Yesterday I held a coaching call with a coaching client. At the end of it I asked if he had any last questions for me. He did:
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Do you do anything to seek out testimonials? Because I don’t feel I’ve gotten anything since I’ve purchased your course that enticed me to do it. But maybe I might have missed it. I feel I don’t do a great job of it. I have one follow-up email for people who purchased my [course] a week later and another one for [his other course].
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Great question.
Testimonials are super important, both for possible future buyers and for that person who just bought — it makes it more likely they appreciate what they just bought, and get value from it, and stick around.
Beyond that, testimonials are super important for you, the person who created the course — or at least they are for me.
Making a sale is nice, I won’t lie.
But hearing that somebody actually appreciates your work (as I’ve had happen lots of times) or genuinely had a life-changing experience due to it (as I’ve had happen on a few occasions) makes you feel good about what you do… makes you more likely to stick with it for long term… makes you more likely to put in extra effort with the next product you launch, because you realize what can be at stake.
So how do you seek out testimonials to benefit your present customers, your future customers, and yourself?
Here are three different strategies, ranked in terms of how effective they’ve been for me:
One, like my coaching client said, is an automated followup process. It’s better than nothing, but I’ve found it pretty weak in general.
I had a followup email for my Copy Riddles course back when it was delivered as a “live” course that went out one email a day. After the complete batch of course emails had gone out, I would let a couple days pass, then send out an extra “what feedback do you have for me” email.
I did get a few testimonials that way, but it was nothing to write to a motel, hotel, or houseboat about, and certainly not to home.
The second strategy I’ve used is a request for a testimonial inside the product itself. I usually end my courses with a little signoff. Here’s how I end my Most Valuable Email course:
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We’ve reached the end of this course. I want to say thanks once again for your trust in me, and for getting this course. And I’d like to commend you for making it to the end — most people never do that.
I hope you will apply this Most Valuable Trick for yourself, because it really has been that valuable to me, without any hyperbole. And it can be the same for you. If you do apply it — when you do apply it — write in and let me know the results. I’d love to know.
Good luck, and I hope to hear from you soon.
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I have had a fair number of people finish courses and write in with feedback after I prompted it like this. Perhaps it’s a better moment than when a followup email arrives — the end of a course is an emotional high, at least if the course is good.
But the third and most effective way I’ve sought out testimonials is simply engagement, as in:
1. Writing engaging emails (the recent “Even numbers for the dead” email drew a lot of replies, including some that were effectively testimonials)
2. Using engagement bait (as I do often, see my “Magic boxes” email from a few days ago for that)
3. Actually engaging directly with readers, in some limited but real way
And of course, when people give you testimonials, you want to encourage more such behavior. That means you feature the testimonial not just on your sales page, but in your emails. Name the person. Say you appreciate what they’ve done for you. And mean it.
Let me give you an example:
A few days ago, out of the blue, I got an email from a new subscriber, Pete Reginella.
Pete had bought my 10 Commandments book on Amazon without being previously on my list. He signed up to my list to get the little-known, apocryphal 11th Commandment. He read the welcome email which delivers the bonus, which starts out like this:
“First off, thanks for reading my 10 Commandments book all the way to the end. I’d love to hear what you thought of it, particularly if you thought it was wonderful. Just hit reply and let me know.”
Pete did write in, and I’m grateful to him for it. Here’s what he had to say:
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Hey John,
I’ve read lots of copywriting books in my short time as a copywriter and I must say…
Yours was actually the only one I couldn’t stop reading.
I actually read it all in one sitting.
It was very easy to consume and well written.
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So that’s a short how-to course on seeking out testimonials.
As for a short how-to course on the supreme element of your copy to worship above all others…
… and a short how to course on getting everything you want in life, at least the material stuff…
… and a short how-to course on making your copy easy to consume…
… for all that and more, check out my 10 Commandments book: