It is not in our habit to give testimonials on products or services we purchase or procure without being prompted in this part of the world. In fact, no customer will give a testimonial about your business just out of the blues if you don’t ask for it. If they do, it is only in rare cases and it means your product or service must have made quite the impression. Mind you, the impression can be either positive or negative depending on the customer’s perception of your business.

With the growing trend of online markets and online shopping habits, the importance of getting your customers to give a testimonial becomes one of the essential business tools towards improving your business and authenticating your credibility as a business person, more so as an expert in your chosen business.

Do you have an online presence as a small business owner?

You will be missing out on a huge number of opportunities if you’re not on any social media platform. If you don’t know how-to, it’s never too late to learn or better still, get some professional help at an affordable cost. That being said, do you know that 72% of survey respondents say that having a positive customer review will make them trust a local business?

Here’s what social media can do for your business:

•  It comes with little or no cost to set up and manage.
• It is a cheap yet very effective way of gathering information for business improvement through customer reviews, feedback, and testimonials
• It helps to promote brand affinity
• It promotes brand advocacy
• It increases customers trust in your brand
• It boosts your credibility

The benefits abound if and only if you use it effectively. It all begins by ensuring you deliver
on your value promise…EVERY TIME!

Back to why an awesome customer testimonial is every SME’s dream.

For a startup, every customer is a potential goldmine. Say your business has 50 regular customers and the entire 50 get to give you a testimonial with regular comments like “they are good”, “kind and courteous staff”. These comments are fine but are they likely to generate a lot of traffic to your doorstep? Not really.

Let’s say out of that number, 2 customers tell an actual story of how they used your product to solve their challenge or how a particular service you rendered eased their pain point, what do you think it could lead to? Their comments are more likely to make a visitor to your website or social page spend a long time getting to know your business and what value you offer.

Shep Hyken (2020) in his newsletter “The Story Tells the Story” gives a beautiful illustration of how businesses can use customer testimonials to influence consumer purchasing behavior and decision. Bear in mind that your existing and prospective customers have personas, you have to ensure that you use your customer testimonials to address their pain points and attract your target customer persona.

Never fake it, please!

Remember that your aim is to gain their trust and establish your credibility. You need to build a healthy relationship with your customers to thrive. Don’t jeopardize your reputation by putting out what is false. Build realistic expectations in the minds of your prospects. Your customer testimonials can be written but better still, ask your customer to do a 30 second or 1-minute video for you about your product or service. Anyone visiting your page, be it on social media or website is longing to make a human connection. Help them make that connection.

The more human the testimonial is, the stronger the connection. The key to getting that awesome review is giving an awesome customer experience.

It’s never too late to start, start today!