How To Get More Testimonials To Win Cleaning Contracts

When you’re looking into buying or choosing something, be it a product, an experience or an investment, you want to know you’re making the right choice. Unfortunately, there is only so much direct marketing can achieve. Testimonials are often a crucial step in the decision making process; they have the power to make or break a potential new customer and help you win more cleaning contracts.

So how do we ensure a Testimonial is always highlighting the features and benefits we want to promote? Well it’s actually all about how you ask for the testimonial, how you design it, and what you can do in return.

Ask The Right Questions

Dale Beaumont from Business Blueprint suggests you ask your customers for feedback first about your service and ask these 4 simple questions:

Question #1: Please share the story that led you to us
Question #2 Initially, what were your concerns and why did you ultimately choose us?
Question #3 What specific benefits have you received since using our product or service?
Question #4 Who would you recommend us to and why?

While you are fundamentally requesting a testimonial, you are doing so in a manner which shows that you care about the customer and their experience. Opposed to the typical “Please provide a testimonial” follow up email, this demonstrates an element of personal concern which is the most effective way to ask for a testimonial.

After all, great feedback is the perfect testimonial.

Summarise Your Responses

Once you get a favourable reply, summarise the responses and blend them into one or two sentences. Then, send it back to the customer asking if you can use your summary of their responses as a testimonial. Once you get their permission, voila, you have a beautiful testimonial! Don’t forget you can always use quotes from emails and comments on blogs and twitter posts as well.

Make Them Appealing

Ensure you design your testimonials professionally and keep the layout consistent throughout, as this creates a sense of legitimacy which is vital in maintaining trust with potential customers. Poorly designed testimonials are tacky and fundamentally won’t impress anyone; the overarching objective of a testimonial is to achieve a level of trust with readers.

 

This example is from Sleeknote the e-commerce specialists; simple, yet clean and aesthetically pleasing.

 

Profile Photo

Including a photo of the customer brings the testimonial to life. Photo’s add an even deeper element of trust; the reader now has a visual note in their mind of who thought your business was “a life-changing decision”. This is especially effective because, as humans, we connect to human faces. The internet is overflowing with anonymous content which can leave you wondering what’s real and what’s not. Be unique. Be authentic. Be credible.

People can also be shy, so sometimes, we do need to give them a little bit of a shove. So offer them a discount on their next purchase or something similar if you feel they may be reluctant to send you a photo.

Testimonials are evergreen, which means you can use them forever, so it’s worth while taking a hit on their next purchase for a credible testimonial with a Photo.

Website or Business 

Similar to adding a photo, adding a business or URL adds legitimacy. Readers are able to visit a website and get a feel for where this person comes from and potentially how your business helped them. Not to mention, you could potentially grant them a new customer.

Location

While not always particularly necessary or relevant, a location can also add a layer of trust. So long as the customer is from the same city your business is located in, it can be quite effective in further proving the reliability of the testimonial. Any information you can include to provide legitimacy, is critical.

Multimedia 

Multimedia, such as, a video or voice clip can also be extremely impressive. Multimedia is such a successful tool as it brings a whole new level of visuality, and it’s something out of the ordinary. Additionally, it demonstrates immense gratitude which can be extremely compelling; the client has loved your product so much, that they’ve gone to the effort of videoing themselves.

Once you start using Proposal Software to your Quotes and Proposals, Video Testimonials will really turn your game up. Imagine being a Customer receiving an Digital Cleaning Proposal which when opened plays a Testimonials form an extremely happy customer. This type of marketing, is going to crush your conversions.

 

Give Back

Additionally, I always offer my customers a little bit of SEO love too, by letting them know we’ll be providing a link to their website from ours, as part of the testimonial; nurturing your customer is the key to keeping them around.

The very last piece of the puzzle is to offer them a gift if they also provide a profile photo or video to accompany their testimonial. This notion of giving back to your customers is what builds healthy and sustainable customer relationships; never forgetting that the customer always comes first. Whether it’s a Bottle of Wine, a Business or Self Help Book from Amazon, a discount off future purchases or a free service – your customer will be grateful. Because at the end of the day, that testimonial is worth its weight in gold.

Beaumont, D. (2018). 4 Simple Questions That Will Get You More Testimonials. Retrieved from, https://businessblueprint.com.au/get-more-testimonials/

Davies, S. (2018). 7 Simple But Powerful Customer Testimonial Examples You Can Steal. Retrieved from, https://sleeknote.com/blog/customer-testimonials