Social Media sites such as Twitter, will outsell any fact, any other ‘proof’ factor or, indeed, hype. It works on the idea that not only are you a business to be trusted, but also if everyone else is doing something (buying your products, enlisting your services…), then others are going to want to do it as well.
If you are going to use other people’s praises for your marketing/promotion purposes, make you get permission first.
Another thing you may want to consider is to get testimonials in formats other than the written word. For example, people call a given telephone number and their feedback is recorded to be used as an audio clip. You can even video your clients when you meet up with them (with their permission, of course!) or ask them to video themselves and send you a copy. The idea here is to have testimonials that are as authentic as can be.
At the end of the day, testimonials form some of the most low-cost, high-impact ways to gain new business. So use them!
