Template For Testimonial

Top

Testimonials, or Success Stories, are very powerful promotional tools. Vibrant Life has literally hundreds and even thousands of them -- but certainly not all collected or published.

Click here for an example of a fine testimonial that is still in progress.

Those testimonials which will have the best impact should contain certain features, arranged in descending order of importance below. Click on the one-word characteristic to jump to a more detailed explanation of what is needed.

The rules described here apply to both paper-printed and web-published testimonials.

Rank	One Word Characteristic	Details
1	Personal	A testimonial must be "personal." This is, by far, the single most important characteristic of a testimonial.
2	Believable	It must believable. Many times a testimonial is so miraculous that it is hard to believe. Nonetheless the story must be written in a way that makes it believable. Evidence or photos can greatly help in this characteristic.
3	Photos	At least one photo, preferably a close up of the face of the person should be used. Generally the more photos that can be provided, the better the editing selection on what photos to use.
4	Contact	A person who is willing to include his name is necessary. But when they are further willing to provide an address or eMail or phone, that greatly enhances the testimonial.
5	Solicitation	People are often very willing to write a testimonial but get stopped by little things such as a lack of postage stamp. Help them!
6	Competition	A testimonial can talk of "the competition" but it must be careful and accurate. Criticism of "medicine" is safer than criticism of "Dr. Jones."
7	Responsibility	It is a STAFF MEMBER who "creates" a testimonial by calling, writing, asking, suggesting, drafting and follow up.

Personal

One of the characteristics of a "personal" testimonial is that the person describes OTHER parts of his life besides the specific part of his life related to the success he has had.

Not many of the readers of a testimony may have much reality on "avoiding bypass surgery" but they WILL have reality on mundane, but personal, items such as:

What church he attends

What he is proud of, what are his passions

What are his hobbies

Describe his family, with examples of their successes, photos too

What was different when HE went to school, Army, some other part of his life -- particularly good when the person is over 60 -- so his memories are "different" to younger readers. Elders also usually love to talk about their younger years -- they then sound very believable and very personal.

What are his exercise preferences. Even if he DOESN'T exercise, a comment about that, with passion, will communicate well.

Generally, strong emotion that shows through, particularly on some subject IN ADDITION to the subject of the testimony, will make it more powerful.

Photos of his house are OK, but photos of his dog are more personal.

Where has he traveled?

When he refers to others, perhaps not with the status of his State Senator, but the Mayor of his Town or Pastor of his Church that makes it personal

There should be an obvious strong desire on the part of the person giving the testimonial to TELL his story and to SHARE it with others.

Believable

Many of the stories I have already published are hard to believe. My own wife's cure of cancer is accepted as "true" but even so it is not something which the typical reader thinks HE could accomplish.

So, "believable" includes that it reads like it takes simple choices and the specific products or services that the person indicates are the cause of the success.

The image on the left if "believable" because the fish are not "too large" and the setting looks real.

Here are some aspects that make a testimonial believable:

Reference to an comet from some opinion leader, particularly a medical doctor, who acknowledges the fact of the success
All the better if the opinion leader is named specifically, by name and position.
Even better if there is a "comment" in written form!
Most readers won't understand medical terminology, and particularly don't find it believable that the author of a testimonial seems familiar with these words.
Technical explanations or proof will hardly ever be read, but it is still good to have some of that in the success story.

Photos

The old saying is so true: "A photo is worth a thousand words."

Photos should be a requirement for any testimonial we use. We can collect and use anything we get, but (via "solicitation" below) we must work to get photos for every testimonial.

The photos do not have to be extremely high quality, but neither can they be out of focus or such poor quality that a person won't look at them.

If the photos are "news-worthy" all the better. ("Mary gets photo of her receiving a facial from a beautician using Vibrant Skin.")

The mediocre photos will be a still shot, front face, the guy just standing there. A much better photo will be him mowing the grass, riding a horse, helping a kid, buying something in a store. Action shots!

It will be far easier for us if we can get photos by eMail -- so they are already electronic. But, we need to have a scanner for times when we get a printed photo.

This is such an important part of a testimonial that it is worth several back-and-forth communications to find some way someone he knows has or can take some pictures for us.

Make it a very special part of the testimonial -- make it important to the person.

Contact

An anonymous testimonial is worthless.

Even with a "name" on the story, the more marvelous it may seem the less believable it is without a "real" method of contacting the person.

"I read this story of yours on Karl's web. Is that real?" This is what should be possible even if very few will check out the story. The lack of that contact reference diminishes the value of a testimonial hugely.

Avoid an overly commercial story that invites people to contact the person in such a way that the reader may think the contact would be used for some commercial purpose.

We should do SOME amount of verification of the personal name, etc. At least check it out with a phone book.

The truth is that probably only 5% of the readers of a testimonial will bother to try to contact the person. But, lack of a method of contacting the person will turn off most readers. They are cynical of promoters putting up fictitious stories.

Solicitation

Many long years ago my own very successful policy for getting testimonials was as follows:

I was operating my janitorial business. Often it was I who may have personally done the cleaning work the previous evening.

I visited. I did not call. In our case we may not be able to "visit" but the more personal you can make the contact with the person the better. A phone call is better than a Letter. A letter is often better than an eMail. The "mass" of the solicitation is what counts.

I would visit a place I had done the cleaning at and ask, "How did you like the janitor's work?"

First, they hardly ever get asked such a question -- particularly when it is a personal solicitation.

Invariably the person would say, "Fine!" even if he didn't much mean it.

I then pursued it for details: "What did you think was best about the work?"

(There is always something good!)

Return To Top

"Was there anything that you thought could have been better?"

A "success story" is actually more believable when the person has some sort of semi-critical remark to make about it.

"Well, I don't think he had a key for the woman's restroom, so that wasn't cleaned."

Quickly, "Wow! I'll let him know. Where should he look for the key?"

"Yes, I was very happy with the service."

"Would you be willing to give us a success story?"

"Sure."

Here is where procrastination steals 80% of your testimonials away from you. So . . .

"Would it be OK if I draft something, like you told me, and give it to you for approval and signature?"

"Sure."

"Would it be OK if I borrow your typewriter right now and compose something, including what you told me? What else can I include?"

"Sure!" By now the guy is bowled over. He's never been handled that well before -- but he will feel good about it.

IF:

You cannot then exaggerate in any of YOUR words from what he said. GETTING any piece of paper (type it on his letterhead) with his signature will be golden. People won't usually read much of the words, just look at the top and a few lines.

Return To Top

I would then plan for a dozen different testimonials covering a dozen different aspects of janitorial work. I got one that praised the cleaning of the bathrooms, another for putting the wastebaskets back in place, another for a special strip and wax job.

Keep in mind that the company (or janitor) who has a sheaf of these testimonials in his pocket FEELS more confident about his own work or product.

Competition

Karl Loren is famous on the web for ruthless attacks on frauds and scathing comments on individual persons.

Usually the person who writes a testimonial will not have the courage to do this and even if he does it may often make the story less believable: "Dr. Jones fed my wife car grease and she got pneumonia. She died!" Not very believable, even if true.

Since our products tend to be sold at higher prices than many competitive products a comment on this can be very useful, "I bought the Vibrant Skin when there were other creams at one tenth the price. But, I got results from the stuff that I have never even dreamed about for anything else."

Notice the use of "stuff." It makes a success story more personal and more believable when the person uses common words and slang. We will normally "clean up" spelling and punctuation, but the language should not look to elitist.

Responsibility

In any organization of any size there should be one staff member whose title is something like "Success Story I/C." Ideally this is one person, or even several, whose job is nothing more than obtaining testimonials.

The compact to a prospective success story author is vital for the organization in any event -- as the means of making sure the product worked for the person and that the service was excellent.

In today's modern society it is very rare for a consumer to ever have a chance to talk or even receive a personal email from a "real person."

It is often true that the consumer sits in quite rage over some poor service. His "rage" is often only partly because of the poor service, but much more because of the lack of anyone to complain TO!

For instance, I purchased a WaterPic device. I like them, have owned one for years. But mine had "worn out." So, I bought one for some $50. It was defective. I kept it around for a couple months. I "knew" that I could return it to the drug store where I bought it, but I didn't have the receipt any longer and it was too much hassle.

So, in due course I just scrapped it -- like brand new -- and bought another. I was really angry when that one showed the same defect. I'd now spent $100 on two devices and they leaked all over the bathroom counter. I'll probably put up with it.

In the meantime I think dark and ugly thoughts about the Waterpic people and how they got it made in China, cheap, and how the "world is going to hell!"

Then, I dream, some bright young guy or girl calls me, says, "Hi, I'm from Waterpic. I'm calling to make sure you are happy with your purchase. If not, I'll send out a free replacement -- you don't even have to send back the old one."

Wow!

But, it doesn't happen.

Well, it could in OUR company!

Responsibility is where it's at.

These pages are Copyright © 2006 by Karl Loren, All Rights Reserved