How to Use Testimonial Letters to Boost Your Sales

Learn how to ask for them, receive them and have them state what your prospects need to hear.

TOM COX

Client testimonials are an incredibly powerful sales tool, especially for selling professional services. The testimonial assures your prospective client that you’ve successfully delivered this service to others and made them happy. There is an ideal way to ask for and get testimonial letters from your happy clients.

When you master this technique, you’ll find it easy and comfortable to ask for such letters, receive them and have them state precisely what the next potential client needs to hear.

What prospects want to know
Start with the end result in mind—you must become crystal clear on what an ideal testimonial letter would include. Namely, it should address the worries, questions and insecurities of the next prospect. What else do your prospects hope to see in a testimonial? Here are three simple, easy ways to find out:

Look at competitors’ testimonials and see what themes are present that resonate to you.
Ask current happy clients what their biggest concern was before hiring you.
Put yourself in the buyer’s shoes and ask yourself what you most want to know before hiring someone.

Jot down the themes. Odds are, you’ll find things like:

Reliability
Track Record/Ability to Get Results
Confidentiality
Empathy or Care
Success Stories

Before you finish the list, you should also consider horror stories. What are prospects worried they might experience? What are some ways that your competitors have made mistakes—the kinds that make buyers nervous to hire anyone from your industry? Add these additional concerns to your list of themes.

Set expectations with current clients
Next, make it easy for clients to say yes—and for you to ask. The best way to do this is to include the word "testimonials" in your intake process with clients. During the rosy period of excitement and hope at the start of a new engagement, I'll ask a client, "When we finish this engagement, assuming we’re successful, is there any reason why you wouldn’t be able to offer me a testimonial that I could share with other folks like yourself?"

I also include an "ask for testimonial" in the " wrapping-up the engagement" section of my client checklist. When I do this right, each client has had plenty of advance notice that I’ll ask them for a testimonial at the end of the engagement. They aren’t surprised.

At the start, this closing event for an "ask for testimonial" is far off—so far off that I’ve never had anyone bothered by it. They aren’t promising to write anything right now—they’re just being informed that I’ll ask. It’s all comfortably distant and non-threatening.

Fulfill expectations
Once you’ve told a client you’ll ask for a testimonial, it’s not an imposition when you ask. It’s actually you keeping your word.

During our wrap-up conversation at the end of an engagement, I’ll say something like "As you might recall, when we started, I said I would ask you for a testimonial. I’m now about to do that. Do you have six minutes right now?"

But clearly, you’ll have an awkward conversation if you start asking for a testimonial and the client’s not happy. So, don’t ask yet. First, you’ll test the waters.

Ask: "Now that we’re done, on a scale of one to 10, where 10 is you’re ecstatic, how happy are you overall with the results you’ve experienced?" For any answer lower than a 10, ask, "What if anything would turn your response into a 10?" Then listen.

Next, do what you need to do to raise that score. Once you get the client to provide you a score of eight or above, you can ask for a testimonial. If their final score is 7 or less, even after you’ve done the final work they asked for, don’t ask for the testimonial.

An alternative: The reference client
Some clients are unwilling to write and sign a testimonial letter, yet are happy to agree to talk on the phone to your future prospects. Others don’t want to take calls, and are happy to write and sign a letter. Work within their preferences.

For the client who is uncomfortable writing and signing a testimonial letter, ask if they’d be willing to take "no more than one phone call a month" (or whatever is accurate) from qualified prospects inquiring about what it’s like to work with you.

Tell your client that you’ll be asking six or seven questions and taking notes. Offer to then draft the testimonial letter for them, that they can edit "so that it sounds like you, and is accurate." Tell them you’ll then ask them to then print the testimonial on letterhead, sign it and mail it to you.

Ask questions based on your themes
Next, you should ask the questions you’ve prepared in advance, based on the themes that your prospects and leads care about. Here are some sample themes and questions:

Triggers for help. "What was happening that made you want outside help?"
Feelings: "What was happening for you subjectively when you realized the extent of your challenge? What did you feel? What was it like?"
Fears and misgivings. "What sorts of thoughts and feelings held you back from seeking outside help?"
Reliability. "What were some ways I demonstrated my reliability, that you really liked?"
Discretion. "What were some ways I demonstrated my discretion and ability to keep your confidences, that you really liked?"

Having asked your questions and taken notes, draft the testimonial letter for the client and send it off within 24 hours. Remind the client in your email that you want them to edit your draft for tone, style and accuracy. Ask them to print the testimonial on letterhead, sign it and mail it to you.

If your contact has an assistant, be sure to stay on good terms with him or her, and work with him or her to get the letter printed, signed and returned to you.

Put a note in your calendar for a week in the future. If you have not received the testimonial letter, gently remind them and ask if you can do something to make it easier. Repeat your gratitude for their willingness to give you a testimonial.

Testimonials are far more valuable and important to you than to the person providing one. Since you’re the one receiving the value, be cheerfully willing to go the extra mile.

Tom Cox is a consultant, author and speaker who coaches CEOs and business owners on how to get better results through more effective leadership. A graduate of the University of Chicago, Tom earned his four-year degree in psychology in just three years, with honors. Tom believes that Eudaimonism, the philosophy of human thriving, is humanity’s best hope for creating engaged and productive workplaces. For more information visit http://tomonleadership.com.

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