What Was Life Like Before? What’s It Like Now?
Testimonials add credibility and proof to your promotional copy — which is why no marketing campaign should ever go out without a slew of ’em.
But often your customers, although ebullient about your product or service, aren’t able to express their enthusiasm very well in writing. So what do you do?
“Give them a little help,” says Clayton Makepeace, one of our featured speakers at Bootcamp yesterday. When they send in a ho-hum testimonial, give them a call or shoot them an e-mail. Ask them questions that will elicit specific, powerful statements worth quoting:
1. What was life like before you tried our product/service? (How bad was their breath? How bad was their financial situation? How little hair did they have?)
2. What stopped you from buying our product/service before, when you first heard of it? (Was it too expensive? Did your spouse say, “No way”?)
3. What was the ordering process like? (Was it easy to buy? How could it be improved?)
4. What’s your life like now? (You don’t just want to know the direct results of using your product/service. You want to know how it changed their life for the better.)
Ask these simple questions and you’ll get great testimonials. An added bonus: The personal contact will strengthen your bond with your best customers.
“Food for thought.”
“I love ETR and your new format.
“The short articles by Michael Masterson and some of his ‘half-baked’ ideas are wonderful, especially that he is somewhat of a contrarian to a few popular beliefs. He actually thinks about this stuff, investigates what’s going on, and writes about it. I’ll bet there’s quite a few folks out there, besides me, that agree with his comments.
“I don’t agree with everything he says in his articles, but they are still food for thought… alternative ideas, provoking, and worth reading.
Thank you sooo much for the inspiration. I’ve heard many wonderful comments, and not so long and drawn out as mine. But I want to put my two cents worth in, so here it is.
“I am grateful for everything you do. It means a lot to me… and is helping to build my confidence… in myself.”
Patricia del Valle