Brand Your Agency with Client Testimonials

By: williamjones
January 1, 2012

By: Pam Lontos

Which are you more likely to believe: a company representative telling you how great their product or service is, or a recommendation from another person about how it worked for them? If you’re like most people, the words from a fellow consumer pull more weight than even the best written ad copy. That’s why no matter what product or service you’re selling, you need to use testimonials from satisfied customers in every ad and marketing piece you create. All of these pieces together will help form your agency’s brand—something that will go a long way with customers.

Consumers often hesitate to buy then they are fearful of making the wrong decision. So when they see that a product or service is endorsed by someone else—someone in their same situation—that fear is minimized. Therefore, testimonials are a great way of influencing others to feel comfortable about buying your products or services.

Unfortunately, few business professionals actively seek out testimonials from their customers and clients. They mistakenly wait for people to give them testimonials, and when they do get them, they don’t know how to use them effectively. In reality, getting and using a list of strong testimonials is easier than you think. The following tips will help you get and write testimonials to increase your business, and your profits.

Choose satisfied customers who represent your target demographic. The best testimonials are written by people who are similar to your ideal customer. Therefore, be specific about who you solicit a testimonial from. Look over your customer files and choose the people who exemplify the best case scenario for your services. Say to them, “I’d love for you to share your experience with Product A. Would you please write a short testimonial?” Most people will cheerfully say yes. Since you want more happy customers just like these, let their words sell for you.
Offer to write the testimonial for them. Often, if someone declines your request to write a testimonial, it’s because they’re too busy or feel they don’t have adequate writing skills. In that case, offer to write the testimonial for them. Most people will leave the testimonial as is, happy they didn’t have to take the time to write it.
Look through your past notes and correspondence. Chances are you’re sitting on a pile of
testimonials and don’t even know it. Go back through your past emails and correspondence with clients. Are there a few nice sentences in some of those messages? If so, ask the person if you can use their words in your marketing materials. They’ll often agree.
Show results. Whether you write the testimonial or your customer does, it needs to specifically show what results the person experienced from the product or service. A testimonial that simply says what a wonderful company you have or how nice you are is not saying anything meaningful for the reader. A specific testimonial will speak to results; for example: “Jones and Johnson Insurance Agency reduced my car insurance by 30%.” The more specific a testimonial is, the stronger it sells for you. Specific testimonials take away the fear of making the wrong decision and help people feel safe about making the purchase.
Keep it short. Each word of the testimonial should have value. Therefore, if someone writes you a page-long testimonial, edit out any words that don’t directly address the end result he or she received from your service or product.
Include a name and title when possible. Rather than attribute your testimonial to “John S., Nebraska,” use the person’s real name, company name, title and/or location whenever possible, as in “John Sanders, salesperson at Acme Company,” or “John Sanders, Omaha, Nebraska.” This makes your testimonial more believable.

The next time you’re writing copy for an advertisement or marketing piece (and struggling with what information to include) simply go to your past testimonials. It’s always better when someone else sings your praises, so let your customer sell for you. The sooner you start using testimonials in every marketing message you create, the sooner you’ll realize that testimonials are helping shape your agency’s overall brand.

Pam Lontos (pamlontos@gmail.com) is president of Pam Lontos Consulting. She consults with businesses and experts in the areas of sales, marketing and publicity.

You’ve Got Testimonials: Now What?

Whether you’re doing a print, online, radio or TV ad, be sure to include some testimonials. For radio and TV, either the announcer or an actor can recite the testimonial, or if your customer is agreeable, have him or her appear in your radio or TV spot to give the testimonial personally.

Each time you receive a kind letter from a customer or client, highlight the key parts that state benefits to the customer, put the letter in a clear plastic sleeve and compile it in a big binder. Keep this book or binder of testimonials in your store or office for customers to browse through while they’re waiting. Or, if your business is online, create a page where you feature all of your testimonials. There’s no limit to how many testimonials you can include in your book or on your page.

—P.L.