Client Testimonials: Asking the Right Questions
Testimonials offer stories with the power to influence and move customers to action. Getting the best testimonials to appeal to potential customers begins with appropriate questions. Clients have a lot to say about your business, but you do not need to put everything they say out to the public as testimonials. The right questions will help you get the truth from your clients, which allows you to understand the feelings customers have towards your business and to make decisions that improve your interaction with buyers.
Here are a few different questions you can ask to get the client answers you need. They include:
1. Why did you hesitate before buying Product X?
This question will allow you to understand the motivation behind your customer’s decisions. Your customers will have to overcome obstacles such as relevance, time, money and availability even when they are ready to commit to purchasing. This question will help you bring out such issues, and even help you clarify when it is a combination of problems. Customers also get an opportunity to share deal-breakers you may not have considered in your product development and marketing efforts. Such insight gives you a unique and dramatic perspective on your products or services.
2. What was your experience with the product or service?
This question helps you improve your product and allows you to see what experiences various customers are having with your product; customers can speak in great detail about their experiences with your product.
3. What was your favorite feature?
This question takes you a level deeper; instead of giving a vague review, the customer can focus on a single characteristic. By focusing on a single characteristic of the product, you can identify what customers are collectively loving, and hone-in on how to further improve that particular feature.
4. Give a list of three other benefits of the product.
Once you have details about their favorite feature, you can ask the customer to share any other features they found noteworthy. However, limit it to a number that allows the customer to focus on a specific amount of features.
5. Are you likely to recommend us to others?
A recommendation means that the customer believes in the product or service well enough to put their integrity at stake. If a customer answers yes, you know they will be speaking to potential customers and telling them to buy the product.
6. Any Additional Information
While you may have everything you need from your customer, this question is an opportunity for you to get a fantastic parting statement. This could include mentioning excellent customer service, fast shipping, great exclusive offers, etc.
The Role of Testimonial Questions
The answers you get from the questions above help you address objections associated with your product. Before releasing a product, you will most likely speak to potential customers to identify any objections they may have about your product.
Speaking to a third party helps you get an additional voice to diffuse the objections. You get a more credible voice, where potential customers can hear from someone who has/had experience with the product. The above questions guarantee you unique and specific testimonials.
Getting the Desired Response
Start by encouraging your respondents to speak about their objections in detail, then let the answers flow naturally to help you uncover more truth. Have several respondents so you get a variety of perspectives.
Conclusion
Testimonials serve as a reliable communication tool because they come from a third party. Using the right questions helps you get detailed but believable testimonials, which serve their purpose by ultimately making your business more credible.
