Why testimonials sucks

[sixx]

Originally Posted by JohnSheppard

However, I will shut up now as I am taking it off topic

Nah, I don't think you are heading off topic, you just have a thought provoking way with words (and it makes alot of sense) which I thought was the thread subject.

Even the thinly veiled self-written-testimony "About Us" page is probably one of the most disproportionate pages on any given site. All one way traffic, never a mention of projects that took several attempts, ran over budget, client pulled out etc.
Portfolio page? we read in the "About Us" that hundreds of satisfied cutomers later .... yet only a handful of projects on display. Are we to assume the majority go bottoms up?

So why bother?

Because it works. )

[abacus]

As a buyer, I treat written ( website) testimonials with a grain of salt and rarely read them. To me thay are like references in CV's no-one is going to write a bad reference or testimonial

If I am looking to buy a big ticket item. I generally go with brands I have either bought before or with one's that close friends and family have.

Case Study: Friend needed to buy a new washing machine..she asked around and had pretty well decided on Brand A (that many of us have had for years with no problems)..In the course of her decision she asked a repair man what he thought. "hey mr repair man who MAKES A LIVING out of fixing broken manchines, what is the best one to buy...which one's DON't you have to work on??...all my friends are recomending A. answer "Oh noooo don't buy brand A..they are just a rebranded X and have not good parts etc etc etc...buy Brand B (eurpean) they are great, hardly ever see one, parts readily available here in this town etc etc."
So she goes with the "expert" and guess what months later MAJOR problems (out of warranty of course)
Gee says mr repair man grinning from ear to ear at the juicy bill you have been unlucky.

On his website he has glowing testamonials about how great his service is, quick, easily available parts etc etc etc. hmmmm wonder why? (but hey I am the queen of cynics )

So, word of mouth is still the best form of testimonial. Try to create word of mouth by havng a refferral programme in place.
At Abacus Screens I send a thank you card out to every client about a week after completion(and payment) of the job. The card itself is NOT branded in anyway apart from being green which matches our brand. It simply says Thank you and has 6 "referral cards" to pass on to friends. When a referral card comes back to us and we get a job out of it, the original customer gets sent another card and a scratchie ticket.
here is the card
http://www.abacusscreens.com.au/mark...hank%20you.pdf

[danmac30]

While there is some debate on the authenticity of testimonials the truth is most customers look on line for advice prior to purchase. There are so many forums for customers to leave reviews and see what others are saying about you, so if they want to find out, they can.

I think what is better than a testimonial is a case study or as I call them a success story. This has the challenge - what was the problem, the solution - what was done and the result - what was the effect. I think this is helpful because it gives the customer an example of how a service/product works.

The most important element from my point of view is to join the customers conversation because believe me they are looking, searching and collecting information prior to purchase, with or without your information. Where ever your customers are you should be there, joining their conversation. Monitoring what is said about you and trying to service your customers in the best way possible.

[DavidM]

Originally Posted by JohnSheppard

My main gripe with sales techniques of some varieties is that one sided stories are generally presented as whole truth (by taking advantage of assumed social contracts). Displaying positive in the absense of negative testimonials is usually one of those techniques.

The US Federal Commission worked to clean this up about a year ago, to try and bring a more level playing field. See excerpt below.

Originally Posted by Federal Trade Commission

Oct 2009: Under the revised Guides, advertisements that feature a consumer and convey his or her experience with a product or service as typical when that is not the case will be required to clearly disclose the results that consumers can generally expect. In contrast to the 1980 version of the Guides – which allowed advertisers to describe unusual results in a testimonial as long as they included a disclaimer such as “results not typical” – the revised Guides no longer contain this safe harbor.

[JohnSheppard]

Originally Posted by sixx

Nah, I don't think you are heading off topic, you just have a thought provoking way with words (and it makes alot of sense) which I thought was the thread subject.

Even the thinly veiled self-written-testimony "About Us" page is probably one of the most disproportionate pages on any given site. All one way traffic, never a mention of projects that took several attempts, ran over budget, client pulled out etc.
Portfolio page? we read in the "About Us" that hundreds of satisfied cutomers later .... yet only a handful of projects on display. Are we to assume the majority go bottoms up?

So why bother?

Because it works. )

haha, yeah, the irony is that if I was hiring someone to do something, I'd want them to have screwed up before and learned from it. At least that way it'll have been someone elses instead of mine.

People that know stuff have screwed up lots. In fact I daresay those who have screwed up the most know the most.

I still wouldn't buy from some dude that wrote it on his website tho haha...

Originally Posted by DavidM

The US Federal Commission worked to clean this up about a year ago, to try and bring a more level playing field. See excerpt below.

Good to see someones thinking about things! I think to a certain extent it is a cultural problem that extends fairly deep. Western culture swings too much responsibility onto the individual, sure, society advances but the individual suffers. Brilliant!

[sixx]

Originally Posted by JohnSheppard

I'd want them to have screwed up before and learned from it.

aahhh, entirely my point. What if we aren't learning from it?

Back to the article:
For the human’s brain it’s easier to skip the fact or change it’s interpretation, because otherwise we have to accept that we made a mistake with our evaluation and the higher was the evaluation, the harder to admit that it was wrong. So most of us will adjust a perceived reality to make it suits our expectations.


Though, how all this is related with the testimonials? If one purchased something, especially an expensive product or service, there is a very high probability that he/she will notice only information, confirming that the purchase decision was very correct and finally completely convince himself in it, even if the buying is not so good. That believe will becomes very sincere and put deep roots in his mind, so he will honestly give a product/service a great testimonial, that in fact is not deserved.

If our own measurement, our own self evaluation of how our business is performing and travelling in the right direction is based on customer satisfaction (that the article states people will talk themselves into being a positive experience on most occasions) then is our own assessment of our business' then somewhat skewed? and therefore rendering the our "About Us" page promises void to the astute obsever in the same way Altima states tesimonials are weightless?

And ... the small percentage (who could actually teach us something about where we are going wrong) who cannot find it within themselves to give positive feedback simply palmed off as those "hard to please" customers?

[bridiej]

I must admit I was quite disappointed to see that out of all the people I've helped only one had ever actually taken the time to put pen to paper and write a thank you letter to put in with his cheque.

I guess most of us just don't bother unless we've got a complaint - I know I never write thank yous but am very quick to get tapping away at the keyboard if I'm disatisfied.

TBH I don't find people take much notice of personal testimonials either - case in point, when we bought our house we had shocking treatment from the real estate agent (lies were told to us, we were told we couldn't put stuff in the contract etc. etc. etc. a veeeeeeeeeeeeery long list!). Anyone I hear is thinking about buying or selling property I tell them the story and hope they steer clear - unfortunately I know two people that are using his services, one sold her house a week after it was listed with him......

It's strange, if we were still in the UK and told people of our experience they wouldn't touch this company with a bargepole and very quickly their business would start to suffer. Over here people just see the big advertising budget and think "I'll sell my house through this guy" to list with him. Guess I have to get used to the cultural difference, maybe I'll just stop telling people my experience and let them figure it out for themselves (unless they're lucky enough to sell so quick rather than put up with the terrible trauma we had).

[altima]

Originally Posted by sixx

If our own measurement, our own self evaluation of how our business is performing and travelling in the right direction is based on customer satisfaction (that the article states people will talk themselves into being a positive experience on most occasions) then is our own assessment of our business' then somewhat skewed? and therefore rendering the our "About Us" page promises void to the astute obsever in the same way Altima states tesimonials are weightless?

And ... the small percentage (who could actually teach us something about where we are going wrong) who cannot find it within themselves to give positive feedback simply palmed off as those "hard to please" customers?

Great point. Being objective, our own opinions about ourselves are VERY biased. Most people in Western culture think that they are in top 20% of smartest, nicest etc. May be it is not so bad, because good level of self-estime makes your life more positive and enjoyable

[sixx]

Originally Posted by altima

Most people in Western culture think that they are in top 20% of smartest.

Hard to argue with that given we invented the slinky.

[JohnSheppard]

Originally Posted by altima

Great point. Being objective, our own opinions about ourselves are VERY biased.

I think it was a good point too. I hear that some Buddhist dudes are totally against advertising of any kind. Maybe that's why....or maybe it's because they live in a cave. One or the other....but yeah if you can't be objective, one has to consider that you're a horrible horrible person telling people about your business

Originally Posted by sixx

Hard to argue with that given we invented the slinky.

haha