Customer testimonials are a sure-fire way to build trust with your prospects, but not every business knows how to get them. What's the secret? Just ask!
Customer reviews are arguably the best way to showcase your products or services. When past clients share their experience with your company, you'll pave the way for more relationships with others like them. According to a survey from MarketingLand, the overwhelming majority of prospective customers base their purchasing decisions off of online reviews.
Here's how to get more customer testimonials:
Claim Your Place on Trust Sites
Claim your business and maintain accurate information on sites like Angie’s List, Yelp, Google, and others. You’ll get more customer testimonials from anyone hoping to leave a review of their experience. The easier you make it for your clients to leave feedback, the more likely they are to do so.
On such trusted websites, you'll be receiving unsolicited feedback. That means people could leave negative reviews on these sites. Sometimes, this can be hard to stomach. But remember, every negative comment is an opportunity to learn from your customers.
Ask for Customer Testimonials
Tools like Google Forms, Survey Monkey, and Survey Planet have wonderful ways of presenting a guided review experience for your customers. There are plenty of other options too, but for the moment, we’ll provide the skinny for the tools mentioned above:
- Google Forms
Another testament to Google’s status as a productivity powerhouse, Forms is a great way for businesses to connect with their customers for free with customizable layouts, built-in skip logic, unlimited questions and answers, and automatic exporting of data to Google’s answer to Excel, Google Sheets. This approach is perfect for small-to-medium businesses that are on a budget.
- SurveyMonkey
This tool is probably the most well-known approach to crafting, delivering and analyzing surveys out of all possible contenders. SurveyMonkey’s free version allows you 10 questions, 100 respondents, 15 types of questions, and a little bit of customization. However, this basic offering does not come with the ability to export your data. Plans start at $26 per month.
- Survey Planet
Similar to Google Forms, Survey Planet has a lot of great features built into its free plan. You’re able to create as many surveys as you want, with unlimited questions and respondents, and you’re even able to theme your content and embed it into another page. You’ll have to deal with watermarks and no exporting options in the free version, though, so be prepared.
Get More Customer Testimonials Through a Giveaway
Everybody likes free stuff! To bring more traffic to whatever customer feedback platform you decide on, run a promotion that makes writing reviews a winning proposition for both you and your clients. For example, offer a small gift or discount in exchange for a printed or screenshotted proof of review.
While this sort of promotion often tips the odds in your favor, it’s important to note that you should never pay customers for their answers. Doing so may create a bias towards positive reviews, which may initially sound great until you consider the long-term consequences. Customer rapport is a fickle thing. If word gets out that you’re purchasing publicity, it could damage your brand.
