Client Testimonials – A Powerful Marketing Tool

Jan 6
09:35

2010

Sabra Easterday

Sabra Easterday

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Testimonials are not just placards that you can decorate on your website as your clients' gratitude note Though they may fit that bill perfectly, they are much more than being just that! Most business owners don't realize it, but client testimonials can play a crucial role in their conversion process.

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Buyers,Client Testimonials – A Powerful Marketing Tool Articles particularly those in B2B marketplaces, try to minimize risks associated with their business decisions. That is why they seek reliable and trustworthy service providers.

Attractive marketing headlines and compelling product or service descriptions do their job to attract buyers. But what buyers seek, apart from lucrative offers, is reliable and trustworthy service providers who can assure them of seamless supply of good quality products and services. This is why, as a vendor or a service provider, you should seek to minimize the sense of risk a prospective customer might feel.

Nothing convinces buyers more than the knowledge that someone else in the same situation as them has already chosen this particular service provider and is happy with their services. This is exactly where comes the power of – Testimonials!

However, in order to be really effective and have the desired 'convincing' effect on the customers, testimonials need to be done the right way. Here are some things you need to consider:

Source

Consider the difference between “a happy customer” and “Steven Bing, Chairman, ABC Inc.” Which one do you think sounds more credible? Whose quotation are you more inclined to believe? The notion of some happy-customer sounds very vague and non credible to the users. Rather, when they know the name of the person, his or her title and the organization he or she works for, a prospective customer will feel a lot more confident about the legitimacy of the comment.

Comment

Overtly flowery language and a sugar coated tone of the testimonial may give the impression to readers that the content is crafted by some advertising company or is a promotional piece. Testimonials should be more factual that flowery. Readers shouldn't feel that you have asked your friends and family to testify for you. Having raving fans is good for any business, but when it comes to placing testimonials, be partial to clients who say intelligent things.

Relevancy of Comment

This is perhaps the most undermined of all considerations. While it’s always good to have your clients say pleasant things about you, remember that your testimonials need to serve a more important marketing purpose. Therefore, make sure your testimonials are pointed and specific instead of being generic templates. Try to have the testimonial relate directly to your products and services and ensure they inform readers of the quality they received. Instead of clients applauding your “great work,” have them talk about your competence, ability to deliver under strict deadlines, reliability in keeping to the schedule and so on.

If you want your testimonials to pay off, then be serious about them. Spend quality time over how they sound and what message your readers get! If done effectively well, your testimonials might be the agent that finally wins you a sale!

Disclaimer :  Sabra Easterday is the owner and founder of MatchB2B.  Sabra is also a lawyer with a special interest in business issues and e-marketplaces.  Notwithstanding that Sabra Easterday is a lawyer, nothing in this article and no services of MatchB2B or its website are legal services and no attorney-client relationship exists between any reader of this article or user, customer or potential customer of MatchB2B, and MatchB2B, its website or Sabra Easterday.