Wednesday 19th June

The Pulse

Are You Spoken For?

Written by
Paul Hassing

SBO Archive

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01
Jul

Priceless.

If my website were burning and I could rescue just one page, it’d be this.

I believe testimonials are the most precious asset a business can have.

Yet when I start working with clients, many either have none or don’t use them.

Not for long!

Third Party

People believe what others say about us, not what we say about ourselves.

If I claim to be Australia’s foremost recruitment ad writer, you’ll likely say ‘Pshaw!’

But if the Managing Director of a $3 million recruitment agency writes:

‘Paul … has never missed a deadline or failed to deliver what I wanted.’

You’ll probably take notice.

Though you don’t even know Andrew Preston, the fact he’s let me use his name and words carries weight.

If I stuff up, he looks silly.

So I don’t.

Sitting Pretty

Testimonials are the ultimate ‘low-hanging fruit’.

If you’re really taking care of a client, they’ll almost always take care of you.

You just have to ask.

This throws up barriers for some, like:

I’m too shy.
I don’t want to blow my own trumpet.
I don’t want to bother my client.

To which I say:

Shy bairns get nowt.
GFC II, anyone?
You don’t need to.

Tailor Made

Number 3 is particularly easy to solve.

Rather than ask a client to write something nice, you need only ask if they’d do it in principle.

If yes, you ask if they’d like some thought starters.

All will jump at this time-saving solution.

You’re then free to go nuts.

I wrote Andrew’s testimonial myself. (I am, after all, his copywriter!)

By delegating, he minimised effort and ensured a flawless job.

By signing, he made it his own.

He got instant brownie points. I got a perfect recommendation.

Win. Win.

Self Made

Not all my testimonials are created thus.

If you catch a happy client in a good mood at a quiet time, there’s a chance they’ll write you something fabulous.

But these celestial alignments are rare: I’ve waited a good six months for some of my testimonials.

And it’s heartbreaking when howling errors mar glowing sentiments.

Especially in my field.

Clients

Being so keen on testimonials, it’s no surprise I browbeat my clients about them.

If they have:

none, I hunt.
verbals, I write.
emails, I convert.
letters, I upload.

I’m always stunned at the volume of priceless kudos rattling around unused in people’s files and folders.

And everyone enjoys seeing how well their clients regard them.

So, testimonials.

If you don’t, do.

If you do, tell.

We ♥ feedback!

Paul Hassing , Founder & Senior Writer, The Feisty Empire

brand, case studies, client feedback, client testimonials, customer feedback, customer testimonial, marketing, testimonial, testimonials

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What others are saying

Author

Joanna Maxwell

July 1, 2010 at 9:34 am

Lovely post…

I often get clients to answer 3 questions for a testimonial eg How would you describe my work? What 3 things were your best experience? Overall impression? What would you tell another prospective customer of mine? or the like…

Most people are happy to oblige. I agree entirely that the ones who allow their name.organisation are GOLD!!

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Author

Paul Hassing

July 1, 2010 at 9:43 am

Thank you, Joanna; I had a good feeling about this one.

I like your system very much. Much more positive than my Brutal Feedback Form (which only permits negative comments!)

Hats off to Andrew for being my topic. He didn’t even flinch!

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Author

Angela den Hollander

July 1, 2010 at 10:06 am

Thank you Paul, just the whack upside the head I needed. Of course I tell all my clients that testimonials are imperative, I show them how to make it easy to gather testimonials and where to use them.

As for myself? How long has it been since I tidied up my testimonials? And who’s working on her new web site right now and therefore needs a bunch of fresh, new ones?

Um, I’m off to talk to some clients now…

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Author

Paul Hassing

July 1, 2010 at 10:11 am

Hi, Angela. Last month you said I kicked you in the bum. You’ll need a restraining order soon!

Glad you’re going to walk the talk.

And if you need anyone to say you are indeed the High Priestess of Uber-Effective Newsletters That Trounce All Spam Filters, just drop me a line!

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Author

Angela den Hollander

July 1, 2010 at 10:18 am

Yes please! I think I’ll get a badge made too, or maybe a spiffy sceptre, possibly robes, throne, acolytes…

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Author

Paul Hassing

July 1, 2010 at 10:19 am

Make it a mace.

A BIG one.

And a goblet …

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Author

Stephen Glanville

July 1, 2010 at 11:23 am

“Pshaw!”??? Mate! That’s nothing like how you spell ‘Crap!’!!! ;-P

You know which part of my website I would save if there was a fire? This bit! I’ve had more testimonial from your good self and the fine folks on this site than I could poke a platter of perfect pizzas at…and you never even got to taste one of my uber-fine pizzas…yet…did I say YET?

I reckon one might well argue that from a certain point of view a large portion of the Internet could be seen to be a great big pile of testimonials. Sure there are some direct ones where folks praise or raise a product, service or enterprise, but it’s the little indirect ones that I notice. The ilk, tone and tenor of conversations in general…that little-huge organic ‘word-of-mouth’ bit that the ‘marketing’ world, in spite of 11,000 years of evidence to the contrary and ‘Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle’, continues desperately trying to measure, control and contrive. I think it’s the ‘contrived’ bit that turns me off…there seems to me to be a very strong and heretofore little acknowledged relationship between sponteneity and authenticity.

I reckon this line pretty much describes my entire approach to marketing mate – “People believe what others say about us, not what we say about ourselves“…you know, probably a bit too well by now, that I prefer the ‘organic’ approach?

I’ve actually been known to take the ‘Self Made’ approach with references too Cobba; based of course on one of our fave adages – ‘that it’s far easier to edit than create’.

Yet all that said, the acolytes and thrones remain so very tempting don’t they?..

Cheers

Stephen G

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Author

Paul Hassing

July 1, 2010 at 11:31 am

Thank you, Stephen!

Someone wrote that in the near future, our ‘resumes’ will be every website we’ve visited, every article we’ve posted and every comment we’ve left. One giant electronic thumbprint.

So, though my penchant for tweeting 80s hip hop videos may impact my future corporate success, I usually play pretty nice.

I read in The Age this morning about a paraglider who:

‘ … was sucked into a thunderstorm that propelled her at a speed of 20 metres per second to a height of 10,000 metres. Wearing only light clothing, she blacked out in the oxygen-depleted, minus 55-degree stratosphere.

‘Forty-five minutes later she descended to Earth, probably due to the weight of the ice that had built up on her glider. Amazingly, her glider reopened, jolting her awake.’

If you stood on your roof and frisbeed one of your pizzas really hard into the southern sky, do you reckon I could get one THAT way?

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Author

Susan Oakes

July 1, 2010 at 11:38 am

Hi Paul,

Very true words about testimonials. The funny thing is most times clients are more than happy to give them including their names and companies. This is especially true if you make it easy for them such as what Joanna does.

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Author

Paul Hassing

July 1, 2010 at 11:48 am

Glad you agree, Susan. I always like it when that happens!

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Author

Stephen Glanville

July 1, 2010 at 12:46 pm

You’re welcome as always ol’ Bean

I’m already in the habit of pointing folks here and to a Search if they want to know what I’ve been up to…I hate ‘Resumes’, or at least what they’ve become and how they’re used or in more cases abused…

Re: Paraglider: I checked ‘The Age’…I thought you were yannkin’ me chain . You’d have to get awfully pissed and buy a bluddy lottery ticket after an escape like that wouldn’t ya?

Re: Frisbees: Na! My Pizzas aren’t New York style mate. Mine have got real food on them…if I chucked one all you’d get by the time it landed was a yummy crust and a bit of sauce.

I was getting considerable interest in wholesale pizzas locally when the business was running, so when the time comes shipping them is certainly not out of the question. But in your case, as soon as I can afford to, I fully intend to bring the whole ‘noSh-it! Wood-Fired Pizza’ show down there and cook them for you myself. After all the support and encouragement you’ve provided, I’d consider it both a pleasure and the least I could do. Besides, I want to see if Malcolm really can eat a Beetroot and Bavarian Bat’s Ear Pizza…get your camera ready for that one…

Cheers

Stephen G

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Author

Paul Hassing

July 1, 2010 at 12:53 pm

Onya, Stephen. You got me thinking of two characters in Steinbeck’s Cannery Row who spent 5 days moving a stove (camping beside it at night).

You could do that fer sure. Even get someone to do a doco on your odyssey! I can see it now: “Human da Hume” or “Long Way Round Down Over & Out!”

Bugger the camera, let’s get a video!

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Author

Stephen Glanville

July 1, 2010 at 1:04 pm

Good call!

Cheers

Stephen G

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Author

Malcolm Owens

July 1, 2010 at 1:23 pm

Bugger! Late again and all the good comments have been made. This Blog is nuts – any business person not subscribed must be insane!

So my only comment is way too many smiley faces!

Yes Stephen, you know of whom I speak!

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Author

Paul Hassing

July 1, 2010 at 1:26 pm

Never mind, Malcolm, you’re the first to say ‘bugger’ and that’s quite a feat round here!

We do seem to be hitting our straps these days. Thanks to stalwarts like you who never stop stoking.

I always appreciate your visits, however brief. Y’all come back now, y’hear?!

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Author

Paul Hassing

July 1, 2010 at 1:27 pm

Sorry, second to say ‘bugger’.

Told you it was hard!

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Author

Stephen Glanville

July 1, 2010 at 2:25 pm

And way too few from you, ya grumpy ol’ bugger…

Cheers

Stephen G

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Author

Stephen Glanville

July 1, 2010 at 2:28 pm

I thought that while us buggers were buggering around with ‘bugger’ that I’d bung in another of it’s many applications…

Cheers

Smiley

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Author

Paul Hassing

July 1, 2010 at 2:31 pm

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nRxcGnBpvVs

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Author

Stephen Glanville

July 1, 2010 at 2:34 pm

Hehe Yep! Saw that bugger a few times when I was over there

Cheers

Other ol’ Bugger

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Author

Malcolm Owens

July 1, 2010 at 2:37 pm

Well bugger then.

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Author

Stephen Glanville

July 1, 2010 at 2:39 pm

Well said Malcolm!..but you forgot your Smiley again

Cheers

Stephen G

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Author

Paul Hassing

July 1, 2010 at 2:40 pm

Thank you, gentlemen.

Apologies to our antipodal readers.

This happens from time to time.

At least we’re off Google’s takeover map for the moment.

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Author

Stephen Glanville

July 1, 2010 at 2:45 pm

Oh…I didn’t know some of our readers had no feet…that’s a bit of a…you know what? ;-P

Cheers

Stephen G

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Author

Naomi from MYOB

July 2, 2010 at 8:40 am

Just adding my smiley into the mix

Stephen G – great comment about the internet being a great big pile of testimonials.

Malcolm – thanks!

I received a comment about testimonials via Twitter …. we don’t advertise our client testimonials. If a referal or new client wishes to talk with a current client then we give contact.

So interesting thoughts all round.

Now – all this talk of pizzas is making me hungry.

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Author

Paul Hassing

July 2, 2010 at 9:23 am

Thanks for that, Naomi. It’s always great to capture those related tweets.

Maybe Stephen can do a worldwide pizza presentation tour of all the places our readers live. What a wonderful way to generate an itinerary!

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Author

Stephen Glanville

July 4, 2010 at 4:55 pm

I’m not ignorin’ ya mate…it’s just that your ‘worldwide’ idea flooded me…it’s a hum-dinger ol’ Bean. It could become something of great benefit to a great many of our happy virtual community…I’m chewin’ on it…I hope a few others are too…

Cheers

Stephen G

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Author

Paul Hassing

July 4, 2010 at 8:42 pm

Good show, Stephen.

I’m thinking of moving to Koo Wee Rup just to make you go there.

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Author

Paul Hassing

January 18, 2012 at 1:59 pm

Here’s a little case study that just played out:

QUESTION

‘We are looking at using some client and candidate testimonials in an email campaign for our footy tipping competition this year. We want to use their names to make the testimonials seem more authentic

I’ve tried with no luck to get hold of the candidate and client who supplied the testimonials to get their approval to use in the marketing piece.

Is it best practice to use their names without their consent in marketing material? Or is it best to have the testimonials anonymous if I can’t get their consent?’

ANSWER

‘Testimonials rock.

You’re totally on the right tram.

http://myob.com.au/blog/are-you-spoken-for/

It’s very bad juju (and possibly risky) to quote someone without their written permission.

I’d pull out all the stops to find your fans, as you’re dead right: names supercharge credibility.

If you can’t track them down, you can’t use their names.

You could go for initials only, but that’ll just raise reader suspicions.

You’ll have to take the credibility hit.

Another tack, of course, is to hit up a truckload of other users and ask for their testimonials.

If the system is as good as it sounds, you’ll have a swag of happy campers in no time.

Hope that helps.’

TA DA!

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