Testimonial

Anyone reading a sales page knows the seller wrote it. A testimonial is the part of the page the seller did not write. When a prospect hesitates on price, risk or whether the product suits a company like theirs, a specific quote from a similar customer answers the doubt more convincingly than another paragraph of copy. Without one, satisfied customers sit unused at the moment a buyer most needs reassurance.

• Ask soon after a clear win, while the result is fresh and the customer is pleased.
• Ask for an outcome, not an opinion: what changed, by how much and over what period.
• Collect quotes from different company sizes and uses, so one matches whoever is reading.
• Put the quote next to the decision, for example beside the price or the form, and not only on a separate page.
• Get written permission, use the customer's name and role where they agree, and never edit a quote so that it says something the customer did not.

A testimonial can be a written quote, a short video, a rating with a comment or a full case study. What defines it is that the words come from the customer. It is one form of social proof, and one of the strongest, because a prospect can picture themselves in that customer's position.

The test of a good testimonial is whether it contains a fact. "Great to work with" is pleasant and forgettable. "We cut the time we spend producing the monthly report from two days to three hours" can be checked and remembered.

• Anonymous quotes with no name, company or role, which read as invented.
• Only ever showing praise for the product, and never for the outcome.