Get 'em While They're Hot!

What do you do when a customer compliments you on your
product or service? (If you don't get any compliments, you
need to read all of my other articles… NOW!) The correct
answer is "I get it in writing!"

It's wonderful when your customers appreciate you; it's even
more wonderful when you can share that appreciation with
others. After all, what gives you more credibility than a
happy customer? And who better to spread the word than that
customer?

The word of the day, then, is "Testimonial". Here are some
tips and tricks to getting good testimonials and using them
to your advantage.

1. If you get a compliment on your product or service,
ask if you can get it in writing, preferably on their
letterhead.

2. If you have what you feel is a good customer and you
don't yet have a testimonial from them, ASK FOR ONE!

3. Regardless of how the subject comes up, ask them some
questions that will clarify the benefit they enjoyed from
your product or service.

4. Offer to put it in writing for them to save them time
(and to word it the way you feel is best). Naturally,
you will ask them for approval of what you wrote and
then, if appropriate, they can put it on their
letterhead.

5. A good testimonial gives specific results; the more
specific the better. For example, "Our productivity
increased 35%" is much more powerful than "You saved us a
lot of time".

6. Use the testimonials everywhere you can. Every piece
of literature, every brochure, every flyer should have at
least one. And don't forget to use them generously on
your website! (Don't include your customer's email
address though, because that would make it available to
spammers who comb the web looking for addresses to
steal.)

7. Organize the originals in a binder where customers can
see them, or so you can bring them with you on calls.

8. Make a separate piece of literature that contains
nothing but your best testimonials… call it "Our brag"
sheet or "People are talking about us… and we LOVE it!"

9. If possible, eliminate dates on your testimonials; if
it's too old it loses some of it's punch, even though
everything they said is still just as valid as when it
was first written.

10. Can you take photos of your happy customers with
your product? Some products lend themselves better to
photographs than others; that's something only you can
decide, but if it's a particularly large or well-known
customer a photo could add more impact. (Remember,
though, that if you use a photo of someone you will
probably need some sort of release from them allowing you
to use it for promotional purposes. And, if you didn't
take the photo yourself, there could be some copyright
issues to consider, so get some legal advice before you
use photos in your marketing materials. It sounds like a
lot of trouble, but a good photo is pretty powerful in
establishing credibility for you and/or your product or
service.)

Start collecting testimonials today, even if you're not
quite sure how you're going to use them. Then, when you're
ready, you'll have a boatload to choose from.

GO FOR IT!