Do you collect and publish testimonials from your clients or customers? If you’ve only thought about getting them, this article will explain why they should be an integral part of your business strategy.
The short explanation is that testimonials play a significant role in how other people perceive your business. Positive testimonials can have a favorable impact on sales
That’s the reason most businesses upload customer testimonials directly onto their website. Testimonials possess certain hidden powers, however.
Testimonials tell potential customers what to expect
When prospective customers or clients read testimonials for your business, it gives them a sense of what to expect. Houston property management company Green Residential publishes text and video testimonials from their clients on their site
Boasting more than 40 years of experience, Green Residential takes a personal, proactive approach to property management. That’s why the firm gets so many positive testimonials from clients.
Testimonials help establish your brand
When you seek to establish your brand, you want the world to know you exist and that people like your company. You can demonstrate that you exist by collecting a bunch of reviews on Amazon or Trustpilot.
However, testimonials are more powerful and help to establish your brand more effectively. Think of testimonials as specific reviews presented in support of your brand.
Reviews and testimonials share some similarities, but reviews tend to be short and lack particulars. They also tend to be negative, because dissatisfied customers have more motivation to express themselves.
In contrast, testimonials are composed with the intention of sharing specific, positive experiences. They often run longer and contain more details, and that’s how they help to establish your brand.
What happens if prospective customers don’t bother to read your testimonials? In fact, simply having posted a series of testimonials is sufficient to help you start to establish your brand.
Visitors to your site may scroll through and not most of the content. If they see a series of positive testimonials, they’ll absorb the fact that others have said good things about your services even if they don’t read enough to learn the particulars.
That will work in conjunction with other marketing strategies designed to increase brand awareness.
Testimonials help you build trust
When your testimonials show your firm in a positive light, you’re actually building a level of trust that will eventually increase your revenue. Featuring positive testimonials will expand confidence among your current customers and prospects; trust augments loyalty, which leads to repeat business.
It costs far less to generate repeat sales with existing customers than to constantly hustle for one-off sales from new clients. Forbes reported that it costs five times more to attract and sell a new customer than it does to nurture your past customers to buy from you another time or three.
This requires a strong customer retention strategy, and testimonials can play a major role in that. Once someone makes a purchase from your outfit, they’ll be more likely to do business with you again if they see other customers talking about your company’s activities in a positive light.
Glowing testimonials offset negative experiences
No company is perfect, so it’s not necessarily fatal to receive some negative reviews. In fact, research has suggested that customers trust companies more when they exhibit a mix of positive and negative reviews
When you have an array of positive testimonials, you can offset some of those negative experiences related by other customers.
Testimonials keep brand ambassadors enthusiastic
If you have brand ambassadors, great testimonials will keep them inspired to continue supporting your brand. Their job is to get people excited about your services and performance, and when they see people get excited, they’ll feel more purpose-driven.
Sometimes, brand ambassadors can lose inspiration when they don’t receive substantive feedback about how the brand is doing. New and amazing testimonials show that people continue to be happy with your brand and that will give brand ambassadors reasons to chime in.
If you don’t yet have brand ambassadors who are aware of what you’re doing, amazing testimonials may make it easier to land one. If you’re actively recruiting, you can show online promoters your testimonials so they will assume their efforts would be worthwhile.
How to get positive testimonials
The best way to get positive testimonials is to perform in the customer’s best interest at all times. Give clients the benefit of the doubt and err on the side of being generous when you must resolve an issue.
Consumers can be fickle and will boycott brands for ostensibly small things, such as a complaint response that might sound snarky, and make it difficult to return an unacceptable item or service. It may require serious effort to maintain a positive attitude, but that’s easier when you keep the customer in mind.
Publishing testimonials can multiply your business
If you want to run a successful operation, you ought to publish testimonials. You could certainly generate sales without them, but you’re more apt to enjoy long-term success when you publish testimonials. That’s when your profits will soar.
