Today’s customers are increasingly powerful and dynamic. They trust the opinion of an online stranger more than words from your sales rep. According to BigCommerce, 88% of buyers trust online testimonials and reviews as much as personal recommendations from family and friends.
Testimonials are powerful endorsements and practical online reputation management tools in which people testify to the quality of your product or service. They act as social proof and showcase how your business interacts with its customers.
If you’re not using testimonials, you’re missing out on a golden opportunity to turn visitors and potential buyers into actual customers.
But how do you gather testimonials?
Here are seven proven strategies you can use to get client testimonials.
1. Request testimonials via email
Reaching out to your customers through email is easy and convenient. It is also a great way to reach people who don’t spend much time browsing or on social media.
Send a customized testimonial request email to clients. Instead of writing every one of them individually, come up with a simple testimonial request email template to send. Just remember to customize for every client.
Alternatively, you can set up an automated email to the client after a specific event, say closing the third sale.
Whatever you do, timing is everything. Don’t wait too long, until the customer has almost forgotten their experience with you, to send the request. But you also don’t want to blast your few-days-old subscribers with testimonial request emails.
2. Add a testimonial request form to your website
Another great way to get testimonials from your site visitors is by embedding a request form on your website. You can personalize your forms and place them in different locations, such as the checkout page, footer section, or sidebar widget.
Ensure the testimonial form is straightforward, short, and includes precise instructions. You can combine it with a survey to determine your Net Promoter Score. If a customer gives you a high rating, they’re happy doing business with you.
Take the chance, and request a testimonial.
3. Find and use what people say about you on social media
People don’t hesitate to share their experiences with brands on social media. If you’re doing things well, you’ll most likely find a stream of people praising you and leaving positive remarks you can use as testimonials.
Look out for social mentions whenever someone talks about your product, service, or brand. And don’t just look for text mentions; sometimes people use other forms, like photos on Instagram and hashtags. You can use monitoring tools like Hootsuite and Facebook Insights to get alerts anytime a user mentions you.
Your social media pages are also a rich source of testimonials. Scour your reviews and recommendations, and find thorough descriptive reviews that you can add to your site.
Whenever you pull reviews from third-party sites like Facebook, remember to reach out to the customer and ask for their approval before using them on your site.
4. Sort through third-party review sites
Third-party review sites are excellent sources of unaltered views of your business. Look for testimonials on sites such as these:
- Google reviews
- Yellow Pages
- Yelp
- Foursquare
- Consumer Reports
You can also look at niche-specific review sites such as Capterra for technology, TripAdvisor and Expedia for hospitality, and Zillow and Realtor.com for real estate. Home Advisor or Angie’s List are excellent sources of testimonials if you own a contractor business like plumbing.
5. Ask in person
You might need to build a little confidence for this, but ask anyway.
If you normally have meetings with your clients, take advantage of the opportunity, and ask them. Do an interview or a one-click survey after completion of a project.
Your client might not know what to say or how to say it – some may even panic. You can help them with the writing by asking about their experience doing business with you and the quality of your services.
Ask the right questions, such as the following:
- What makes our products stand out from those of our competitors?
- How would you describe our products and services to someone?
- Would you recommend our business to friends or family? If yes, why?
- Would you do business with us in the future? Why or why not?
If possible, show them samples of how other clients have written their testimonials. Let them write it later on their own time if they don’t wish to write it on the spot. Just be sure to send a reminder in case they forget.
6. Use quotes from clients’ feedback
If a client emails or texts you their feedback, why not use the positive remark as a testimonial?
For instance, one of your subscribers might email you about how much they look forward to reading your newsletters and how the tips have been helpful to them.
Collect customer feedback, and use it as a testimonial – be sure to ask for approval first. This type of testimonial is powerful, as it shows that someone loved your product and took the time to write to you about it.
7. Ask to swap testimonials
Sometimes your client is another business, and you may have used their products or services. The best part about dealing with another company is that they understand the importance of testimonials to a business.
Ask them to swap testimonials if you’ve used each other’s products. Don’t go telling them you can write them a testimonial only if they do the same for you. Instead, write them one, and encourage them to do the same for you.
Leverage the power of CrewHu products, and win your clients’ trust
Communication between your business and your clients is an integral part of their experience. If your clients are going to write you amazing testimonials, they have to know you deliver satisfaction and are trustworthy.
That means efficient communication and excellent customer service.
Leverage the power of CrewHu products that improve communication, and encourage customers to write you testimonials that build your online reputation:
- Our one-click survey will help you collect customer feedback
- Our website testimonials widget enables you to impress prospects, drive sales, and show everyone how much your customers love you
- Collect and showcase your customer satisfaction score (CSAT), and drive sales by promoting how trustworthy you are by integrating CrewHu with your ticketing system, PSA, or email
Book a CrewHu demo today, and let us help you improve your online reputation management and win your customers’ trust.
