How to Get Great Testimonials
by Julian Franklin
This month I’d like to teach you how to get your clients
to provide raving reviews about your shows. How valuable are testimonials?
They can totally sell your show. When you say nice things about your
show people automatically discout what you say because they figure (rightly
so) that you would always say nice things about yourself, even if they weren’t
true. But when someone else says nice things about you, it is much more
credible. When dozens of people are saying nice things about you, then
it must be true.
When I decided I was going to enter the market for summer
library reading programs I developed a very specific method of acquiring positive
reviews. The following year (12 months after my first entry into the
market) I booked over 85 summer reading programs, and I was charging 25-50%
more than many of my long standing competitors. I made more in 10 weeks
than most magicians make in a year. The positive reviews I recieved
the first year and subsiquently shared with any potential client who would
listen or read played a huge role in my success in booking those shows.
So how do you get great reviews? It is a multi-step
process that begins with those dreaded words: “First, you have to have a good
show...” I’ve addressed in other columns about how to insure you have
a good show and for the sake of this article we will have to assume that
you have. Otherwise you simply won’t get good reviews no matter what
techniques you use.
Once you have a good, funny, entertaining act that meets
the clients needs, and after having performed the show and given the client
everything you promised plus a little bit more, the next thing you must do
is immediately cement in the client’s mind that they enjoyed the show.
You do this by asking them, in their euphoric, post-show state, if there was
anything at all that you could have done to have made the show any better.
You do this AT the show. Don’t wait a week, a day, or even an hour.
You ask them right after the show.
Remember, most of your clients are planning an event
that is (at least to them) a major deal. They have last minute jitters
just like anyone else and once the tension is releaved, they enter a temporary
state of euphoria. So, as long as you didn’t totally bomb, the client
should be in a good mood. By asking at that time you compell them to
say something in their euphoric state which means that most often it will
be something nice. Now, when you follow up later in writing, they are
averse to contradict their previous statements and you are more likely to
get another positive feedback.
As soon as I get home I follow up with a letter than
includes a survey. The survey I’ve designed asks questions that I use
to help develop my show. I ask them to rate certain aspects of my show
(humor, educational value, overall impression, etc.) on a scale from 1-5.
I specifically avoided the familiar 1-10 scale for a few important psychological
reasons.
People hesitate to give anyone a 10. Many feel
that is simply TOO good. So they will give a lot of 9s instead.
But on a scale from 1-5, if they don’t give you the highest rating then they
are forced to give you a rating of slightly above average. Well, if
your show is good they won’t want to do that, so they put down a 5.
This also lets those who are generous to give you a 10 and if your show is
really good, you will get a few who mark down 10. That instantly becomes
a great reference quote “On a scale from one to five, you are a TEN!!”
My survey also includes several open ended questions
like “What was most memorable about the show?”, “What did you like
best about the show?” and “What could I do to improve my show?”. When
you get questionaires back in the mail you will find that you not only have
some wonderful quotes and testimonials, but you also have some great insight
into ways to truly improve what you offer. Please don’t make the mistake
of believing too much of the good things people say about you while ignoring
the bad. Any negative comment is an opportunity to further improve your
show.
I send out these questionaires after my shows along with
a letter thanking the client for the opportunity to work with them and briefly
explaining that I am constantly trying to improve my shows. I ask them
for their help by filling out the enclosed survey and then mention that I
often use the comments in promotional material and if they don’t want me to
use their name or comments to please let me know. I get over 99% of
the surveys back. The reason is because I make the form short (one double
sided page with 10 questions total, half of which are 1-5 scale questions)
and I include a self addressed stamped envelope.
I don’t include postage paid envelopes or even metered
postage. By putting a postage stamp on a pre-addressed envelope and
including it with the questionaire you will have amazing response rates simply
because people can’t bring themselves to throw away a perfectly good stamp.
But they won’t waste the time and effort to soak the stamp off for their own
use, so they just fill in the questionaire and drop it in the mail.
The extra few cents of including the stamped envelope will pay huge dividends
in testimonials.
Now you have to put those testimonials to work.
I’ve found the easiest way to do this is to create a flyer of quotes.
Be sure to include the name of the person making the quote if possible, otherwise
it seems much less valid. This is why it is important to ask permission
in your letter that you send out with the questionaire.
My flyers show the different quotes in a few different
fonts just to deliniate the different speakers. I include 10 or so on
each side of a double sided piece of paper and put a headline at the top of
one side like “Find Out What Everyone is Talking About” or something similar.
Others have used the headline “What Applause Looks Like on Paper”. Borrow
these or develop your own headline, but make yourself a quote sheet, then
inlcude this flyer in all your letters and promotional mailings.
Is it easy to make up all these forms and letters and
then send them out after every show? Really it is. Why don’t more
people do it? I don’t know, but it makes for easy pickings for those
of us who do. I highly encourage everyone (outside of my market area)
to try this at least until you have enough good quotes to create a flyer.
Your banker will thank you for it.
Julian Franklin is a marketing consultant, behavior modification specialist,
and author who develops creative ways to stimulate growth in your business.
For more information, including the opportunity to subscribe to his free montly
e-newsletter, you can visit www.JulianSpeaks.com