How to Get Testimonials and Make Them Count

Why the big fuss about getting testimonials anyway?

It’s simple. I learned a long time ago that what you tell me about you is interesting but what I really want to know is what someone, who is a customer, like me is saying about you.

It’s not that as a potential customer we don’t trust what you’re saying…but we don’t…and it’s only natural to feel that way.

Think about it. When you go shopping for something like a car or even a service you need at your home, don’t you ask your friends, family members or even check out the testimonials of others? As people, we want to know who else will testify as to how good the product and/or the service you’re selling really is and we’d prefer not to be the Guinea Pig.

It’s not personal. It’s just human nature. WE want assurance. At least, we don’t feel foolish. So if we follow someone’s recommendation or rely on a testimonial and it doesn’t work out quite as well as we had hoped we don’t feel so silly. Nobody wants to appear stupid and most, if not all of us, are more than happy to let someone else test the waters first for us.

Okay, so now you know why testimonial advertising and marketing are so powerfully effective and why it’s critical to keeping your phone ringing.

To help capture testimonials, you need to work at it. The big thing is to do a Customer Survey each and every time you do work for a customer. And the time to do it is as soon as the work is completed and they’re hopefully feeling the best about you and your company.

Here’s the template I use with clients to solicit testimonial comments by sending them out after each job called the “Customer Survey Form”

CUSTOMER SATISFACTION SURVEY
Appleseed Business, Inc., Scottsdale, AZ 85254 (480) 205-5164

[Date]

[Customer Name]
[Street address]          
[Town], [State] [Zip]  


How would you rate the service you recently received? (please check only one answer for each item)
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          Very Satisfied     Satisfied     Dissatisfied  

The politeness of the office person                             __                    __                    __
when you called for service?

The company's ability to set a scheduled                   __                    __                    __
time range that was at your convenience?

Service Technician's arrival within that                         __                   __                     __
scheduled time range?           

Politeness of the Service Technician who                   __                   __                     __
performed the service?

Technical knowledge of the Service Technician          __                   __                   __
who performed the service?

Workmanship and quality                                                 __                   __                   __
of the service work done?

The work area left clean and neat?                                __                    __                   __


Would you use Appleseed Business again?                            Yes __                    No __      

If you would like to make additional comments, please use this space and reverse side if necessary.
_____________________________________________________________________________   _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________  


May we use your comment in future marketing?                     Yes __                  No __      

Signature:____________________________________________  
Date:__________________________________

Note:   It’s the comments they write in that count the most! That’s because it takes effort and you can use them if they give permission in your marketing. Check boxes are not as helpful.

Note:   It’s easy to think that you can ask your Techs to hand them out when they do the work. STOP! You think if I was your Tech and I ticked off a nasty customer that I’d actually hand them one of these? No way! That’s why they must be mailed or if you like you can try emailing them.

Here’s an alternate example of a set of questions that I have some of my clients use when completing big ticket jobs like installations so they can potentially get a good testimonial to use with prospective new customers:

What was going wrong before we arrived [or did our work]?

What were you most afraid of before working with us?

 What were you most pleased with about the way we did our work?

 Would you recommend us to others?

If you want to really ramp up the effectiveness of your testimonial marketing, try to get a picture to go with their good written testimonial. The worst they can say is, “No” and you’d be surprised if you do a good job how amenable they are.

The trick is to get the testimonial as soon as possible after the work is done and they’re feeling good about you. And if you want to learn how to leverage testimonial sales and marketing read the Special Announcement below.

Special Announcement:

Biz Experts Al Levi and Ellen Rohr are kicking off a new Teleseminar Series:
Get More Calls Now (starting March 16, 2010) 

Together, they’re showing their clients they work with one-to-one how to get their phones ringing right now. And now they plan to share these secrets with others in the Get More Calls Now program which has 3 simple, low-cost marketing “drivers” that will get your phones ringing (more leads, more SALES)…now. They could even double or triple the business you have. Though times are tough, some savvy business owners are going to dramatically GROW their sales. 

The Get More Calls Now program is designed to help business owners who… Need to get the phone ringing now? So that you can at lease keep the doors open!
Want to really grow their company and skip the inch by inch slow-growth process?
Want to do more than just survive and create real opportunities for yourself and your team?

Learn more at http://www.GetMoreCallsNow.com.

Announcement:

The Step by Step Success program solves the “Contractor Overwhelm” issue by offering one simple, powerful business building Step at a time. Through interactive Teleseminars and one-to-one coaching in Office Hours, Al Levi and Ellen Rohr will help contractors implement ONE action each month that will help them make more money and start living a better life. 

One simple Step…one problem SOLVED every month. Topics include…

• Firefighting 101 teaches you how to handle ANY problem…Once and for All. 
  
• Establishing yourself as someone worth playing with, following…and fighting for. 
  
• Launching Laser-focused Direct Marketing to get Massive Results on a Shoestring Budget.

Learn more at www.StepByStepBusinessBuilding.com.

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