Making the most of testimonials

While obtaining customer testimonials is sometimes perceived as a low priority by both marketing and sales staff, studies show that customer success stories can play an important role in driving new and repeat business. Here are some tips on getting the most out of positive customer feedback.

Individuals are influenced by the behaviour of those around them. That's not just a well-researched fact, it's one that's supported by common sense and most people's own experience. But just how many opinions does it take to trigger this 'conformity'? Fewer than you might think, it turns out. Studies have shown that it only requires three or four people to make an argument for a specific choice for it to have a significant impact on all others members of a group. In other words, you potentially only need three or four customer success stories to help influence your target market's brand preferences.

Modifying our beliefs

Customer success stories can not only help modify others' opinion of a product or service, they can actually change for the better the opinion of the person providing the testimonial. This is because our actions are – unsurprisingly – generally driven by our beliefs. When we do something that is slightly at odds with our beliefs (a state referred as 'dissonance' by psychologists) we will often then subconsciously modify our belief slightly to restore the equilibrium.

An example of how this can work in practice might involve an architect who specifies a product based largely on price, and despite reservations that it's merely 'adequate for the job'. The architect then goes on to provide a testimonial stating that the product was "the best choice for the job". The architect is not lying. Faced with a tight budget the 'adequate' lower priced product was the best choice under the circumstances. Interestingly though, he or she will often then go on to become a more committed product advocate. Their opinion of the product will improve in a bid to subconsciously 'justify' their own words. An important caveat to this scenario is that the endorsement is made public for all to see, but that is of course the whole point of obtaining a testimonial in the first place.

What this tells us is that if you can influence a customer's actions in endorsing your product or brand, you can actually raise their opinion of it at the same time.

Who to ask for a testimonial

Armed with this information the question of who best to approach for a testimonial is cast in a slightly different light. Your natural inclination might have been to pick the friendliest customers. But why not focus instead on those who are friendly enough to work with but not completely committed to your product? Getting them to provide an endorsement might not only turn them into more committed customers, but could help raise their satisfaction levels – and you'll have gained several useful testimonials.

Saying "thank you"

Another natural instinct is to want to do something nice for a customer that has taken the time and trouble to endorse you publicly, and there's nothing wrong with that. You might think that the larger the gift, the stronger the resultant bond felt by the customer will be. In fact the opposite is true.

Research has shown that when a subject is rewarded for 'inconsistent' behaviour (i.e. where their actions didn't quite match their initial beliefs), the reward itself becomes a subconscious justification. Instead of thinking, "I did it because I liked the product", the customer now starts to think, "I did it because of the gift I received". So, while showing appreciation is certainly in order, care should be taken to ensure that it is perceived as a symbolic gift, without significant value to the client themselves. RIBA Insight, for example, plants a tree (in association with our partners Trees for Life) for every customer testimonial received.

Harvesting customer success stories is not particularly difficult or expensive, but all too often it gets treated as an after-thought. In reality, customer success stories can form the core of an effective customer credibility program and return significant benefits. Strong testimonials can help to close initial sales by leveraging a customer's unconscious desire to conform to the group opinion, while the act of providing a case study can help to drive repeat business by raising the awareness and opinion of your products by the customer providing the reference.

 

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Would you like to provide feedback about your experiences of a RIBA Insight product? For every testimonial received we will plant a tree in the Caledonian Forest. download PDF on 'Making the most of testimonials' ...