I am because I say I am
You are who you say you are. Right?
Why should anyone believe you?
You are well educated and have the certificate to prove it.
You are experienced, with excellent credentials, and have your LinkedIn profile to prove it.
When it comes to endorsements, who is the best person to recommend you and your services? You, or someone else?
I hate to say it, but the answer will always be someone else.
That’s why testimonials work, and that’s why they matter. And that’s why egos can be a problem in marketing and creating effective relationships.
Skills and qualifications are not enough
Many lawyers, engineers, doctors, accountants, and others, wrongly concentrate on listing their vast services, then showing how those services are the best because of the skills they have and the qualifications they boast. These types of people and firms always focus on themselves.
They fail to stop to think that others don’t want to hear all of that. They don’t want to listen to you brag about yourself and your greatness. People hate egos (as long as the ego is not their own).
They want to hear what you can do for them.
They want to hear what others say about you, what you do, and most importantly – how well you do it.
That’s where testimonials come in.
Why testimonials work
Every smart marketer knows that selling yourself rarely works as well as messages of endorsement from others. Not just any others, but from satisfied customers.
Everyone, including clients, want to see other happy and satisfied clients. If they’re going to believe that your services are the best, they’ll want to hear praise from other clients, just like them.
Naturally, you can’t expect any and all praise to work. You don’t want just any testimonials (especially not the ones that make you feel unwell). You don’t want them just to say you’re a nice person and shouted them a coffee. You want them to be meaningful and reinforce the impact of your advice and support on their business and goals.
How to have the best kind of testimonials
To get the best testimonials, you need to make it clear from the outset. Ask your clients for specific feedback about x, y or z. Explain what you want to use it for, to position their thoughts on your desired outcome. our advice, but you should also make sure to explain to your existing clients what to focus on when making them.
- Build trust and credibility
Testimonials work because they act as social proof, i.e. they serve as client voices that persuade your potential clients of the benefits of your service. They put their fears at ease and show that you are worthy of their investment (of time and money).
Naturally, you can’t expect this to work all the time. Each testimonial needs to create trust and build credibility. It needs to sound good, and it can’t be too generic.
- Target emotions
Testimonials are not only for marketing yourself; they should also be an opportunity to connect with your potential clients on an emotional level. That’s because people respond mostly to emotions, not logic. They even make important decisions, business decisions – based on their feelings.
That’s precisely why your testimonials should target their emotions and try to make them feel good.
- Make stories
Stories are a universal human language – everyone loves them. That’s why good testimonials should use this to their advantage.
Often, the best testimonials tell the story of your clients as heroes and you as their mentors, offering guidance and providing them with the help they need to succeed.
This advice should help you create the type of testimonials that will have an impact on people and not sound like generic texts. For advice; feel free to get in contact with us.