Unlocking the potential of customer testimonials can be a transformative step for businesses looking to enhance their market presence and credibility. In a digital age where consumers seek validation and social proof, testimonials act as a beacon, guiding potential customers to trust and engage with your brand. The question is, how do you get customers through testimonials?
This article explains practical ways to capture potential customers through the strategic use of testimonials, ensuring your message resonates with authenticity and impact.
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How to Get Customers Through Testimonials
How do you get customers through testimonials? Let’s look at a few tips.
Leveraging Your Work History:
Endeavour to use your portfolio to show off your amazing work. For services that may not have visual elements like a photography business, understanding how to get customers through testimonials becomes crucial.
For such businesses where having portfolios of work may not be feasible, testimonials are very important.
In practice, though, every business can at least have a portfolio of all the businesses they have worked with.
Maximizing Exposure with a Selective Portfolio:
Here are ways that could work:
Step One
You need to show off your work to get more work. When learning how to get customers through testimonials, it’s essential to recognize that before someone decides to work with you, they will likely look online to see what you have done and who you have worked with.
If you know someone they have worked with, reaching out to them to ask about their experience with the service is beneficial. People need to know the quality of the work you have done.
Step Two
It is not necessary to show everything you have done in your portfolio. To effectively get customers through testimonials, you should display just your best work and put your best foot forward.
Of course, it may be difficult to contract, but it helps to show a wide variety so prospective clients get a sense of your range and resourcefulness
Differentiating with a Value-Driven Portfolio:
Only show work that strengthens your value proposition. This means that you have to show works that set you apart from the competition.
Highlight your big wins as this gives a perception of just how strong a brand you are in the industry and assures your audience that you have the capacity to deliver.
You will learn how to do all of these with expert guidance when you enrol in the Start Your Business in 30 Days Program.
How to Build A Portfolio of Testimonials From Scratch
Perhaps you have not even started your business and you are wondering what to include in such a portfolio.
Here is what you can do:
Step One
Get creative; spend ample time working on personal projects that you can put in your portfolio.
Your portfolio does not have to include just work that you have done for other clients. It can be things that you have worked on as an individual.
Step Two
You can volunteer time and work on projects for people at no fee. Non-profit organizations are a great place to volunteer talent because while they may not have big budgets, they often have loads of projects to execute.
Doing this not only boosts your portfolio, it also helps you establish connections and build your network. When there are opportunities, they can recommend you and your services to someone who can actually pay.
Your portfolio is important to build your brand and get more clients. So, start building it and remember to put great quality work in your portfolio.
The Power of Social Proof
Testimonials and social proof are key to success for anyone in the modern world. For instance, before you set out to go to a restaurant that you have never visited, you are very likely to go online for reviews about the restaurant, right? Why do you do that? It is a testament to how important testimonials are.
Other times, you simply ask other people who may have visited such places before. Rarely, do you walk into a restaurant without knowing anything about the restaurant. Perhaps you have but it still rings true that places with reviews and social proof fare better.
The truth is that people want to see reviews from other humans. They want to see that other people have used your products or services and that they are or were happy with them.
Ensure you put up testimonials on your website. People may think that you made those testimonials up but, getting your business on other listing sites or Google Business with a link to your site helps.
How To Get Testimonials
Step One
Reach out to past clients or people that you have worked with before. It is important to use clients rather than just having relatives leave you a review. The similarity in names may give it away and the comments may be quite cliché.
Step Two
When reaching out to people, ask if and why they enjoyed working with you. These are the things that people want to see. Also, ask what service or product they enjoyed from your business and have them write something positive about your business.
How to Handle Feedback Professionally
Testimonials are great for businesses, especially now when people search not only for your business but also for those who have used your product and service and have reviewed them.
So, ensuring that you have good reviews is important. If you get a bad review, follow up with the client to understand what went wrong and how you can improve. Assure them that their feedback is valuable and will be used to enhance your business operations.
This is something we do consistently with all our services at ReDahlia. Our workspace clients are able to review the service online in addition to a physical suggestion box where we encourage in-house clients to give us feedback on our service and areas where we can serve them better.
Responding to Reviews for Continuous Improvement
Respond to reviews, especially negative ones, by asking how you can improve. This shows not just to the specific client but to all potential clients that you are dedicated to providing the best experience possible.
We have had positive feedback by reaching out to clients who for one reason or the other were not satisfied at some point. On such rare occasions, I personally reach out to them and they are usually pleased with the personal engagement.
Create a Personal Connection with Reviews
Never get too big as a business founder that you become unapproachable or forget the things that are truly important. In as much we have client service managers, I am available to reach out to our clients whenever such a need arises.
This personal connection and accessibility reinforce our clients’ belief in our brand. When I do reach out, I ensure I do not simply make promises we will not keep but also take actions that improve their user experience.
You have to take on feedback, whether positive or negative well and act to improve your client’s experience. This is a proven way to beat the competition.
You don’t have to do it alone. At the Start Your Business in 30 Days Course, you will get in-depth strategies to turn your customers into evangelists for your brand. Enrollment for the next cohort is ongoing. Click the link to enrol now.
How I Can Work with You to Start And Grow Your Business
If you want to work with me to start a profitable and sustainable business, then enrol in the Start Your Business in 30 Days Program. I will take you from idea to starting your business in 30 days.
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I am an internationally trained award-winning entrepreneur running three profitable businesses and a member of the prestigious Forbes Coaches Council. I help aspiring entrepreneurs start and set up their businesses through my program- Start Your Business In 30 Days.
And, I work with companies and established corporations to scale their impact and revenue. Reach me at Florence@entrepreneurs.ng if you would like to transform your business.
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