How to Get Customer Testimonials: Tips, Tricks and Software

are you looking for more ways to
showcase just how good your product or
service is perhaps you've heard just how
effective word of mouth is and want to
display your customers advocacy for
future customers if any of that sparks
interest we're here to give you the
scoop on how to get customer
testimonials to help you bump up those
leads and gain some revs
[Music]
hey guys it's liv here from neighborhood
where we help brands find sell and keep
their people now before the world could
do business online when people wanted to
make decisions on what to buy they'd
often turn to their neighbours for
stories and advice about their own
experiences with a product or business
fast forward to the digital age and
you're still asking your neighbours for
their experience but online looking at
the importance of customer testimonials
not only does having reviews provide
proof of an active and engaged customer
base but it also provides customers with
more context on how your service or
product will work for them the number
one sales tool today is the testimonial
or review left by other customers when
you discover a new product on amazon
there's a high chance that you'll spend
as much time digging through its reviews
from other people as it's actual
marketing material people tend to trust
other people more than a new company
that just popped up for them even if
you're a well-established company and
you've been around the block for a while
you're still new to them that's why
trust is key here and what better way
than customer testimonials proof that
all that yapping on with fancy visuals
and self-indulgent ad copy can actually
be accomplished by customers that
actually know and have experienced your
brand first hand simply put testimonials
make you trustworthy the internet era as
much as we love it is a double-edged
sword so as you have the world at your
fingertips so too do the trolls and
scammers i'm sure you've seen a product
online that you might be skeptical of
it's difficult to feel comfortable
giving money to something you might not
even receive having a product review in
plain sight next to your proposed
product or service is what can make the
difference here showing a broader
picture on the product through the
experiences by different people so how
do you go about getting these
testimonials well the more the merrier
of course but just as you put your care
and consideration into building a
fantastic company the same amount of
thought should be given to your strategy
for collecting testimonials this is
where building lasting connections come
into play don't be afraid to level and
communicate with your customers working
through the do's and don'ts do ask for a
review once the customer has time to
experience your services or seize value
from using your business either helping
them solve an issue or allowing time for
your product or service to deliver a
positive impact they're probably going
to be more likely to share the success
with other people use this not just as a
chance to touch base for a review but
progression on how your product or
service could be fine-tuned whether it's
new features or tweaks all of these
could help you best serve your customers
whilst feeding back into sharing
positive experiences online next is if
you're offering a trial do wait until
after the customer has transitioned into
a paying customer the fact that they've
continued on past the free trial may
indicate they're an active and invested
customer this would be a great time to
grasp why they've decided to jump on
board however the don'ts don't ask for
testimonials while they're onboarding or
haven't spent enough time with your
business users can't actually provide a
genuine impression of the business if
they haven't spent enough time with it
so your request to offer feedback will
likely just be disregarded and
potentially distasteful so when should
you ask it might sound like a taxing or
deal to get your customers to write a
review about your product or service but
it doesn't have to be so for the dues
first do include an online form open to
submit reviews where it makes sense to
creating a feature to ask for reviews
inside isn't actually intrusive and if
it's made easily available customers can
provide feedback on their own accord
here do ask for reviews in your email
newsletters that customers have opted
into they're either in your email
database because they've purchased from
you or wanted to stay in the loop about
your product and service making them
perfect contenders for a customer review
and finally do send an email after a
customer support resolution asking how
you did whether the issue was resolved
and how it was addressed is perfect for
feedback to offer potential customers
who are wanting a holistic view of how a
business operates as for the don'ts
don't be intrusive or send salesy emails
keep it simple for the customer with
this in mind you don't want to drive
your unsubscribes from your email
correspondence as well to make it easy
for them we'd recommend creating a
template ready to go for them to offer
feedback don't make them feel like it
has to be a long and drawn out process
none of us want things that are overly
complicated especially if there's no
benefit in it for ourselves as a tip a
voucher or an incentive something of
value is always a good batch to get them
over the line perhaps could they go into
a draw to win a 100 gift card maybe they
get 15 of their next purchase all of
these things and more are worth it for
grabbing customer testimonials more
often than not and the sad truth of it
is that if someone is actually keen to
leave a review in most cases then
they're usually seeing red some
influence is needed if you're trying to
get a customer to leave a positive
experience that they had with you but if
you're a small or new business and can't
offer anything in return for a
testimonial what then well we'd
recommend crafting an email that
captures their attention and gets them
to want to help you for some inspiration
on creating emails we recommend a site
called really good emails which we'll
leave a link to in the description bar
below make sure that your email headline
is one that grips your audience and that
the messaging resonates with the
customer and what better way to resonate
with your customers than making people
feel like they're a part of something
great being authentic and letting them
know that their business has helped you
achieve a goal or actually made your
business possible outlining the bigger
picture will likely pay dividends as for
most things in life you have to give
something positive to receive something
positive in return you should look at
this process with the perspective that
if customers make the buying process and
the product more trustworthy to new
customers then they have just as much
stake in your success as anyone else
treat them like they're a part of your
company and that they're a big part of
the reason for your success next up is
video or audio testimonials you can go
as far as asking your clients or
customers for a quick recorded interview
on their experience with you an example
is for the case studies that
neighborhood prepares for our hubspot
impact awards typically we wait until
the results have been seen to ask for
this interview but it wraps up the work
that we've done alongside our clients in
their words an interview requires time
and effort and there probably aren't a
lot of people willing to put that kind
of time in for free so expect to
potentially offer something in return
for their time but just make sure that
you aren't handing them a script like we
mentioned it needs to be authentic be
sure to ask questions that relate to the
positives of their experience with your
business like what was the best thing
about your experience if you enjoyed
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your inbox now for software tools
available to request testimonials
through there's a bunch of paid tools
out there that focus on helping you
collect testimonials from your customers
delighted by qualtrics is one where they
help you turn positive customer feedback
into web ready social proof with
testimonials offering a variety of
survey options paired with survey
templates mean you can choose the metric
that works for your needs and then begin
sourcing customer feedback right away
next is video ask video appeal and vocal
video to name a few that are focused on
collecting video testimonials from your
customers some common features to look
out for while evaluating these different
software tools are a template library
these usually have templates that help
you get started quickly and only require
slight modifications to help represent
your business next is analytics you need
to be able to understand how your video
is performing on different platforms if
you're wanting to post these on separate
channels then we have reminders these
should be customizable reminders that
can be sent out to your customers at the
right time to request feedback and
reviews taking the manual labor out of
your hands finally is video creation and
publishing tools self-explanatory but it
should offer you the flexibility to
create your final product in-app these
are examples of video testimonial
software which is an automated way to
capture your customer testimonials these
send a record link to the customer the
customer will visit the custom link and
simply record the testimonial video to
wrap up this video we'll touch on the
importance of social media with customer
reviews social proof is super important
a lot of people visit company pages on
these social media sites to explore the
company and gain additional information
they might not find somewhere else
people are communicating with each other
and with companies on social media on a
regular basis so it's a great
opportunity for you to ask for
testimonials here social media is the
ideal spot for you to create a community
that encourages open communication
helping you develop a stronger
relationship with your clients one that
doesn't make you think twice when asking
for a review make sure you're displaying
these testimonials on your website and
social profiles where appropriate to
earn your stripes with potential
customers so if you found this video
helpful feel free to share it with
someone that you know that needs a hand
with generating testimonials you can
also subscribe to our blog where you'll
find a bunch more tools tips and
templates to help you find sell and keep
your people just like neighborhood does
but for now that's all from me happy
marketing