The Tribune

Have you ever given someone a testimonial? Did they use it on their website? Did you feel honored and appreciated? Giving a testimonial increases your emotional bond with a business or with the person who asked. Imagine the results of making every one of your clients feel appreciated. Feeling valued is an awesome sensation and a very common practice to further help businesses grow. Generally we all want bigger sales, more qualified leads, and more credibility. The question is, how do we get there? One of the easiest and most effective ways is customer testimonials.

Client loyalty

This is why you want to ask for a testimonial every time someone thanks you. It’s not about getting enough testimonials, it’s about making those who appreciate you feel appreciated as well. Many business sometimes struggle with asking for testimonials. There is almost a sense of embarrassment, perhaps some concern that people may think their business is not doing so well. This is the first hurdle to overcome.

If you’re antsy about what a client would say, ask for neutral feedback instead. And if you like what they say, ask for permission: “Can we feature your kind words on our website?”

Establishes trust

Since testimonials come from unbiased sources, readers tend to have more trust in them. If a company’s representative tells a potential customer how excellent their services are, the customer may not find it to be highly trustworthy since they’ll consider it just executives doing their job. However, when it comes from someone that is not linked to your company and has experienced the service personally, there is bound to be more trust.

Learning opportunities

Sometimes feedback isn’t 100% positive. Or maybe the testimonial mentions something that you’d prefer not to highlight. Either way, collecting feedback is a great learning experience.

Appreciation

If you’re the business owner, ask your clients to give a testimonial about your staff. You will appear honorable to clients, and it’s a great way of appreciating others. Showcasing staff compliments is a win-win and is also a great form of quality control.

Shareability

Sales pitches make for the worst social media posts. It’s like handing out your brochure at a BBQ. Even on your Facebook business page or LinkedIn profile, where explicit promotion is accepted, showcasing testimonials is awesome and more productive when shared by wild fans. Social media seems tailor-made for this. Moreover, friends, family and colleagues will see the approval and satisfaction about your work. That’s proactive word-of-mouth marketing!

Increases credibility

Ultimately, it has been proven that testimonials can help businesses grow. How does it happen? The truth is that a huge number of people would first go on the internet to know about the integrity of a business before hiring their service. A business that has a good number of current testimonials, from a diverse group of clients, is much more appealing to potential customers than one without. And if the testimonials are respectable, potential new customers will be attracted to the service which means more business.

In the end, there’s nothing quite like having someone disclose that you’ve made a positive difference in their life through your awesome work. Isn’t that what we all should aspire to do in our own special way? Until we meet again, fill your life with memories rather than regrets. Enjoy life and stay on top of your game!

NB: Deidre Bastian welcomes feedback at deedee21bastian@gmail.com

• Deidre M Bastian is a professionally trained graphic designer/marketing coordinator and certified life coach with qualifications of MSc, BSc, ASc. She has trained at institutions such as: Miami Lakes Technical Centre, Success Training College, College of The Bahamas, Nova Southeastern University, Learning Tree International, Langevine International and Synergy Bahamas.