Can I just tell you – I love reading testimonials on people’s pages.  I’m not sure why but I just really love seeing other peoples transformations, the things that have really impacted their lives and the experiences that they had doing something like a course or program or working with an individual. It’s someone’s experience, how they felt and how they think they moved from A to B.  So fascinating!

With so many businesses coming into the market there are a number of things that you can do the help your business stand out.  Social proof is one of the things that you can actively develop to help you differentiate yourself and also display the types of results that you are getting for your clients.  If you're ready to learn how to get testimonials that sell then this interview is one you don't want to miss!

Video Transcript:

Suzanne:             Hi and welcome back to Exchanger TV. It's been a little while and this is our first video for 2016, so it's so great to have you here. I'm really excited to introduce somebody very special to you today that is going to help you with something that all business owners desperately need to focus on. That is really looking at how you can use testimonials to build your audience and sell for you. So Caylie Price is the owner of Better Business, Better Life. She takes the tech and overwhelm out of online marketing. Caylie teaches savvy business owners, like you, client getting strategies that boost your profit big time. She is also the creator of Email to Income and the Hassle Free Guide to Testimonials that Sell. Hey Caylie, welcome.

Caylie:                   Hey Suz, how are you doing? Hi everyone.

Suzanne:             I'm good. I'm good. Today we are going to talk about a number of things. We are going to go through four key things. The first one is the three biggest reasons why so many business owners don't collect testimonials and why you shouldn't let that stop you. We are also going to look at two key things that make collecting testimonials so much easier, how to create powerful testimonials that do all the selling for you, and where you can get more help.

I'm really excited about this topic because I love testimonials. I don't know if that's an ego thing, but I love asking my clients for feedback and I love to see how it's going, so I'm excited to talk about this. Do you want to tell us more about you and your business before we crack into that?

Caylie:                   Yeah, for sure. I am all about helping people attract clients to their business through online and offline strategies because it works best when you put them together. First of all, for one on one clients, so helping you attract one on one clients to your business, but then also building up a database or a list of subscribers so that when you are ready to perhaps offer a program where you need more people to be able to sell to you've got that list ready to go, so all about putting those list building and sales funnel strategies in place so that you can create more income and more profit for your business.

Suzanne:             Yeah. Absolutely, and list building is a funny base because so many people know that they need to focus on it but it can be such a challenge sometimes and it's just something you've got to be constantly thinking about as well, isn't it?

Caylie:                   Definitely. It's like we hear it all the time but the whole word consistency really is important. So if you are consistently collecting powerful testimonials, the ability to increase yourselves from that because as you know, we take notice of social proof if we can talk about how we do it ourselves and how good it is, but if we have clients that have worked with us and can honestly genuinely say, hey this is what I achieved as a result of working with Suzanne or Caylie or whoever it is. That is incredibly powerful in terms of helping people make the right decisions for themselves and their businesses and then choosing to invest in working with you, really really powerful.

Suzanne:             Yeah. And I think the other thing is that whenever I'm buying, I am looking at testimonials. Like I can read a full sales page and I can think I'm really interested but I always go and read the testimonials and read what people are saying and depending on what it is I am potentially buying I also go look at that person's website, so I do think it's a very powerful tool. I'm keen to, let's get into this.

What are the three biggest reasons that business owners don't look to get more testimonials?

Caylie:                   The very first one is they don't like putting their clients out, so a lot of people go, I've worked with this person and they were really happy with it, but they are really busy, I don't want to interrupt them and put pressure on them to get a tiny testimonial, they've got too many other things to do.

The thing that I would say to that is if someone has had a great experience with you, no matter how busy they are, they are going to be so grateful for the opportunity to give a little something back. [bctt tweet=”If someone has had a great experience with you, no matter how busy they are, they are going to be so grateful for the opportunity to give a little something back”] When we receive, it's only human nature that we like to give as well, so by giving them the opportunity to give you feedback they really appreciate that, and the other side of that is, even if they haven't had the best experience initially, but then you've talked you've got feedback during the process and then you've turned that around, there is nothing more powerful that being able to demonstrate that transformation that has occurred. In some ways, it almost makes it seem more genuine than otherwise because you can say that reality is, not everything goes perfectly all the time, but this is what happened for me and people really connect with that. Don't be scared to ask for your client to give you a testimonial.

The other thing that perhaps may stop you is the sense that yes your client would love to give you a testimonial but the first thing I say is I don't know what to write, I don't know what to say. Well, there are certain questions that you can actually ask your clients that will help prompt them to give you the information that you need to create a great testimonial from the feedback they give that you can then approach them and say hi, is it okay if I use this? Are you happy, do you agree that this is an accurate reflection of what happened with us?

That's the first one that they do not like to ask their busy clients. Have you had clients like that yourself, Suzanne that they don't want to go out and ask for testimonials?

Suzanne:             I think it hasn't been a resistance to asking potentially, but it's just not something that they've done, and maybe that might be the reason. I was coaching a client the other day, she said “yeah, it's on my to do list, it's something that I just need to do” and I said yes, it's really important because people buy based on what others have experienced , and because there are so many choices now, you've really got to, it's not just about how you sell it and the benefits, it is about the experiences that other people have had. I think my experience is that maybe people don't put enough importance on it, they don't see the value, I'm not sure. It's an interesting one. [bctt tweet=”People buy based on what others have experienced – so get testimonials that sell!”]

Caylie:                   In your words you just put the two other reasons that people don't ask for testimonials, so bravo.

The second one is that they don't believe in the value of the testimonials.

I actually did a survey of a number of business owners before I created the testimonials kit I've created and one of the big things that came back is no one takes any notice of testimonials anymore because there's so many fakes out there. Which is absolutely true, there are a lot of fake testimonials and reviews out there. The difference is that you can actually do things to help demonstrate the authenticity of the testimonials that you've collected. Things like having the person's name and their photo. If they are another business owner it might be linking to their website so that the person reading the testimonial could click through and go okay, this is a real thing and this is actually a genuine testimonial.

There are things that you can do to make sure that people know that the testimonials you are displaying are absolutely genuine and as a result of that they go okay, there is genuine value in there as the business owners find those testimonials because again they know it's real, they know it's genuine. They will actually take notice of what's being said and are more likely to buy from you as a result of that.

Suzanne:             Would not even occurred to me to put a fake testimonial on my website…

Caylie:                  I know! And yet that was a massive thing when I did the survey. Everyone was like, NO, testimonials aren't real anymore, so there is no point. I'm like whoa, hang on a minute.

Suzanne:             Jeez, skeptical.

Caylie:                   Yeah absolutely. And it's interesting. I'm not sure that people looking at their businesses would even consider the fact that they fake testimonials. If there's any connection whatsoever with the business owner already, or they've seen content before, whatever it might be, I think most of them won't even consider if they are genuine or fake because most business owners are doing the right thing. They are not going to put fake testimonials up there.

But again there are ways of demonstrating authenticity so that people can believe it.

Suzanne:             Yeah. If you've done the survey and that's what people are saying, then it's obviously a real concern.

Caylie:                  Absolutely.

The third thing is forgetting to ask in the first place.

So we talked about that before Suzanne, a lot of your clients or some of them say, is it that important? Well, yes it is, but then they forget to ask and we are all busy in our businesses. We've got 50 different things going on in 50 different directions all the time, so it's easy to forget to get those testimonials, but again I bring you back to the thought that testimonials are so powerful for your business. It's really important to collect them, and you can put processes in place to make that much much easier so that it becomes as automatic as brushing your teeth in the morning, like it's just part of the process so it happens and then you've got this valuable information, valuable feedback that you can be using.

Suzanne:             Yeah, and I think the other thing which you'll probably go into as well but just the fact that as a business owner when you provide a product or service to somebody you want to know they are happy.  For me it's actually knowing that they've been really happy with the service I've provided, they've got what they needed out of it, etc…

Caylie:                   Absolutely, and that's the other side of even if the feedback's not what you expected, it's so valuable because it means that if it became a common thread through the feedback you are getting, it might be that you need to change something in your offering to be a better fit for your ideal clients. Absolutely, so don't think if someone hasn't had the best experience that you don't want their feedback. You absolutely do because that gives you the opportunity and choice to go, is this accurate, is it real, should I take notice and make some changes, tweak some things to make my offering even more powerful and valuable for my clients.

Suzanne:             Yeah, absolutely.

Caylie:                   Not wanting to ask their busy clients, thinking that there is no value in testimonials anymore because there are so many fakes out there, and realistically everyone can say get testimonials from other websites like Fivver or whatever it might be. But as I said there are ways to get around that. Doesn't that drive you, you just look and go, No, no. Why?

Suzanne:             That's so bizarre. Okay.

Caylie:                   And then the third one of course, just forgetting to collect them like knowing, yeah they are great but not putting the emphasis and the processes in place to actually collect them.

Suzanne:             Yeah, absolutely. Even yesterday I had put a video in the Facebook group, the Epic Women in Business Facebook Group, around the customer experience and building processes to ensure that you've got a really good customer experience and obviously that being one of them. So ladies obviously, if you are not doing testimonials and it's for one of those reasons that you need to get on to it. Because it really is worth the time that you spend doing that to … yeah, fantastic. Taking things that make collecting testimonials so much easier. What are these two magic things?

Caylie:                   Fair enough. Number one, actually say to your clients before you start. Whether they are buying a product or a service, mentioning to them before you start that you'll actually will ask for a testimony, you'll ask for feedback. So that they are prepared before you even start that you are going to ask at the other end, because then they expect it and it's not like it comes as a shock, oh God I have to give the testimonial. They are prepared for that, so they're, oh yeah no worries, we can do this, that's easy. So mentioning it upfront. Do you do that with your clients Suez?

Suzanne:             I don't actually. I think because when I finish coaching I send through a feedback form, the main purpose is feedback, and then the very last thing on the feedback form is if you had a great experience and you would like to share a testimonial if you could write it here. But I've also got a whole lot of questions that I ask them where I could get information then potentially send it to them like you said and get them to sign off on it, because it's their own words. But usually my clients just write a really nice testimonial at the end of that feedback form.

Caylie:                   You've mentioned the second thing there, to have a process in place. For example, with yourself Suz, you've mentioned that you have the feedback form at the end that takes them through a series of questions that gets them thinking about their experience and based on their words you can go back to them and say hey, based on what you said would it be okay if I was to use this as a testimonial. It models, so be like we talked about mentioning upfront that you'll ask, it might be that if you are a PT, Personal Trainer, when you are taking the before photos, when someone has first started working with you, Hey, look we are taking the before photos.

When we are at the other end of the session or program that you are doing, would you be happy if we take the after photos and with your permission, I actually use that and talk to you about the experience you have had. And put some wording in there that I can use as a testimonial with your approval. Giving them that heads up but also having that process in place that you know that when you are doing the after photos and this is obviously specific to Personal Trainers, but doing the after photos that you know part of that process is that you actually ask for a testimonial at that stage.

So you already prepared it, it's like having a checklist that you work through, you sign up the client, you send them the agreement, you go through the coaching or whatever it is that you offer and like yourself, you send out a feedback form, so you can tick that off your checklist as you're going through the client process to make sure you are actually collecting the testimonials. And it doesn't have to be a hard thing. In the testimonial kit that I've written, The Hassle Free Guide to Getting Testimonials that Sell, one of the things I've put in there is how to set up an autoresponse in Gmail. For example if you use Gmail for your email platform you can actually set it up so there are templates in there that you literally, two clicks, and you've got an email asking for the testimonial. So it's a thirty second job, rather than going, oh gosh, how am I going to ask them for this.

It's there, it's easy. That process is already in place, so it's not a case of sit down and think about what you are going to do each time, you know it's ready to go.

Suzanne:             Yeah, absolutely. I talk about this with my clients and in the group as well, around building in systems, so I use 17Hats personally as my CRM or project management or workflow system and in that I've got a template which is for each of the coaching programs that I do, there's a customized questionnaire. And so whenever somebody goes through that particular, say the business and brand strategy session, then, usually, the other thing is that usually we have spoken about stuff during the session where when I send them an email it's kinda like, Hi Caylie, here are some of the resources that we discussed during our session together and this is the information I said I would follow up and send you. Can you also do me a favour, I would love to know your feedback, here's a questionnaire. It's really important to me that you had a great experience and that you got what you wanted out of it. And so it's sort of the email is obviously still giving them more value because of what we talked about in our session. Plus, then asking, I've got 100% response rate to the feedback that I ask, which is awesome. It's about personalizing it as well I think.

And people are more than happy. Especially when it's the day after.

Caylie:                   Yeah, when it's still fresh.

Suzanne:             Yeah.

Caylie:                   And the other really important thing you have brought up there is its not approaching from the point of view of, Hey, do you mind giving me a testimonial. It's, look I really value what we've done together and I really value your feedback because that means I can check that you've got the results you are looking for and if not, then we can do whatever we need to do to fix that but if you have had a great experience I would love to feature you on my website or in whatever it might be the opportunity to publish that testimonial. So approaching it from the point of view, you really value them and it's really important to you that they have had a great experience and that you can reflect on that, rather than the, I need something, desperation approach. Really, really important.

Suzanne:             Yeah, absolutely. I also think, I would see it as, like I am asking for something, because I actually think when we spend money on things and we invest our time in things then sometimes we also want our say.

Caylie:                   Absolutely.

Suzanne:             I wanted to tell you. I actually feel it's important that you've asked me how I felt and whether I was happy and because as a customer that is important to me as well, is that I want to feel listened to and I want to know that you care whether I am happy or not. [bctt tweet=”As a customer, I want to feel listened to and I want to know that you care whether I am happy or not.”]

Caylie:                   Yeah, it comes back to, I'm not just another number in your books, you care what I think, you care what I have to say. Absolutely.

Suzanne:             And you know, I bang on about brand all the time but I just think it's that experience when they feel loved, listened to, heard, that their opinion matters and that you care about them specifically. That makes people kinda feel like, a lot of other people aren't doing it and you do it, it's a great experience for them as well.

Caylie:                   It really sets you apart from other people that perhaps offer similar services. But it also means that if you have demonstrated that you genuinely care, which most of us do, then people are far more likely to invest with you again in the future, become a client again in the future because they know, hey, Suzanne is really invested in my achievement, in my results. So I can trust her to deliver again.

Suzanne:             Absolutely. Great tips. Very good. Okay. And then, how to create powerful testimonials that do all the selling for you.

Caylie:                   Yes. I think we have all seen a testimonial before where it's like, Caylie  is such a lovely person, she is so friendly, it was great, she was happy to answer my questions etc. etc…From that you can gather, hopefully, that I am a nice person and that they have had a good experience. But you don't actually get an idea of what the results were and it's really important to show the transformation. It's a case of, you want your testimonials to cover where the person was at before they started working with you. What where their frustrations, their challenges that they where struggling with.

Yes, then you do want to talk about the experience. Sure, it was great to work with Suz because she was really helpful, her feedback was really valuable to me. But then, the third part is, how are they now, what is the result of working with you. Do they have those challenges anymore, what has changed for them.

So it's the before, how it worked, and then the after, the result. So showing the transformation, the journey the client's been on, demonstrates and gets really specific to the individual and people reading that will resonate because they can go, ah, I've got that problem too. If it's been solved for, say Jane, maybe Suz can do that for me as well. And that makes them far, far more likely to invest with you.

Suzanne:             For sure, I think it is the more in depth testimonials that I obviously take notice of. Because I do think that sometimes when you do get the ones where, yeah it was great and Suz was lovely, it's kind of…

Caylie:                   First we are not sure about that.

Suzanne:             So yeah, it's good when you've got a bit more meat in the testimonial around what their experience was.

Caylie:                   And it gives the person the opportunity to say, yes that's me. So yes I must need this, because I'm going through that right now and I want that result.

Suzanne:             For sure. And so it's mainly through those questions that you ask around, obviously as we were saying before, that in a way you start or why did you come and see Caylie , what where the issues that you were having etc… And obviously then, whats the end result been.

Caylie:                   Yes. Absolutely. It's that transformation, going through the journey that they have experienced and the results they've got, that proves to the person reading it that, hey this is for me too. Or it's, hey this isn't for me but maybe there's something else. And if that is the case, great, find the right fit for them but at least it helps them make that decision one way or the other.

Suzanne:              Fantastic. Very good. And so Caylie , we got women out there who know they need to be getting more testimonials, obviously, help them sell more, where else can they get help?

Caylie:                   As I mentioned, I've actually created a kit called The Hassle Free Guide to Testimonials that Sell. It's all about how to use testimonials to increase your sells. It goes through things like, how to ask for the testimonial in the first place. It includes scripts in there, so you can actually copy and paste into your email the script, that you can then fill in the gaps to personalize it because personalization is really important and will increase the likelihood of getting a response back. It makes it really, really easy to know what to write and fill the gaps. It has the questions that you can choose from to use in there so you are not going, gosh what do I ask. And it covers both product and services type businesses. So there's actually different scripts in there for you to use depending on whether you are a product or service based business. And then if you don't get the response straight away, what to actually do from there. So, if you haven't gotten a response after a few days, how to follow up, what to say etc., etc…

The other thing it covers is, even if you haven't had any clients in your business yet, so you are a brand new business starting out, what to do, where to get testimonials from, that will be really powerful as well so that you can get your first client, because that is really important. And all of it you can look at, it's really simple, I've kept it as simple as possible. You can read it in 30 minutes. You can action it in less than 20. We talked about the process and making it easy to collect testimonials. You can set that up in 20 minutes or less. I've actually got step by step guides and diagrams in there. And you can have testimonials that sell flowing to you in less than an hour.

Suzanne:             Awesome.

Caylie:                 Pretty healthy way to get started on testimonials. No excuses not to collect them.

Suzanne:             Yeah. The thing is you can always go back to clients as well that you've worked with, share that with them and hopefully they will be keen to send that through but I just think it's so worth that follow up. Yeah…

Caylie:                   Even if you haven't been working with someone for a month, a couple of months, or whatever it might be, you can always go back and ask them how they're going, where they're at, what they thought of the experience, if you haven't been doing that previously. And then from there, based on the feedback they give you, and this is covered in the scripts as well, go back to them and say, do I have your permission, I really appreciate what you've said, do I have your permission to use this. Can I name you, those sort of things in there. It's not too late if you haven't been doing it.

Suzanne:             Fantastic. And I've seen the guide and it's awesome.

Caylie:                 Thank you.

Suzanne:             If testimonials is something you want to do more in your business and really get some systems in place and some great scripts etc… Definitely check it out. We are going to have the link below, so obviously they can get their hands on that from you as well Caylie . Which I think is really important, especially if you haven't done a lot of that before and you're not too sure how to do it, then it's always good to have a quick, simple, easy guide that's really going to help as well.

Very good. Thank you so much for your time today. For all your tips.

Caylie:                 No worries. I've had a great time, so I hope it's been really helpful.

Suzanne:             Yeah it has. And I'm super excited as well because Caylie  is going to be one of our expert trainers in the Exchanger Academy which is launching at the end of March, where we got loads of awesome experts that are going to be sharing different business topics and lessons with you. And we will have the details of that below as well.

If you'd love to learn how you can get more testimonials that sell then click below to find out more!