When potential new clients are looking at your website, deciding whether or not they’re going to use your services, what do you think the most important thing that persuades them is?
Obviously the list of services you offer and your prices are the top two, but what else? Is it your funky homepage? Your excellent origin story on the ‘About Us’ section? Your well-written and interesting blog?
Well, yes, those are definitely going to be part of it. But think about what helps you make a decision when you’re considering a new company. Personally, I always head straight to the testimonials and case studies. I like to know how they’ve helped clients in the past and what people are willing to say about them!
So when you’re building your own site (or giving it a revamp), it’s really important to include case studies and testimonials. I appreciate that they’re not always the easiest thing to write or ask for though, so have put together a few tips to really help you get the best results possible!
First off, case studies –
- Make sure you’re telling the right story
When you’re choosing a client to write a case study about, make sure you choose someone you’ve provided excellent results for. You want your study to be compelling, informative, and really show your value. Preferably you’ll write about someone you have a strong relationship with, as a potential client may contact them to ask for a recommendation.
- Tell the full story
Key elements you need to include are –
- Who the client is and what they do
- What help they needed and why they came to you
- What they wanted to achieve by working with you
- The solution you gave them and what the results were
- It doesn’t need to be War and Peace
That said, it might be tempting to write a long, detailed piece of prose. However, that’s not necessarily going to be the easiest thing for people to read! Make sure it’s easy to follow and take in at a glance. People will most likely want to skim read it to take the salient points so don’t overload it with unnecessary details.
- Get sign off!
You must, MUST let your client know if you’re writing a case study on them, and you have to get sign off. You might be sharing information they don’t necessarily want to be in the public domain, or they may want to change some minor details you’ve included – whichever, it’s only courteous, if you’re using their name and story, to make sure you have their final OK.
- Ask for an objective eye
It may feel slightly disingenuous to write about how well you do your job (and let’s not even start on writing about yourself in the third person!), so don’t hesitate to ask for help from a third party if you need, especially if you have a habit of hiding your light under a bushel. They’ll tell you if you’re under- or overselling yourself, and may help you look at things from a more objective angle.
When it comes to testimonials, you want to make it as easy as possible for your clients and customers to give you a glowing review. Some people may feel pressured to give you something word perfect and instead freeze like a rabbit in the headlights!
Make it clear that you don’t need them to write pages, just a few short and sweet sentences will do! You could even make it easier and ask them a few questions to answer that will give you a few quotable responses (again, get sign off if you’re doing this and make sure the customer is happy with what you’re saying).
If you’ve done a one-off job for them, strike while the iron’s hot and ask them straight away for a review/testimonial. If it’s someone you work with on a regular basis, you have a little more flexibility with the timing, but avoid times you know are busy for them.
Of course, there are other ways to ask for a testimonial besides getting someone to write it. Think about asking your customer to record a voice note for you, or create a feedback form/survey (let people know you may use their responses for marketing purposes and give them the option to opt out). And when a client does send something over, be sure to thank them promptly.
It can feel a bit cringey asking people for testimonials I know, but be confident! Once you get past the awkward feeling of asking for a compliment, it gets easier and will become automatic, to the point where you’ll soon have a lovely bank of great sales tools at your disposal!
Until next time!
Stay productive.