The 3 Most Common Mistakes Business Owners Make When Trying To Get Testimonials

By Author: Jack Simmons
Total Articles: 38
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I am pretty sure that Dan Kennedy has said that you can never have enough testimonials. Dan is big on presenting a preponderance of proof when he sells. I agree with him. However, when you look at many businesses they just never collect enough testimonials to be able to deliver a preponderance of proof to their target markets.
I see a lot of my work as a copywriter is to create believable selling arguments for my clients.
It is far better to have someone else saying "you a great" than to shout "I am great" into a megaphone. The former is much more believable than the latter, right?
What this lack of proof costs you is sales. The number of sales made is reduced and the sales you do make are far harder to get.
Here are the top 3 mistakes I've encountered from my own clients and also from observation:
Mistake #1 - Not asking for testimonials
If you don't ask you won't receive. That simple. If you don't ask clients for testimonials in some way, shape or form you'll never receive them.
I know it sounds obvious when you say it but that is how the world works and it is often overlooked by business ...
... owners.
The easiest way I can think of to get a whole lot of testimonials in when you have none, is to run a testimonial competition. Everyone who sends in a testimonial gets a prize and every testimonial puts you into a grand prize draw.
That bank of testimonials could be a real asset.
Mistake #2 - Doing Nothing Praiseworthy.
You'd be surprised how often this happens - average or mediocre businesses are everywhere. They don't have testimonials because they don't 'wow' their customers. You have to do something pretty astounding in order to impress someone enough for them to give you a testimonial.
You'll never get good testimonials if you don't have something about your company, products, services, customer support staff, that isn't worth your customers raving about. If that is the case you need to fix it so that they are genuinely enthusiastic about you and your business.
Mistake #3 - Not collecting the right testimonials
From a strategic selling perspective, you need to collect the right mix of testimonials. There is nothing more frustrating from a copywriting point of view than not having the right testimonial to back up a selling point.
Some clients have lots of testimonials but they are all the same testimonial - there is value in quantity. Variety is the spice of life as a rule of thumb, you need at least one testimonial for each selling point you are making. If you want to point out that you have courteous staff then you need a testimonial for that exact point.
There isn't much I can think of that helps copywriters as much as being having too many relevant testimonials that you can use.

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