You probably know already that client testimonials are one of the best methods of demonstrating your expertise and experience. After all, when clients speak in their own words, it’s not just you telling everyone how great you are!
Testimonials provide ‘social proof’ and generate confidence so prospective clients are more likely to trust you. Using them on your website and social media posts really helps to engage viewers and encourage them to find out more about you. But they can do a lot more than that.
A testimonial gives you an insight into what your clients really value from you. And if it comes from one of your ideal clients, that’s massively useful in crafting an effective value proposition and marketing message.
This was the experience of Libby Berg, from Iceberg Accounting. She was very anxious about asking for testimonials and had been putting it off. But by selecting a range of her ideal clients she knew she would gain some really valuable knowledge.
And the results were genuinely surprising.
“The way they spoke about me and the common things that they brought out were very similar. I deliver different services to them and yet the things they were saying about me really echoed each other. They were things that I would never have thought because they’re not necessarily the stuff that’s included in the engagement letter.”
How to get client testimonials
The obvious thing to do is to ask! But make sure you get your timing right. When the client is happy with something you’ve done, you could say something like, ‘I’m really pleased you’re so happy with what we’ve done for you. Can I ask you to do something for me? Would you write me a short testimonial that I can share?”
You can ask in person, on the phone, by email or in an online meeting – just make it as easy as possible for the client to do.
And Libby found there was another benefit in asking for testimonials.
“What I found when I spoke to the clients afterwards was that they felt like they were the chosen ones. They felt genuinely happy to be helping me and providing me with feedback and quite honoured that I would ask them to do that. So it was a really nice experience.”
So the end result was better relationships with her best clients too.
Libby’s case study is available on the AVN Know How Hub (in the Getting More Clients section). If you haven’t subscribed already you can join for as little as £1 (which goes to charity) and get 30 days access to hundreds of videos, tips and other resources that help you and your clients succeed.