Your Client Testimonials are a Hidden Goldmine (If You Use Them Like This)

Testimonials are more important than just about anything else on your website. If you had a headline that said “We make awesome websites that help businesses grow” followed by 20 testimonials from businesses saying how awesome their new website is and how much they’ve grown…

…and you followed that up with a few samples and a contact form…

you’d be rocking and rolling without a single word more of copy (and that’s coming from a copywriter).

You really don’t need much else to make the phone ring. But: only if you collect and use your testimonials in the way I’m about to explain.

Step 1: Get the “right” testimonials

Getting them is not enough. You have to get the RIGHT ones, otherwise they’re about as useful as IE5 compatibility.

How do you know if it’s the “right” one? It does the following:

• Explains the problem the client had
• Discusses their experience with you
• Reveals how you solved their problems with flying colors

In sales, they call it “feel, felt, found” language. For example, a good testimonial story might go like this:

I know how you FEEL. I paid thousands for a website that basically collected dust, and didn’t get me a single customer. I FELT frustrated, not to mention that the customer service of the company I used really stank. They were always giving me extra charges too (what’s up with that?).

Then I FOUND Gina Freelancer, and she changed my life. I love my website, and it’s bringing me more business than any other marketing channel I have out there. Use her services!!! I am so glad I did.

Now, your testimonials may not literally contain the words “feel, felt, found” – but they should follow the same flow.

Here’s a brilliant example from our creative agency’s new PSD to HTML / WordPress branch, called Reliable (feel free to check out our site for great examples of testimonials too):

“They nailed it, flawlessly.”

[FIRST, THE PROBLEM…]

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Over the years we have used several coders & services to handle our PSD to WordPress / HTML / CSS work. After some ongoing frustrations with one of our regulars, we stumbled across Reliable PSD. Right out of the gate we handed over one of our most complex designs to see what they could do.

[NEXT, THE EXPERIENCE & HOW WE SOLVED THEIR PROBLEM WITH FLYING COLORS…]

Within minutes of submitting our project, Reliable PSD responded with a few basic questions about our project and then they were off & running. A few days later we received a preview of our files and WOW. They nailed it, flawlessly. These guys didn’t bombard us with questions & emails or continuously throw the ball back in our court. They took the bull by the horns and tackled this project full-speed ahead…

We are HAPPY CAMPERS and will be submitting our second project immediately. If you want it done right, these are the guys to hire.

Tommy O., Designer & Art Director

Do you see how it starts by explaining the problem the client faced before meeting us, what they experienced with us, and how we solved their problem with flying colors?

This testimonial nails a couple of other big selling points, too, that we’ll talk about in just a sec. But first…

How to get awesome testimonials

1. Give your customers a great experience (how you treat them dictates what they’ll write about)
2. Fulfill all of your promises that you made to them
3. After doing steps 1-2, and the project is done, ask!

Right after the project ends is the best time to ask. Your clients are brimming with gratitude (assuming you completed steps 1 and 2), and what better way to channel that than into a testimonial?

But HOW you ask is also important. We like to say something like this in the email that wraps up the project:

By the way, would you mind writing us a testimonial about your experience working with us?

While we’re growing fast, we’re still fairly new, so a testimonial from a fellow designer may help others take the leap and give us a try 🙂

Only if you’re comfortable of course!

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And if you’d like to do it, if you feel comfortable sending a headshot as well that would be perfect.

No pressure!

Thanks so much,
…

SOURCE: TheFreelanceFiles.com

Here’s why:

1. By framing the question as their whole experience working with us, we’re asking them to think about the whole process from start to finish. This leads to some very “meaty” replies.
2. We give them a way out. Some people, no matter how happy they are, would just rather not write reviews. I’m not sure anyone has ever taken us up on this though. Often, just letting people know that you understand if they’re uncomfortable does the trick.

Step 2: Get the most out of your testimonials

First, you want to carefully read the testimonial a few times over and get very familiar with it. Then, pick out the BEST quote, and set it aside.

If your client didn’t break the testimonial up into paragraphs, go ahead and do that for readability.

Next, pick 1-3 additional lines that are powerful and BOLD them.

Now, when you post your testimonials to your website and in your other marketing materials, take that isolated quote and put it first. Make it bigger and bolder than the rest of the text.

Most people will only skim the testimonial headlines and read just a few lines here or there (this is where the bolding comes in – you’re giving skimmers the info they need, fast).

If we review the previous testimonial, you’ll see that we’ve done this:

[Isolated Headline] “They nailed it, flawlessly.”

Over the years we have used several coders & services to handle our PSD to WordPress / HTML / CSS work. After some ongoing frustrations with one of our regulars, we stumbled across Reliable PSD. Right out of the gate we handed over one of our most complex designs to see what they could do.

Within minutes of submitting our project, Reliable PSD responded with a few basic questions about our project and then they were off & running. [BOLDING FOR SKIMMERS] A few days later we received a preview of our files and WOW. They nailed it, flawlessly. These guys didn’t bombard us with questions & emails or continuously throw the ball back in our court. They took the bull by the horns and tackled this project full-speed ahead…

[BOLDING FOR SKIMMERS] We are HAPPY CAMPERS and will be submitting our second project immediately. If you want it done right, these are the guys to hire.

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Tommy O., Designer & Art Director

And the best placement for testimonials is:

Any time your website makes claims about your services, present them with a testimonial that backs up what you’re saying. It’s evidence that what you’re saying is true. (It’s like in high school when you had to cite your sources – same concept.)

On the Reliable site, we don’t even have a “reviews” or “testimonials” page. We just spread them throughout our content.

I think doing this is the most important thing you could do. Once you have enough to spread around your site, then you can have another page that’s dedicated just to reviews as well.

But it’s MORE important to present them with your bold claims about who you are and what you can accomplish.

Step 3: Use these precious gems in ALL of your marketing

Spread them around your website, include them in your direct mail, you could even take a great headline and place it in your email signature.

You want everyone to see that everyone thinks you’re awesome.

I’ll leave you with just a few more notes:

• Yes, many top designers and agencies don’t have testimonials on their site. That doesn’t mean they’re not using them. The whole world is calling them “top designers.” So they are still using testimonials. You need to as well.
• It’s uncomfortable to ask for them, no matter how many times you do it. Ask anyway.
• It also feels really darn good to get them, no matter how many times you do. There’s really no better feeling. You’ll likely even be moved to tears now and then.

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