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When you come across a great product or service on or off the
internet, send an email to the business owner telling him/her
how the product/service helped you. Like you, most business
owners appreciate receiving positive feedback and they will most
likely feature your testimonial on their website and place a
link back to your site! You may even suggest it to the owner by
saying something like “you have my permission to feature this
testimonial in your promotional material and/or on your
website”.
Article
The Selling Power of Customer Testimonials
Customer testimonials can provide a positive and compelling
endorsement of your products and services. They can add power to
your claims about your product because they come from an unpaid,
unbiased source: a customer. And they're a key strategy to
building consumer confidence and sales.
Making purchasing decisions can be intimidating-especially
online where you can't touch or "test" products prior to sale.
Before buying a product, people often want to know if the
product actually does what it promises, if the company is
reputable and if the website is secure. That's where customer
testimonials
come in.
Customer testimonials provide answers to important questions,
build trust and close sales. And research shows that consumers
often rely on customer testimonials when making purchasing
decisions. In fact, testimonials have been known to increase
sales by as much as 250 percent. In short, testimonials sell.
Components of a Testimonial
Testimonials generally include comments, a full name and
descriptive identifier, such as a professional or informal
title. Each of these elements is important to the anatomy of a
testimonial for unique reasons.
Comments from customers-preferably placed inside direct
quotes-deliver a powerful endorsement because they are unbiased.
Attaching a complete name to clearly identify customers adds
validity and punch. You might even include the person's city and
state. And providing a descriptive title can add even more
weight, especially if the person has particular relevance to the
product/service being endorsed.
How to Collect Testimonials
Collecting testimonials is relatively easy, as most satisfied
customers will be eager to help. The most direct way to obtain
testimonials is to simply ask. Whenever you complete a project
with a customer, ask what they liked best about your product or
service. You can gather their comments by telephone, blog,
email,
postcard or letter.
You can also gather feedback by providing a free trial to select
users in your target market. Then ask them what they liked,
didn't like and their suggestions for improvement. Along the
same lines, you could offer product trials or samples to an
industry expert who is well suited to judge how your product
works.
Regardless of how you acquire customers' comments, always get
permission to use their testimonials in your marketing
materials. Better yet, have them sign a release form granting
their permission.
How to Use Testimonials
You can put testimonials to work in all your marketing
materials. Offline, testimonials can enliven brochures,
print ads, posters and newsletters. Online, they can be an ideal
way to enhance your web content. You can group them on a single
web page or sprinkle them throughout your website.
You can use testimonials to emphasize key benefits of your
product or service. But for the biggest impact, they should also
quantify those benefits. For example, "Product X is less
expensive and more effective than other similar products on the
market. It cost 20 percent less and has help my company save 30
percent in labor costs."
Remember, the words of satisfied customers are powerful tools
for building trust, your reputation and sales. So start
harnessing the power of testimonials for your business today!
---------
Copyright 2006, Kate Smalley
Connecticut Secretary - Transcription Services and Secretarial
Support
http://www.connecticutsecretary.com -
kms@connecticutsecretary.com
What's New
Over the holidays I came across an excellent business tool,
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Recommended Reading
 Search
Engine Marketing
Effective search engine optimization (SEO) and search
engine marketing (SEM) is now crucial to the success of
your business. But it's never been more
challenging—especially if you're responsible for a
large, complex site. Finally, there's a definitive
source for reliable information for implementing an
effective search engine optimization and marketing
program for your business. In Search Engine
Marketing, Inc., ibm.com's site architect and a
world-leading enterprise SEO consultant present best
practices, step-by-step techniques, and hard-won tips
for driving maximum traffic at minimum cost.
The authors begin with an up-to-date introduction to
the fundamentals: of how search engines have evolved,
how search marketing works, and how searchers and site
visitors really think when they're trying to find
information. You'll walk step-by-step through every
facet of creating an effective program: projecting
business value, selling stakeholders and executives,
building teams, choosing strategy, implementing metrics,
and above all, execution. Drawing on their unsurpassed
experience, the authors systematically address every
issue you're likely to encounter, from enforcing
search-engine friendly content standards through hiring
consultants. You'll learn how to:
-
Handle the unique optimization and marketing
challenges associated with large sites
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Create site standards that codify best SEO/SEM
practices
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Align search marketing with your company's strategic
and tactical goals
-
Automate checking and reporting for every page on
your site
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Create monthly scorecards and use them to drive
improvement
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Provide effective guidance to content developers and
designers, in language they'll understand
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Get your site indexed, choose target keywords,
optimize content, and attract links
-
Make the most of the leading search engines and
specialized and local search
-
Ensure that paid search efforts deliver optimal
results, cost-effectively
-
Measure site-wide success rates across multiple
systems and technologies
-
Hire the right SEO consultant—and avoid the wrong
ones
Whether you're a marketing, Web, or IT professional,
product manager, or content specialist, this book will
help you define your SEO/SEM goals, craft a
best-practices program for achieving them, and implement
it flawlessly.
To order this book in Australia,
click here
To order this book in USA,
click here
Business Tools
Last month I featured this powerful website building tool -
as it was a holiday season, you may not have had a chance to
check it out yet, so I'm including it again ....
Site Build It!
If you are looking to build your own
website, then you should definitely consider this tool.
Site Build It! has many outstanding features, which are
extremely easy to use and is suitable for even those that are
technology challenged. It is
the only, all-in-one,
site-brainstorming-and-building-and-hosting-and-marketing,
step-by-step system of software tools that delivers thriving,
profitable business... and more.
The right process, the right tools that remove all the barriers
and mysteries, correctly applied at the right time. That is how
you grow long-term profits. And that is how SBI! works.
More info
Till next time ... Ivana Katz
Websites 4 Small Business
www.web4business.com.au |
