95% of customers do THIS before they buy from you
Need new bed sheets but overwhelmed by the number of options on sites like Amazon? Hundreds of reviews are available to help you pick the right set that will deliver the perfect night's sleep!
Or perhaps you need a business coach but want to ensure it's worth the financial investment. Chances are you'll search Google (and Facebook and LinkedIn) for client testimonials to select the coach people are raving about most.
Product reviews and client testimonials are everywhere! And critical if you want people to buy from you. In fact, one study shows that about 95% of customers read reviews before making a purchase.
I like to think of reviews and testimonials as the modern version of the Better Business Bureau. Before spending my money, I will look for all the good, the bad, and the ugly comments to validate my decision. This is why you want to make sure your website is ground zero for all the fabulous feedback you've received!
While your ideal customer is perusing your pages to learn more about what you offer and how you make their lives better, peppering in past client testimonials will answer their "is this worth my investment" question.
Feedback is a gift, especially when it's directly from satisfied customers.
Potential customers want to be confident purchasing from you, so sharing the positive experiences of past customers goes a long way to influence those considering buying from you now. It also helps you to establish authority. Finally, and most importantly, it demonstrates that you can deliver on your promise and that your product or service will solve your ideal customer's problem.
As you continue to build your business, you probably have a collection of satisfied customers. Good for you! And they most likely are happy to provide a testimonial for your product or service. Even better! But hold on. There is a format to follow to ensure you collect a testimonial that will impact future customers' buying decisions.
We always like to ask (at least) three essential questions to secure an impactful testimonial:
What was the problem you were experiencing that prompted you to start looking for my product or service?
What was it like to work with me/buy from me?
How has your problem improved since buying/using my product or service? (this one is critical)
Testimonial placement on your website
Where you place testimonials on your website also makes a big difference. Avoid including all testimonials on one page within your website for two reasons:
Your prospective customers will likely only read the first few and not the 20 you've listed.
A laundry list of testimonials makes the story about you. Remember, your ideal customer is at the center of every story.
Instead, strategically place testimonials next to the relevant service you offer and that specific testimonial supports. This way, visitors don't have to search for feedback on a particular area they are interested. Because they may not. You always want to ensure important information that could impact a client's decision-making is easily accessible.
