Customer Testimonials: How To Use Them To Benefit Your Business

Posted on August 05, 2009 by Vera Raposo

People buy for a number of reasons. We buy because we like the personality behind a product or company. We buy because the product or service taps into an emotional need and we buy because experts tell us to – credibility and authority.

Customer testimonials can help tap into all of these buying behaviors and they’re much more effective than sales copy because they’re coming from an outside, presumably unbiased, source. Testimonials are worth their weight in gold! Here’s how and where to use them to their fullest.

Website real estate. One of the popular locations to place your most powerful testimonials is right on your home page. Many website owners situate them in a sidebar so they stand out from the rest of the content on the page or they place them in the midst of the content in a call out box. Your most powerful testimonials will be the ones:

Provided from notable personalities or names in your industry. For example, if you’re a commercial real estate agent then a testimonial from Donald Trump would certainly warrant prime website real estate. Anyone who is highly thought of in your industry would definitely capture the attention of prospects and customers.

Glowing endorsements. Let’s face it, while all testimonials are good some testimonials are better than others. Place the extra powerful, glowing endorsements right where your prospects can see them, on your home page.

Sales Copy. Any good sales letter will include testimonials from happy and enthusiastic customers. It’s often the extra umph that people need to make a purchase. In fact, quite often people skip reading the body of a sales letter and read the offer, the postscript and the testimonials.

Autoresponders and enewsletters. Email is a positive way to stay connected with your clients and prospects. It makes good business sense to include testimonials in these communications. It’s not bragging, it’s sharing your good fortune with others and encouraging them to become part of your community. Of course, it’s still important to stick to 80% information, 20% promotion.

A separate website testimonial page. When you collect enough testimonials, you may want to create a separate page on your website to share them. You can call it your “Testimonials” page or “Success Stories,” whatever feels relevant for your website and your industry.

Testimonials are a strong motivator. They help prospects see the power and benefit of doing business with you. Because they’re provided by an outside source, they’re perceived as unbiased and therefore carry more weight than sales copy. Encourage testimonials from your customers, reward them for their success stories, and share them with the world.

12 Responses to “Customer Testimonials: How To Use Them To Benefit Your Business”

Musically me

- 6th Aug, 09 12:08am

My only hassle with testimonials as a viable advertising method is that its getting so that far too many companies write their own testimonials, attributing them to satisfied customers.. This means that the public starts tumbling to this tactic and doesn’t trust anyone’s testimonials.. honest or not

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Office Skills Society

- 6th Aug, 09 04:08am

Good point, Musically Me. I think word of mouth may still be the most powerful “testimonial.” Having a friend or relative refer a business gives the recommendation a greater amount of credibility than the average customer testimonial.

But these tips offer good ideas about how to use customer testimonials to their fullest potential. Thanks!

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used tires

- 8th Aug, 09 07:08pm

@Musically me, that is why in my opinion video Testimonials are so much more powerful than written testimonials. Because in video testimonials you can see the person, and most of the time you can tell if they are being honest or just reading a script.

Oh.. and as far as Donald trump giving a testimonial for someone in the real estate business… that would be huge, and that testimonial alone is worth millions to say the least.

Till then,

Jean

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Strategic Growth Advisors

- 9th Aug, 09 08:08pm

Thanks for the splendid post. I never thought maximizing your customers’ testimonials to the fullest can be done this way. Keep those great articles coming, Vera!

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Toddler Pirate Costumes

- 14th Aug, 09 05:08pm

My struggle has always been how to get my customers to give me testimonials. Maybe it’s as simple as asking, but I haven’t had much success with that. Do any of you offer something in exchange for a testimonial? (it does take time and effort for someone to write or record one, after all).

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Steve R.

- 20th Aug, 09 06:08am

Thanks for this post – I have a separate testimonials page, but like the idea of abstracting a few good ones to give added impact to my home page. One of my customers gave me a review on Google Local, which I’ll also try to encourage as it maybe “authenticates” the testimony – don’t know if getting Google reviews also helps with prominence within the Local listings or with rankings?

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Love Graphics

- 20th Aug, 09 10:08pm

I think testimonials, if they are genuine, are the best way to capture your buyers interest in your particular product. Thanks for the tips Vera.

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tiffany

- 29th Aug, 09 05:08am

Maybe it’s as simple as asking, but I haven’t had much success with that. Do any of you offer something in exchange for a testimonial?

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Joel Libava

- 29th Aug, 09 11:08am

Vera,

Thank you so much for making sure that all of your readers realize what a powerful tool testimonials can really be.

The Franchise King
Joel Libava

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kelowna

- 31st Aug, 09 08:08am

Many Thanks for these awesome tips Vera.

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greg cryns

- 31st Aug, 09 11:08pm

I think it would help us if we prewrite example testimonials and send them to the clients you want to post. This may give them some ideas and it will show them how much it means to you. I don’t think they understand the importance to us.

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Conrad Walton

- 2nd Sep, 09 12:09pm

I’ve been meaning to do this! I’ve collected a few, with photos even, but never got around to putting them up. I’ll followup with the ones who promised, but never came through with them also.

Thanks for the push.

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