Terrific Testimonials. How to give yourself the best business gift this Christmas.

"If the point is sharp and the arrow is swift, it can pierce through the dust, no matter how thick." - Bob Dylan

Do you know how to give yourself
a premium that will catapult your (and your clients’) sales into 2005 and beyond? Easy. Just do what master copywriter John Caples did each year.

Sell with much less work.

By supplementing your sales package, i.e.: Web copy, brochure, newsletter, press releases, emails, and email signatures with 'social proof', you can do more selling in a single paragraph than you'd otherwise accomplish in a full page.

How come?

Because all animals - including humans -- have a tendency to act as those around them act. If our neighbor in Cave 2 eats the red berries but not the yellow ones, we follow suit. If everyone is buying biotech stocks, we want to buy biotech stocks.

This response is almost automatic. Some of the most powerful 'social proof' comes in the form of the testimonial. It’s the 3rd party, short, pithy answer to “Why buy from us?”

Customer success stories can pull much better than long lists of product features or product rationalizations. With testimonials, you sell faster -- and more effectively per word -- because it's a powerful way to show your product working.

It's also an excellent way to gain credibility without bragging. Why? You get to showcase your strong points, but with someone else -- a peer of your prospect's -- doing all the talking.

But beware... there is a shadow side of testimonial-driven sales. In my experience, testimonials almost always enhance a promo package... except... when they're not good testimonials. What makes for a testimonial that doesn't work?

Vagueness. "I found your book very useful." Gushiness. "I love your newsletter! It's the best one I've ever read! Pretentiousness. "We delight in your intrepid and yet profitable handling of territory so treacherous as options investing." Faking it. "I've secretly used this newsletter to pick stocks for years." - Warren Buffet, Omaha. (You will now be in legal-crisis communication mode.) Using initials underneath the quote, instead of personal details. "G.B., D.C." is weaker than "George Bush, President, Washington D.C." And using: no photo. Or stock over real photos.

Now let's put practice to test. The following testimonials are from PR Whiz Marcia Yudkin's book "Persuading On Paper." Which, if any, would get YOU to the seminar?

1. "National Seminars, Inc. is super! The Powerful Business Writing Seminar has so much to offer."
2. "Many very useful ideas were presented. They will be useful to me at work and home."
3. "Invaluable seminar! This will help a lot!"
4. "This was the most informative and entertaining writing class I've ever attended. I have learned new methods to achieve a better style of business writing."
5. "I feel this seminar will definitely make a difference in the way I communicate with people in every phase of my life."
6. "I have attended several seminars on different subjects (by different companies) and came away from them believing they were a waste of time. This seminar has reaffirmed my faith that they are not a waste of time and money."

Is there a winner? #1 & #3 = convey enthusiam. And no specific. #2 = vague. Better: how would the endorser use the ideas? #5 = says that the person feels the seminar will have results. A "maybe future result" doesn't convince. #6 = feeble praise always borders on condemnation. Negativity is not what you're after. Only #4 is stronger than the rest. But could it be better? Absolutely. Gathering testimonials after a seminar bolsters credibility. For one thing, it indicates a stronger relationship with participants.

What needs to happen is this: the readers of your testimonials must encounter quantified, actual results. Mere enthusiasm and excitement won't sell. How do these sound to you?

"The data I obtained has already landed me two nice fat consulting contracts." [from a North Shore Scholars seminar brochure]

"After taking your course I was able to convince my boss to go with a new design that ultimately saved the company over $2 million and created a better designed product. Prior to taking this course I would have estimated my chances of success at about 30%. [from Management Resources' brochure]

How to harvest testimonials that work

Putting proof in your testimonial voice is the rest of the story.

As a copywriter, every time I'm asked to write for a product in need of words that sell, the crème de la creme copy, the most pleasurable working / writing experience, and the best results always come from product owners, marketing managers, and publicists who have a ready folder jammed with great testimonials. They’re so important that on my journey to becoming a saleswriter, I made a living just getting them!


Think: enhanced self portrayal. Specific nuances. Backed up credibility by quoting named individuals.

Bottom line: Good testimonials can be the result of applying a little elbow-grease and a little creative collecting. Some ways to get and use praising nuggets:

Use unsolicited comments that arrive in thank you letters, face-to-face conversations, during a phone chat. Seek permission in writing to use in marketing materials. "May I quote you on that?"

Invite your best customers to join a panel of advisors.

Follow-up detailed customer service calls with a survey.

Pre-paid postage cards can also be included in books. Handed out with product receipts. Customer satisfaction letters. You get the best quotes with guided questions. Such as:

• What was it about our stories your child liked best?
• What results would you attribute to having used our _______ (name ONE specific service or product).
• What was the #1 reason you called our company? Or bought our product?

Call repeat buyers and ask them why they repeat.

Call customers who write in and conduct a phone interview.

Call regular clients and ask them for something you can quote in your marketing stock.

Simply, you geniunely want to know how you're doing. (Or what you need to change.) So your business can expand, serve its customers, and flourish. Good questions also help cement relationships. Nobody likes to answer a dumb question. Offer to write up their words then send it to them for approval and a signature.

Then, plaster them all over the place. Including your business cards, company Tee-shirts and stationary.

Copywriting legend John Caples also has a tip. Have a testimonial-gathering contest. Caples used this simple technique for years. He would give customers a chance to fill in the following line: "Finish this sentence in 25 words or less: I like (name of product) because..." Every participant won a small prize. And Caples got piles of great testimonials. Here's an example of one of the contests. A coffe drinker, Caples got handed the job of persuading Americans to drink tea at breakfast. He ran an ad offering small cash prizes for the best letters on "Why I drink tea at breakfast." This approach brought him dozens of promising WORDS + IDEAS. It can do the same for you. Bringing you and your clients' products authentic, believable endorsements. Will your credibility be affected if you pay, however indirectly, for endorsements? Not if you understand this principle: You are not paying FOR the answers. You are paying for the question to BE answered.

"Tia is an outstanding talent. Her grasp of concept and enchancing phraseology created the best presentation of AmigoDay yet." - Julian Myers, Julian Myers PR. Los Angeles, CA.

Testimonials are about goodwill. They emote and evoke. The sweetest feeling in the world comes from the unsolicited testimonial. Like the one above.

For more on the power of social proof, I recommend these two reads -- "The Tipping Point" by Malcolm Gladwell, and "Influence: The Psychologyof Persuassion" by Dr. Robert Cialdini.

Next to your brand (the behaviours of your product), testimonials are your 2nd highest source of passive income. Let me know how it grows.

Want to have the testimonial-gathering questions this copywriter used for the Nov. 2004 Entertainment Professional Publicists Society conference? Go to tiadobi.com and email me with this in the subject line: Tia. Give me the survey!