Capturing Testimonials from Happy Teachers
Original article by Jennifer Davey – https://www.sitepoint.com/how-to-ask-for-testimonials/
In today’s socially plugged-in business environment, a little positive word-of-mouth can go a long way. Even if it’s just on your website, some favorable testimonials can give your business a welcome sheen of success and positive results. They provide social proof, letting your potential clients know that you have a history of providing what you promise in your marketing materials, sales copy, and conversations. It shows that they can trust you and justifies their purchases.
Although most of us understand the importance of testimonials, I still meet many clients who are uncomfortable asking for them. They feel that testimonials should just happen naturally—that happy customers and clients should want to provide a positive review without being prompted. While this does happen sometimes, the fact is that most clients need a little nudge.
To ensure that you get results, you might want to give your clients that nudge at specific times, such as when:
- you’ve solved their problem
- they’ve achieved success through your offering
- they express that they’re happy with your work
- they thank you profusely
- you successfully deliver a product on time
At that moment, ask if they would be willing to share their story with your potential clients. If they agree to do so, inform them that you’ll send an email with a testimonial request.
Another option is to provide them with a survey at the end of a project, or when your transaction is complete. Not everyone will fill out the survey, but those who are particularly happy with the result (or particularly unhappy) are very likely to do so.
Testimonials That Build Trust
For a testimonial to inspire potential clients to work with you, it needs to say much more than “great work!” A perfect testimonial should describe the reason why the client chose to work with you, and it should outline the results. The more real and specific the details, the better.
Of course, most of your clients will be busy people who don’t have much time set aside for tasks like this. That’s why it’s your job to make it easier for them. One way to do this is to provide them with a few sample questions in your testimonial request email. Here are a few that you might want to put to use:
- What prompted you to seek [your/your company’s] services? What situation or problem did you need to solve?
- Why did you specifically select [you/your company] for this project?
- What made you believe that [you/your company] was the best for achieving your desired result?
- How did you benefit from working with [you/your company]?
- What are the two most significant improvements that have resulted from your work with [you/your company]?
- What exactly did [you/your company] do to contribute to the outcome you wanted?
- What were the results of working with [you/your company]?
- Describe why you feel that working with [you/your company] was successful.
- In the future, what type of businesses would most benefit from working with [you/your company]?
- If a potential client was on the fence about whether to work with [you/your company] or not, what would you say to them?
If your questions can encourage your client to open up and provide honest feedback, the testimonial will be convincing.