Dear Mr. Internet,

Do you recommend including testimonials from past clients on my Website? 

Tom Matheson
Santa Barbara Homes & Land
Santa Barbara, CA

Dear Tom,

Testimonials are a form of 3rd party "social proof" that your services are valuable and therefore can be a compelling nudge to have your site visitors contact you —if they are structured and presented properly.  First of all, consider using the term "Success Stories" rather than "Testimonials".  Many consumers today are somewhat cynical about "testimonials" often thinking they are canned or written by someone else (some of the better ones are!).  Also, as you will see below, there is an even more powerful and easy way for your happy clients to express their delight with your services, one where your online prospects can hear it for themselves...

The Secret To Great Written Testimonials (Success Stories)

Unfortunately, most consumers who are willing to take the time to write a testimonial for you will probably not do a very good job.  Not because they don't want to, they just don't know how to.  The way around this is to ask them this question:

"Mr. Jones, I know you are very happy with the way your transaction was handled and I also know you are a very busy person.  Would you mind if I wrote a few sentences about your experience and pass it by you for approval to use in my Website?"

How do you think most people will respond? —"Of course!"  If they are truly happy with your services they will want to help you out, especially if you do most of the work.  Now as you (or a professional writer) pen the testimonial, make sure a) it is factual, and b) you identify specific benefits that your client received, ideally in the very first sentence.  For example:

We saved over $9,300 on the purchase of our first home thanks to Peg!  You would think that she was negotiating the property for herself the way she negotiated with the seller.  And, being our first home we were expecting all kinds of hassles with the mortgage and transaction details - it couldn't have been smoother.

There is no one we can recommend more highly than Peg Bryant.  We trust her as our real estate advisor and consider her a friend as well!

Henry and Jane Wells (and Family)
Redmond, WA

Do you see how this is a much more powerful and compelling testimonial in the eyes of a prospect?  Unlike the usual fluff that would go on about how "Peg was just wonderful, blah, blah, blah..." that you typically see in most testimonials, this provides specific benefits that online prospects can relate to.

Writing effective testimonials can take a bit of work.  Also, it is difficult to capture the true emotion of how your client felt about you and your services.  Now get ready to explore a way to create extremely compelling testimonials where neither you nor your client has to write down a single word and it is easy as leaving a voice mail message...

Let Them Sing Your Praises

Thanks to an innovative online service called AudioGenerator (which I wrote about in the January, 2004 issue of Ask Mr. Internet®), your clients can leave a voice testimonial in just minutes —one that you can easily post on your Website.  For example one of my coaching students, top producing agent Barbara Amstadter, uses this technique very effectively on her Website.  Just CLICK HERE to go to her site's "References" section and experience the power of her recorded testimonials.  Did you hear the emotion in their voices?  This is a much more compelling and credible form of providing testimony to your great services.  All her clients had to do was leave a voice mail message.  Here are the steps to make it work for you:

1. Sign up for AudioGenerator - as of this writing it costs about $29.95/month  

2. Get your free toll-free testimonial number - just log into AudioGenerator and go to the "My Testimonials" section of your account.  There you will find the special 800 testimonial line and access code which you give to your clients to record their call.  

3. Publish your recorded testimonials - after a client has recorded their testimonial, you can "publish it" to your Website.  In the "My Testimonials" section of your AudioGenerator account there is a "Click To Publish" link next to each recorded testimonial.  Clicking that will give you the code to insert into your Web page so an audio "player" shows up on your site just like Barbara Amstadter's example above.

When publishing your audio testimonials to your site, take a tip from the way Barbara Amstadter did it.  Include a short description of the client and their situation next to the audio player.  This will serve to add credibility and interest for playing the testimonial.

Remember, when you say how good you are people may or may not believe you.  However, when past clients talk about the specific benefits they received from working with you, most people take it as "truth".  Online testimonials can be the difference between having a casual site visitor and a serious online lead. And when your visitors can hear about the benefits of working with you from other clients, your site's ability to convert clicks to closes goes up tremendously!

Published: November 16, 2004

Use of this article without permission is a violation of federal copyright laws.

Michael J. Russer (a.k.a. Mr. Internet®) is an internationally acclaimed speaker, trainer, author, and strategic consultant to the real estate industry and small business. He is also the exclusive Internet columnist for REALTOR® Magazine, the architect of the revolutionary e-ProductivityTM system and leading voice for the use of Virtual Assistants in small business. You can subscribe to his free monthly leading-edge newsletter ePOWER NEWS by going to ePowerNews.com.