They said What?
Business
Renowned copywriter, John Carlton, said that testimonials need to be Specific, Short and Spicy. Now that sounds great but how do you actually get quality testimonials?
Well let’s start with what you don’t do. You do not ring or email your customer and say "Hi, would you give me a testimonial?"
Simply because you will wait and wait and then remind them that you are waiting several times... and then typically you will receive a testimonial that is too long, boring and vague.
If you don’t want this to happen to you then you need to be proactive and give your customer some structure and assistance because writing a testimonial for the world to see will scare a lot of people.
So the best way to do this is to ask your customer a series of questions.
Questions like... what problem did our product solve for you?... How has our product improved your life or saved you money or made you money?... Did anything pleasantly surprise you about our product or is there something important that people should know about our product?
As well, I’ve written about the “Ultimate Question” before in this ezine but here it is again... Would you recommend our product or business to your friends, families or co-workers? Why?
Of course, you are still likely to receive long answers and possibly boring answers to these questions. What do you do now?
You edit them. You decide on the order of the answers based on the quality of the answers and you may omit some of them. You remove words that are unnecessary so that what is left is a series of shortened comments that are still the customer’s own words but which now flow naturally and seamlessly.
And finally.... you flatter your customer by showing them their edited testimonial before you show it to the world.
You will then have a very chuffed customer and a Specific, Short and Spicy testimonial that will boost your credibility and your sales.
keep your powder dry,
Warren Cottis