Testimonials: An Important Part of Growing Your Business

If you've ever watched an infomercial, you've probably noticed how they use testimonials to support their claims.

There's a reason for this: testimonials make an offer much more believable.

You've probably also noticed that the most believable testimonials seem to come from ordinary-looking and real-sounding people.

Perhaps you've seen those business opportunity commercials where they use people who appear to be actors. Do those testimonials seem staged to you? They probably seem staged to other people, too.

Staged or contrived testimonials can do more harm than good because today's consumers are more observant than ever. They can smell a phony a mile away.

You've probably noticed how the most convincing infomercial testimonials state specific benefits derived and results achieved from using the product. There's a reason for this, too. The more specific a testimonial is, the more believable it will be.

Most good testimonials describe the problems the person was having and go on to state how the product solved those problems. This is done for a reason: credibility.

The infomercial producers want viewers to relate easily to the plight of the people giving the testimonials. They want us to feel their pain and agony. Then they want us to understand how quickly and easily their solution solved the problems. They want us to share in the feeling of relief the product brought to the people giving the testimonials.

Another aspect of most good infomercials is showing real people - perhaps from a studio audience or right off the street - using the product and getting results on the spot. This can be very powerful when skeptical consumers are won over right in front of us. And when they confirm the positive results, we are ready to get out our credit cards and order.

How you can apply these methods to your business

First, use real people in your testimonials, never actors. Get them to give you permission to use their full names, city and state. NEVER use just initials - unless the nature of your product or service requires confidentiality.

Note: You CAN use an actor for an endorsement, which is different from a testimonial.

Second, try your best to get people to state the specific results they got from using what you offer. This is more than just saying how great your product or service is. Get them to say exactly how it helped them.

Third, whenever possible, use photos or video that captures people in the act of using your product; or before and after shots; or sound bites that describe specific results.

And finally, NEVER make up testimonials - EVER. This can be fatal to your business if the media ever finds out.