The quality and diversity of the testimonials you collect can be a huge factor in ensuring that they work as a part of your sales process. When asking customers to submit a video of themselves, there will always be the inevitable camera-shy person. Although these loyal brand advocates may have a million wonderful things to say about your company, it’s hard for some to know what to say when boasting about you. To get the most out of your testimonials, it’s to your benefit to ask questions that will allow your customers to elaborate on their experiences with your product, service or event.
Questions To Ask to Get Awesome Testimonials
This list of strategic questions will make sure you get the most out of your testimonials.
1. What hesitations or barriers did you feel before doing business with me, and how have those changed?
This question is important because almost every customer will have a hesitation about buying or using a product. This could either be price, location, time, or competitors. It is smart to let people know that they are not the only person with these barriers in mind. By having current customers address their own objections prior to doing business with you, it could be a critical deciding factor for potential customers.
2. What specifically was your favorite part about the product or service that you received? How did it compare to the other product or service you were considering?
Just by understanding your product or service at face-value might not have given you a competitive edge in a potential customers mind. Allowing your current customers to elaborate on what they specifically liked about doing business with you will set you apart. Consumers in today’s market do research from an array of channels before making purchase decisions. Hearing genuine details about your product, service or business as a whole could give them exactly the information they were looking for.
3. If you were to recommend our product/service to someone, who would it be and what would you say?
Referrals made by customers show how they perceive your business in a different, more dynamic way. Testimonials can sound robotic on occasion. By allowing your customer to talk about someone they’re close with, you can change the tone of the testimonial making it more personable. It’s not always about what people say; it’s about the overall feeling that a potential customer gets from viewing your testimonials that will ultimately shape their opinion. A comfortable and conversational testimonial will help convey your business in a genuine light.
4. If you could describe our company in three words, what would they be?
Every industry has buzzwords that are a means of comparing your business to your competitors. Allowing customers to simplify their thoughts to a few words will bring to light some of those buzzwords that consumers have in mind. These words can help define the overall brand feeling and quality that people will associate with your company. Once they have these words in mind, they are on the road to understanding your brand identity.
5. Who was your favorite person to work with or who made the biggest impact on your experience?
The experience that a customer has with your employees means everything when it comes to collecting an admirable testimonial. These customer relationships set the tone for how people speak about working with you and differentiate your company from your competitors. Having each customer in their testimonial address how helpful a certain individual was during the process will show potential clients just how great their experience could be if they choose to follow suit. This will also give on-lookers the opportunity to get to know you and your company on a more personal level. Ultimately, making them feel more comfortable and confident when choosing to invest their time and money into your business.
Now that you know how to collect competitor-crushing testimonials from your customers, you have the liberty to be strategic about which ones you want to display to the world. The message and feeling potential clients get from these testimonials can have a major effect on lead generation and change the course of your business’s success.
You also will want to make sure that you cultivate a wealth of information. Potential customers will view testimonials to help answer the questions that are most important to them, so you want the user generated content to be diverse in order to cater to a variety of people. Just remember, it is not what they say, its what people hear that will define you.
Posted in: Social Proof