Last Thursday, I wrote about the three elements of effective client testimonials for your website - the testimonial itself, the signature on the testimonial and how they're used on the site. If you missed it, here's a link to the article.

http://clientinsights.ca/article/simple-steps-to-persuasive-client-testimonials

Let's suppose you buy into the idea of testimonials. The next question is how to obtain those testimonials in a fashion that's comfortable for you and your clients.

Here are some simple steps to making this happen.

Step One - Set your goal

Start by identifying how many testimonials you'd like - I'm going to suggest your starting goal should be no less than five.

Think as well about who you want to get testimonials from, based on the new clients you're targeting   - retirees, business owners, professionals, pre retirees, executives of a particular company, members of a particular industry, or a cross section of all of these. 

If you work with two or three categories of clients, in the perfect world  your website would have two or three testimonials from each client category, divided into groups.

Step Two - Select target clients

The second step is to select the best candidates from among your clients. 

Start by writing down a list of clients who have provided referrals in the past two years - you know they're happy and comfortable recommending you.

Then add clients who've told you they're happy, bearing in mind the fit with your target clients.  Everything else being equal, focus on clients who are more extroverted and outgoing.

Step Three - Plan your approach

If you've got a meeting or call coming up with a client you've targeted, you could plan to talk about a testimonial as part of that conversation.

The downside is that if you end by talking about testimonials, this may get in the way of clients taking away other key messages. There's also a risk that clients may see the meeting or call being motivated by your interests rather than theirs.  That's why as a general rule, I've found the best approach is to pick up the phone and make a call specifically on this subject.

Step Four - Introduce the topic of referrals

For some advisors, the most difficult and awkward part of getting testimonials is actually bringing the topic up.

Here's what you could say on that call:

 "I'm calling to ask for a favour.  I very much appreciate your confidence  in introducing me to your friend Mary. Over the next while, I will be adding short comments to my website from a cross section of my clients, briefly describing their experience working with me. I wonder if you might consider being one of the clients who gives me a quick comment."

A few things to note about this request:

-          It starts by asking for a favour; clients you have a good relationship with are generally predisposed to helping you out.

-          The request is brief and to the point

-          You use the less threatening word "comment" rather than "testimonial"

-          You emphasize that the comment will be short and that the process won't be onerous

-          You make it clear that there will be a number of clients participating, so no individual client will be singled out

Responses to this question are going to fall into three broad categories:

1.       Sure, happy to help

2.       Tell me more - what would be entailed

3.       Let me think about it

The reason for saying "I wonder if you might consider" is to give clients an easy out; if they're uncomfortable, they can say "let me give this some thought. If a client says they want to think about this, your answer should be:

"Not a problem, take as much time as you need. If you decide you're comfortable with this, let me know. And if not, I'll absolutely understand."

Step Five - Obtaining the testimonial

Often, clients who are willing to provide a testimonial will say that that they will write something out and send it along.

The difficulty is that there are three possible outcomes, only one of which is positive:

1.       You get a testimonial you can use

2.       You get a testimonial that is too long or is not usable for some other reason

3.       Clients procrastinate the same way we do - and the testimonial doesn't follow. This can be awkward, as you don't want to have clients feel that you're harassing them and they may in fact start avoiding you because they feel guilty.

That's why, if clients say they'll get back to you with a testimonial, I recommend that you respond:

"That's terrific, many thanks. But if I could just take one more minute, if someone you knew asked you about your experience working with me, how would you answer that question?"

At that point, you stop and listen, taking careful notes of what you hear. More often than not, your clients will answer with the kinds of words you can use in the testimonial. If not, you can ask a further question such as "And what would you say about the level of contact?" or "How about the impact of the plan that we developed?"

In just a couple of minutes, you're typically be able to say: "What you've told me is exactly what I had in mind. I wonder if I could use what you just said?"  Clients will almost always say yes, after all they're now off the hook to provide the testimonial. Meanwhile, in less than five minutes, you have a testimonial that you can put on your site.

Step Six - Getting agreement to personal details

The last piece of the puzzle is getting clients to agree to the personal details that will go with their testimonial.

In last Thursday's article, I made the point that the more information about the client providing the testimonial, the more credible it is. So here's what you want to aim for in terms of the information under the testimonial:

Dan Richards

CEO, Video production firm

North Toronto

Client since 2004

The one area that can be troublesome is getting permission to list your clients' names. While this substantially enhances the credibility of the testimonial, it can also be a point of sensitivity, both for clients and for advisors. Even without the names, however, providing the other information can still send the right message.

Note that you should get client confirmation that they are comfortable with the testimonial itself and with the information underneath it. One way to do get this is to send clients an email with the testimonial and ask them to reply via email that they understand that this will appear on your website. When the testimonials appear on your website, drop clients a note with a link to their testimonials,  thanking them again.

If you decide that testimonials would enhance your website,  ensure you understand your firm's compliance policy on employing testimonials on websites. Then carve out a couple of hours one afternoon this week to begin the process of contacting clients - my conversations with advisors who've done this suggest that most find this a surprisingly easy process.

Last Thursday, I wrote about the three elements of effective client testimonials for your website; the testimonial itself, the signature on the testimonial and how they are used on the site.  If you missed it, here is a link to the article.

http://clientinsights.ca/article/simple-steps-to-persuasive-client-testimonials

Letus suppose you buy into the idea of testimonials.  The next question is how to obtain those testimonials in a fashion that is comfortable for you and your clients.

Here are some simple steps to making this happen.

Step One - Set your goal

Start by identifying how many testimonials you would like.   I am going to suggest your starting goal should be no less than five.

Think as well about who you want to get testimonials from, based on the new clients you are targeting; retirees, business owners, professionals, pre retirees, executives of a particular company, members of a particular industry, or a cross section of all of these. 

If you work with two or three categories of clients, in the perfect world,  your website would have two or three testimonials from each client category, divided into groups.

Step Two - Select target clients

The second step is to select the best candidates from among your clients. 

Start by writing down a list of clients who have provided referrals in the past two years.  You know they are happy and comfortable recommending you.

Then add clients who have told you they are happy, bearing in mind the fit with your target clients.  Everything else being equal, focus on clients who are more extroverted and outgoing.

Step Three - Plan your approach

If you have a meeting or call coming up with a client you have targeted, you could plan to talk about a testimonial as part of that conversation.

The downside is that if you end by talking about testimonials, this may get in the way of clients taking away other key messages.  There is also a risk that clients may see the meeting or call being motivated by your interests rather than theirs.  That is why as a general rule, I have found the best approach is to pick up the phone and make a call specifically on this subject.

Step Four - Introduce the topic of referrals

For some advisors, the most difficult and awkward part of getting testimonials is actually bringing the topic up.

Here is what you could say on that call:

 "I am calling to ask for a favour.  I very much appreciate your confidence in introducing me to your friend Mary.  Over the next while, I will be adding short comments to my website from a cross section of my clients, briefly describing their experience working with me.  I wonder if you might consider being one of the clients who gives me a quick comment."

A few things to note about this request:

-          It starts by asking for a favour; clients you have a good relationship with are generally pre-disposed to helping you out.

-          The request is brief and to the point

-          You use the less threatening word "comment" rather than "testimonial"

-          You emphasize that the comment will be short and that the process will not be onerous

-          You make it clear that there will be a number of clients participating, so no individual client will be singled out

Responses to this question are going to fall into three broad categories:

1.       Sure, happy to help

2.       Tell me more - what would be entailed

3.       Let me think about it

The reason for saying "I wonder if you might consider" is to give clients an easy out; if they are uncomfortable, they can say "let me give this some thought".  If a client says they want to think about this, your answer should be:

"Not a problem, take as much time as you need.  If you decide you are comfortable with this, let me know, and if not, I will absolutely understand."

Step Five - Obtaining the testimonial

Often, clients who are willing to provide a testimonial will say that that they will write something out and send it along.

The difficulty is that there are three possible outcomes, only one of which is positive:

1.       You get a testimonial you can use

2.       You get a testimonial that is too long or is not usable for some other reason

3.       Clients procrastinate the same way we do,and the testimonial does not follow.  This can be awkward, as you do not want to have clients feel that you are harassing them, and they may in fact start avoiding you because they feel guilty.

That is why, if clients say they will get back to you with a testimonial, I recommend that you respond:

"That is terrific, many thanks.  But if I could just take one more minute, if someone you knew asked you about your experience working with me, how would you answer that question?"

At that point, you stop and listen, taking careful notes of what you hear.  More often than not, your clients will answer with the kinds of words you can use in the testimonial.  If not, you can ask a further question such as "And what would you say about the level of contact?" or "How about the impact of the plan that we developed?"

In just a couple of minutes, you are typically  able to say: "What you have told me is exactly what I had in mind.  I wonder if I could use what you just said?"   Clients will almost always say yes, after all they are now off the hook to provide the testimonial.  Meanwhile, in less than five minutes, you have a testimonial that you can put on your site.

Step Six - Getting agreement to personal details

The last piece of the puzzle is getting clients to agree to the personal details that will go with their testimonial.

In last Thursday's article, I made the point that the more information about the client providing the testimonial, the more credible it is. So here is what you want to aim for in terms of the information under the testimonial:

Dan Richards

CEO, Video production firm

North Toronto

Client since 2004

The one area that can be troublesome is getting permission to list your clients' names.  While this substantially enhances the credibility of the testimonial, it can also be a point of sensitivity, both for clients and for advisors.  Even without the names, however, providing the other information can still send the right message.

Note that you should get client confirmation that they are comfortable with the testimonial itself and with the information underneath it.  One way to do get this is to send clients an email with the testimonial and ask them to reply via email that they understand that this will appear on your website. When the testimonials appear on your website, drop clients a note with a link to their testimonials, thanking them again.

If you decide that testimonials would enhance your website, ensure you understand your firm's compliance policy on employing testimonials on websites.  Then carve out a couple of hours one afternoon this week to begin the process of contacting clients.  My conversations with advisors who have done this suggest that most find this a surprisingly easy process.