Testimonials Made Easy, Fast, & Perfect! 3 Fill-in-the-Blank Formulas

How often do you write recommendations or testimonials for others? Probably not enough.

Testimonials are gold! To not only the receiver but the writer.

They provide social proof and are the ultimate in thank you gifts back to the provider of excellent services and products. Just look at the success and power Yelp and Google Reviews have on whether someone will purchase or hire someone!

Think of it like a thank you card wrapped in a super big bow…that keeps giving and giving! Plus it never hurts to get your name, website and positive comments out there for others to see!

If you are anything like me, you have great intentions. You are super thankful for the service or product received, happy-as-a-clam, and know that a recommendation or testimonial certainly would be appreciated by the provider.

However, you get stuck. Maybe even overwhelmed. Where to start. What to say.

I confess, I get stuck in wanting it to be perfect. To be able to write it in a way that it will represent their work and service in the more effective way. I get stuck in wondering what are the right keywords I should use that will convey enough information to help them show their prospects what awesome stuff they do?

I know that much pressure for perfectionism requires time and space for me to really think about it. I then turn to the things that can get done quickly without so much stress and possibility of failure. So you guessed it, it goes on the back burner….indefinitely….because more pressing things are actually catching fire on the front burner.

Then it will pop up in my mind that I still haven’t done that thing I wanted to do (write the thank you testimonial), guilt sets in and it gets pushed farther down the pile because I’m embarrassed I didn’t send it sooner.

But, if I had a formula to follow, where I could sort of, fill in the blanks, I could do this without all the extra added pressure. It could be done without dread and exhaustion, easily and timely.

I set out to conquer this “testimonial angst” by creating a formula of sorts and am sharing it in hopes that it helps others create those much needed and appreciated testimonials.

Testimonial Prompts

First, answer a few questions about the product or service provider focusing on where you were BEFORE you hired them (or bought the product), where you were during the process of learning a new habit, getting used to the practice/implementing, and then lastly, how you felt after your needs had been met.

Answer these questions:

• Why did I buy this product or hire this problem? I had to have had a pain that was so pressing that I needed to solve. What was it?

• Something magnetized me to this person or product. Why did I choose it over all the others?

• This product or person must have solved my needs, because I’m so relieved and pleased. How do I feel about having this resolved?

• How did this product or person solve this in a way that made me feel special, unique, or personalized?

• How was this product or service delivered in such a way that it met my needs? Delivery, packaging, and presentation is just as important as the product or service itself.

• From a 35,000 foot view what are your thoughts about this product or service?

Second, what are some keywords that this product or service provider uses in their own marketing materials? Do they say what key solutions they provide? Do they use certain hooky words that you can grab and use?

This will make your job easier and make them happier.

Third, pick a formula from below to outline the basics of your testimonial. Feel free to add additional sentences or info. Pull your answers, keywords and hooky references from Step One and Step Two of your testimonial pre-work.

3 Easy and Effective Testimonial Formulas

1. “SUBJECT’S NAME/PRODUCT” helped me “THE PROBLEM SOLVED”. I learned/received/achieved/experienced “THE SOLUTION” during “HOW YOU WORKED TOGETHER”.
   I was able to “TRANSFORMATION/ROI YOU EXPERIENCED” because “COMPLIMENT” skill/knowledge/service.
   If you want “GOAL DESIRED” then use “SUBJECT NAME/PRODUCT”.
   
   
2. “SUBJECT” - Just a note to say thanks for the “SOLUTION” I received /experienced/learned at/with “BUSINESS NAME/PRODUCT”. I was reserved/skeptical/afraid of the “_____________” but it was “____________.” “COMPLIMENT”.
   
   
3. I hired/approach/bought “BUSINESS NAME/PRODUCT” because “NEED/PAIN”. “BUSINESS NAME/PRODUCT” helped me by “TRANSFORMATION/ROI YOU EXPERIENCED”. The result was “COMPLIMENT”. One thing I liked was her/their/it’s “UNIQUE QUALITY/COMPLIMENT”. I found the experience to be “VALUE”. I would recommend “BUSINESS NAME/PRODUCT” to people who need “TRANSFORMATION/NEED/PROBLEM SOLVED”.

Want to make it easy to get referrals and testimonials from clients? If you have Infusionsoft or another CRM, set up an automated campaign that connects with your clients at regular intervals and sends them not only a thank you for their patronage, but a request for a testimonial using these helpful formulas for quickly completing this task.

Your clients will appreciate you making it easy for them and allowing them to properly say “thanks for all you did for me”!

Don’t forget to include a request for an image of them and their url. This adds visual weight and credibility. Plus it's marketing for that person whose site will most likely get a click thru....a circular thank you!

This week, my goal is to use my handy new Testimonial Creator Tool to create 2 new testimonials for my past service providers, post them to Linkedin, and send them a copy via email for their special needs.

How about you? What if we made it a goal to do this every single week. Talk about creating good-will and giving gratitude!

Did you like this post? Get more just like it along with the powerful Business Builder toolkit today!

Tonya Davidson is Chief Idea Instigator at Idea Return.com and Tonya Davidson.com. She takes your best ideas, sprinkles in a whole lotta marketing creativity, and shows you how to get a bigger return on your investment via automated marketing strategies and building your Red Thread Client Culture membership (recurring revenue).

Subscribe to her regular newsletter for more tips, tricks and useful tidbits at: bit.ly/1C2Ao8F