How To Ask For Testimonials

What’s one of the best ways to prove to new people you are a credible expert?

Endorsements from other.

Which is what we’re looking at in this Q and A video – this time with natural light and with me getting off my behind to stand up and answer it.

This week’s question was from Kate (I call her Liz  in the video – I was confused, it doesn’t take a lot) who asked:

I’d love to learn how to ask for testimonials ~ Kate (not Liz)

So this is what I cover in the video below.

Remember, to get a simple but specific testimonial which paints a compelling story for your service, ask your customer to answer the following 3 questions:

• What problem were they suffering from?
• How did the product / service help (and were there any surprise bonuses!)
• What were the specific results?

And don’t forget to get them at their “hot” moment when you ask!

Research Data On Testimonials

The next question was from Geoff who asks:

We run a therapy practice.

I wonder if you can help. I would like to know if you have come across any research data on the effectiveness or otherwise of:-

1.  Testimonials on web sites
2.  Pictures of therapists

Excellent question Geoff, and my answer is going to be of the “try and test” variety.

There’s no doubt that testimonials are powerful proof that you have served others well in the past, but the best research data you’ll find is if you run a small test yourself.

This is because what works for someone else, won’t necessarily work for you. The results would depend on a number of factors such as:

• Your goals, whether you want sales, sign ups or enquiries
• Your audience
• Your website design
• Your call to action

You could create 2 pages that are the same, but one has testimonials with photos on and the other has ones without (I’m going to bet that the picture testimonials will win 🙂 ). Then you can see which page gets more of the response you’re looking for.

Testing on your own audience is far better than relying too much on other people’s studies (though they are great at getting ideas of what and how to test. )

Something which I think you will find interesting is a published test that saw an increase of 34% response by adding just 3 lines of testimonials.

See how Wikijob Increased Sales by 34% by A/B testing customer testimonials.

So, that’s another Q and A post rounded up!

Next time we’ll be looking at lede lines and how to come up with ideas for starting to write your content and sales copy.

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