5 tips to make customer testimonials effective and increase your sales

Including customer testimonials on your website is a fantastic way of reassuring potential customers.  In fact, it is one of the top things people look for when choosing a place to purchase anything. It alleviates so many concerns that customers have...

• Can you be trusted?
• Can you deliver what you promise?
• Do you have a great track record?
• What are you like to work with?

In short, a good testimonial should remove doubts from the potential buyer\'s mind.

1. HOW TO GET CUSTOMER TESTIMONIALS?

The short answer is simple - ask for them. There\'s a few ways you can do that.

• Send a single, well crafted, email to previous customers so you can quickly get a few in your inbox.
• Make this part of your order follow up process, with an automatic email a few days after you expect an order to arrive.
• For high sales volume, you might consider installing review software that will automatically follow up with customers a few days after each order and will include the review on the relevant product page automatically.

2. WHAT MAKES A GOOD TESTIMONIAL?

A good testimonial should come from your targeted audience base, so that potential buyers can relate to it.  It should include:

• The benefits your product provided, with metrics if possible.
• Any fears that your customer might have had before they bought from you e.g. if the product would arrive in time.
• A name and even a photo if possible can go a long way in increasing the credibility of a testimonial.
• Would the customer recommend you to a friend?  (of course they would!)
• A direct comparison with a competitor - obviously in your favor! - will help set you apart, for example, \"we tried to purchase with X but with little success, using Y we were able to get our product in half the amount of time and at lower costs too!\".

When emailing past customers, you can ask if they would please mention some of these specific points so that it produces a better quality of testimonial for your website.

3. TESTIMONIALS DON'T JUST GO ON ONE PAGE

Don\'t limit testimonial use to a separate page. If you include it near your  Call To Actions, it will boost your visitor\'s confidence.

Ideas on where you can include testimonials on your online store:

• Near your add to cart button, in your product descriptions.
• On your cart page
• On your checkout
• In your website footer

If testimonials happen to mention specific parts of your service,  do include them on the overview page for that service. If you use videos to demonstrate your product, consider including video customer testimonials in them.

4. STILL INCLUDE A TESTIMONIALS PAGE

Still include a testimonials page in some fashion. Some potential customers will click on this first to see what actual past customers have said about you, preferring to read this first before taking in anything you have to say. Keep it up to date and consider removing some testimonials over time as you get more.  Always focus on the best and ensure that they are the first on the page.

5. NEGATIVE FEEDBACK AND HOW TO DEAL WITH IT

We're human and occasionally we make mistakes. Sometimes, the problem may not have occurred by your own hand, but instead through a third party.

Either way, the best way to deal with negative customer testimonial is to acknowledge it and figure out what the problem was. Then you can find the root cause and take action to improve. Obviously if you are getting the same problems over and over due to a single root cause, then it\'s time to make a change.

When you respond, avoid the temptation to argue your case. Instead, frame your response by showing that the incident was a one time occurrence. For example, "we've been in business 10 years and help 125 customers every week, we're sorry we made a mistake this time.  How can we make it right?"

Offer a replacement if appropriate. It may even be worth a personal call to the customer to find out exactly what went wrong and to show that you are taking it seriously.