USING TESTIMONIALS
By: Robert W. Bly
Using testimonials quotations from satisfied customers and clients is one of the simplest and most effective ways of adding punch and power to brochure, ad and direct-mail copy. But how do
you get testimonials? How do you use them?Here are some tips for using testimonials: 1. Always use real testimonials instead of made-up ones. Even the most skilled copywriter can rarely make up a testimonial that canmatch the
sincerity and credibility of genuine words of praisefrom a real customer or client.If you ask a customer to give you a testimonial, and he or she says, "Sure, just write something and I'll sign it," politely reply:
"Gee,I appreciate that, but would you mind just giving me your opinion of our product--in your own words?" Fabricated or self-authored test-imonials (those written by the advertiser or their copywriter) us-ually sound
phoney; genuine testimonials invariably have the ringof truth. 2. Prefer long testimonials to short ones. Many advertisers arehooked on using very short testimonials. For instance:"...fabulous!...""truly
funny...thought-provoking...""...excellent...wonderful..."I believe that when people see these ultra-short testimonials, they suspect that a skillful editing job has masked a comment that was not as favorable as the
writer makes it appear. In my opinion, longer testimonials--say, two or three sentences versus a single word or phrase--come across as more believable. For example: "Frankly, I was nervous about using an outside consultant.
But your excellent service has made me a believer! You can be surethat we'll be calling on your firm to organize all our majorsales conferences and other meetings for us. Thanks for a jobwell done! "Sure, it's longer, but it
somehow seems more sincere than a one-word superlative which brings us to... 3. Prefer specific, detailed testimonials to general or superlative testimonials. Upon receiving a letter of praise from a customer, our initial
reaction is to read the letter and find thesingle sentence that directly praises our company or our product. With a blue pencil, we extract the words we think are kindest about us, producing a bland bit of puffery such as:"We
are very pleased with your product"Actually, most testimonials would be stronger if we included moreof the specific, detailed comments our client has made about howour product or service helped him. After all, the prospects we
areto sell to may have problems similar to the one our current cust-omer solved using our product. If we let Mr. Customer tell Mr. Prospect how our company came to his rescue, he'll be helping us make the sale. For
instance:"We have installed your new Chemi Coat system in each of ourbottling lines and have already experienced a 25 percent sav-ings in energy and material costs. Thanks to your system, wehave now added an additional
production line with no increasein energy costs. This has increased profits 15 percent andalready paid back the investment in your product. We are verypleased with your product."Again, don't try to polish the customer's words
so it sounds like professional ad copy. Testimonials are usually much more convincingwhen they are not edited for style. 4. Use full attribution. We've all opened direct mail packages that contained testimonials from "J.B.
in Arizona'" or "Jim S. Self-MadeMillionaire." I suspect that many people laugh at such testimonialsand think they are phoney.To increase the believability for your testimonials, attribute eachquotation. Include the
person's name, city and state, and (if a business customer) their job title and company (e.g., "Jim K. Redding, vice president of manufacturing, Divmet Corporation, Fairfield, N.J."). People are more likely to believe
this sort offull disclosure than testimonials which seem to conceal the iden-tity of the speaker. 5. Group your testimonials. There are two basic ways to presenttestimonials: You can group them together in one area of your
bro-chure or ad, or you can scatter them throughout the copy. A thirdalternative is to combine the two techniques, having many testi-monials in a box or buck slip and a smattering of other testi-monials throughout the rest of your
copy.I've seen both approaches work well, and the success of the pre-sentation depends, in part, on the skill of the writer and the specific nature of the piece. But, all else being equal, I preferthe first approach: to group
all your testimonials and present themas a single block of copy. This can be done in a box, on a separate page or on a separate sheet. My feeling is that when the prospectreads a half dozen or so testimonials, one right after
another, they have more impact and power than when the testimonials areseparated and scattered throughout the piece.6. Get permission. Make sure you get permission from your customerto reprint his words before including his
testimonial in your copy.I suggest that you send a letter quoting the lines you want to re-print and ask permission to include them in ads, direct mail, bro-chures, and other materials used to promote your firm. Notice I'masking
for a general release that gives me permission to use the customer's quotation in all current and future promotions, not just a specific ad or letter. This lets me get more mileage out of his favorable comment and eliminates the
need to ask permissionevery time I want to use the quote in a new ad or letter.Whenever a customer sends a letter with positive comments about your company or product, immediately seek permission to use thistestimonial in your ads,
brochures, direct mail, and other pro-motions.The easiest way to do this is to send a "release letter" to the client (along with a photocopy of the testimonial letter, withthe passages you want to reprint highlighted in
yellow).Your release letter can follow this basic format:Mr. Mike JonesAdvertising ManagerWorld EnterprisesAnytown, USADear Mike:Thanks for your letter of 12/12/87 (copy attached). I'm glad you're pleased with our product!I'd like
to quote from your letter in the ads, brochures, direct mail, and other promotions we use to market our product--with your permission, of course.If this is OK with you, would you please sign the bottom ofthis letter and send it
back to me in the envelope enclosed.The second copy is for your files.Many thanks, Mike.Regards,Jane SmithYes, you have my permission to quote from the attached letter in ads, brochures, mail, and other promotions used to
marketyour product. Signed________________Date_________________I always enclose a self-addressed, stamped reply envelope plus a second copy of the permission letter (for the recipient's files).SOLICITING TESTIMONIALSIf your
customers don't send you letters of praise (and many won't), then you can ask them to give you a testimonial. How?Simply send a letter to clients and customers who are happy withyour product or service and ask for their comments.
Here's aletter I use (feel free to copy or adapt it):Mr. Alex SamuelsProduct SupervisorXYZ CorporationAnyplace, USADear Alex:I have a favor to ask of you.I'm in the process of putting together a booklet of testimon-ials--a
collection of comments about my services, from satis-fied clients like yourself.Would you please take a few minutes to give me your opinionof my consulting services?There's no need to dictate a letter--just jot your comments on the
back of this letter, sign below, and return to me in the en-closed envelope. (The second copy is for your files.)I look forward to learning what you like about my service...butI also welcome any suggestions or criticisms, too.Many
thanks, Alex.Regards,Bob BlyYou have my permission to quote from my comments, and use thesequotations in ads, brochures, mail, and other promotions used tomarket your services. Signed__________________Date_________________Note
that I am asking for an "opinion" instead of a testimonial, and that I urge Alex to give me criticisms as well as positivecomments. In this way, I'm not just asking for a favor; I'm gettinginformation that will help me
serve my client better in the future.Thus, I'm not the only one who profits; we both do.If you solicit testimonials from your satisfied clients and custom-ers, and you always get permission to use any unsolicited testimon-ials that
people send you, you'll soon build a thick testimonial file. Because you've gotten people to give you a "blanket release" to use their comments any way you choose, you can use these test-imonials in any or all of your
marketing materials--from ads andsales letter, to brochures and catalogs.One quick and easy way to use these testimonials is simply to typethem up single-spaced and reprint them on an 8 1/2-by-11-inch sheet of paper. The headline
reads: "What they say about (your com-pany or product)." If you have a lot of testimonials, you can printon the reverse side or go to a second sheet. Don't forget to in-clude your address and phone number at the bottom of
the page. Use the testimonial sheet as a handout, as an additional enclosure in direct-mail packages, or as a supplement to your sales brochure.Always give the sheet and a duplicate of your full testimonial fileto any ad agency,
copywriter, or marketing consultant you hire. Itwill be tremendously helpful to them when they create ads, bro-chures, and direct mail packages for you.Browser Fixed
