Testimonials Add "Ooomph" to Your B2B Website

© Dianna Huff When he was six, my son loved reading the The Magic Treehouse book series by Mary Pope Osborne. He used to talk excitedly about them and would beg me to take him to the library to see if the latest books were in. "Mom," he would say, "I have to see what happens to Teddy!" So we were walking into the library one Saturday morning when he said, "I like to read the first page of 'The Magic Treehouse' books." "Hmmmm . . ." I replied, thinking of other things. "Why is that?" "Because other kids write why they like the books. Other kids think Mary Pope Osborne is a good writer, too." I stopped dead in my tracks. What my son didn't know but was instinctively responding to was the power of testimonials. Whenever I'm asked to overhaul a Website for a company, one of the questions I routinely ask is, "Are testimonials available?" Sometimes companies have been collecting them but aren't quite sure what to do with them. Usually, though, none exist. Why are testimonials so important? And why do you need them on your Website? Testimonials are important because they tell your prospects and customers how others think of you. Testimonials are (usually) unbiased endorsements, and because they are given to you by happy customers without any money exchanging hands, they give your product, service, and company a great deal of credibility. And, testimonials can help lower the risk of doing business with an "unknown" company. Testimonials are easy to obtain -- just ask each customer for a testimonial once you complete a project or sale. People are happy to give them to you, provided, of course, you're a great company with whom to do business. You can also ask people to recommend you on LinkedIn and then transfer these recommendations to your Website, which is what I often do. Once you have your testimonials, add them to your Website -- either on one Testimonial page or sprinkled throughout your site. You can also incorporate testimonials into your sales and marketing collateral. They can be used just about anywhere, including:

• Print ads. Flip through your favorite business magazine to see how other companies use testimonials.
• Direct mail. Use testimonials in direct mail letters, self-mailers, or on the buck slip.
• Newsletters. Whether you do print or electronic, newsletters are a great place to add testimonials.