Three Must-Have Testimonial Types!

With written testimonials there are three versions you want to include in your materials. The good news is that you don't have to get three testimonials from each client. You just need to know how to chop up a letter effectively to create the format you need. Here are some examples you can consider for your business

Variation 1: A Full letter
Always strive to receive a full testimonial letter from your client. Once you have a full letter you can break it into smaller chucks to use in a variety for ways. In a full letter testimonial the letter should include:

• Client's letterhead
• A full personal signature
• Full contact information
• Details about the program you offered
• Quantifiable results

Here is an example from one of our clients:

Company Logo and Letter head June 1st, 2010 Re: Increased Sales through Coaching. Mentoring and Training Dear Colleen: In the first four months of 2010, we hired Colleen Francis and Engage Selling to work with a number of our sales professionals in Ottawa and Toronto - with one to ten years experience - and with enormous success. In fact the success of the program can be seen through our actual results with sales up 22% over last year. On a weekly basis, Colleen worked closely with each individual on: Setting achievable goals, Turning larger objectives into smaller activities, Building their confidence level, Honing their negotiation skills and dealing with discounting, Choosing better language and tone, Asking for business, Creating stronger meetings, Overcoming hidden objections, Increasing follow-up and after-sales service. This high impact coaching program has been felt throughout our organization. Our sales team is asking for continued or future coaching ideas and support. They expressed a comfort in working closely with an impartial, outside specialist who could offer new ideas or re-package existing ideas. In addition, they heard feedback from a different angle or approach and were better able to accept suggestions for improvement. The investment in mentoring and coaching programs can be significant; in the case of Colleen and Engage Selling, the investment was more than worth it. I would highly recommend their programs, and more so, their program delivery and effectiveness. Should you require clarification or have questions, please contact me at (613) 230-1111 x111. First and Last Name Title Company Name and address

And remember - one of the best ways of getting a letter like this is to draft it for the customer! Don't be shy - you are helping them out by saving them time. So give them a call, ask a few questions and ask the customer if you could send them some text based on the conversation to be used in a testimonial letter. They will virtually always say yes!

Variation 2 : A Paragraph Testimonial
You can leverage this full letter testimonial by creating a shorter 1 paragraph version that would be suited to marketing materials or websites. Choose the most powerful and quantifiable points in the letter to create a powerful paragraph. It's OK to string together a few sentences from various parts of the testimonial letter as long as all the words came from your customer!

Always include the name title and company of the client to complete your testimonial...

In the first four months of 2010, we hired Colleen Francis and Engage Selling to work with a number of our sales professionals in Ottawa and Toronto - with one to ten years experience - and with enormous success. In fact, the success of the program can be seen through our actual results with sales up 22% over last year. Our sales team is asking for continued and future coaching ideas and support. While the investment in mentoring and coaching programs can be significant, in the case of Colleen and Engage Selling, it was more than worth it. I would highly recommend their programs, and more so, their program delivery and effectiveness. Bob Smith, President, ABC Staffing Company

Variation 3: A Short 1-2 Sentence Testimonial
Sometimes short snappy testimonials are best. In the 1-2 sentence format you can use testimonials in email, on websites or as the footer in your proposals. To make the best use of this format choose only the objective and metrics based comments from the letter. Editing is OK as long as you don't change the client's intention or thoughts in the letter. Its always best to seek approval from your client on ay changes you make, just to ensure they are comfortable with the changes.

We hired Colleen Francis and Engage Selling to work with a number of our sales professionals with enormous success. In fact, the success of the program can be seen through our actual results with sales up 22% over last year. Bob Smith, President, ABC Staffing Company

To make the best use of your testimonials be sure to start with the letter format. You can then leverage the letter into multiple formats to use in multiple media and sales situations.

Remember – when your client's say great things about you it's the truth. we we say them about ourselves, it's bragging!

Testimonial Director can help!

With Testimonial Director, you can collect and store different variations of testimonials - allowing you to have all three of these testimonials, managed and automatically published to your web site in the appropriate place! Learn more by signing up for a live demo at: www.TestimonialDirector.com/live-demo.

You have permission to use the above article in your newsletter, publication or email system as long as you do not edit the content and you leave the links and resource box intact.

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