Issue #19 This is why they stand in line
I hope you had a good fourth of July!
This weekend I went to a restaurant and learned a powerful lesson in testimonials that I want to share with you.
The lesson had nothing to do with the restaurant but rather the line snaking around the restaurant.
The one I thought I would have to suffer through as I became increasingly hangry…
But it turned out that the line was not for the restaurant, it was for the butcher next door.
Now, aside from the grocery store, I didn’t even know a butcher shop was in the area.
I had also never seen a line for a butcher shop before, maybe a short one at the counter, but wrapped around the building?
I was intrigued. I asked the patient line waiters what was going on, and one told me:
“It’s the sausages.”
Another said:
“They are amazing, and they sell out quickly.”
When I asked what kind, they told me they buy whatever is left…
Suddenly I considered joining the queue.
I did not even want a sausage, but that is the power of the testimonial. When other people tell us that something is good, we want it too.
Our brains are hard-wired to avoid work, and according to Rober Cialdini (who literally wrote the book on influence), one of the ways we avoid mental work is by doing what others do.
If they like it, it must be good.
I am sure those sausages are great, but they are at least partly popular because they are popular.
And worth standing in line for.
It doesn’t even matter who they are – testimonials from strangers are as powerful as testimonials from people we know (Vendasta).
This explains why five-star reviews are so critical. Why someone telling a story about you is so much more engaging than you talking about yourself, and why people do business with businesses that have great reviews even if they don’t see the results.
It’s all about testimonials.
But how do you gather them, use them, and ultimately create a testimonial machine that builds on itself and drives sales?
Well, we have an idea: The Testimonial Lifecycle Tool, a tool to help you manage testimonials and get the most out of them.
Jeff
Oh, and here is what others have to say about our webinars:
- “I’ve been able to join in on a few webinars hosted by Joe Rojas and Jeff Loehr and always find the information extremely valuable.” – Michael Lanuto
- “Jeff Loehr and Joe Rojas, and Carla E. Valentin give so much valuable information in their webinars, and it is, of course, delivered with joy and energy to keep it interesting. I am excited for the next one in two weeks!” – Sasson Abada
- “This webinar was insightful and eye-opening to the skills required for powerful leadership!”
Fascinating statistics on the importance of testimonials
From a study by Vendasta, consider these statistics:
- 92% that they read testimonials when considering a purchase
- 63% of customers are more likely to purchase from a site that has user reviews,
- 88% trust reviews as much as personal recommendations, vs. 83% in 2014.
And the recency of a review is important, so constantly cultivating and sharing customer (client) reviews matters.
It turns out that testimonials and reviews are like sales pixie dust that you have access to and are not using enough of.
This has certainly opened our eyes and is the reason we are adding the Testimonial Lifecycle Tool to our kit. You will see more testimonials about us as a result.
And we hope to see more about you too.
Read more statistics here.
More testimonial grist
Here is a great post from Six Ads on Testimonials – it is pretty complete and covers how to gather them and how to use them (but it doesn’t cover the lifecycle tool, so, whew, our webinar is still on).
One thing to keep in mind: testimonials are not one way. Yes, your client is giving you a testimonial, but when you share it, you can use it to promote their business as well.
Check out their post here.
Testimonial humor – some of these are pretty funny
Reviews are not just for physical products (in fact, they may be MORE important for service products), but when you give free rein to the public to write reviews, well, people come up with some pretty inane stuff:
“What can I say about the 571B Banana Slicer that hasn’t already been said about the wheel, penicillin, or the iPhone?”
“I believe that wearing this t-shirt has made me a better man, which is remarkable because, well….I’m a chick.”
I am not sure that these are useful, so perhaps vetting testimonials before posting them is a good idea. But even these absurd reviews contain some informative feedback (and they are good for a chuckle).
