Asking for client  testimonials can feel uncomfortable. Your clients have already given you money for your services, and to some people, requesting a testimonial can seem like you’re asking them to provide you with even more.  This discomfort can prevent many businesses from asking for and taking advantage of client testimonials. Which is a real shame, because client testimonials are hugely valuable to your business.
We’ve spoken in the past about the benefits of online reviews and how persuasive they are to potential customers. Testimonials have a similar effect, plus you have greater control over the content of testimonials. Testimonials allow you to showcase the very best things people are saying about your practice, and do so right at the point where people are considering using your services.
The great news is that asking for online reviews doesn’t have to be an uncomfortable or awkward experience. Thanks to the Internet, there are some simple procedures that make asking for and collecting online reviews an almost automatic, painless experience. Read on to learn 4 different ways you can collect client testimonials without cringing:
Using Client Satisfaction Surveys
Whether or not you’re asking for testimonials, you should be sending out client satisfaction surveys. This simple strategy can provide your practice with valuable feedback about your customers’ appointments, and ensure that you have the chance to hear about and rectify any negative experiences before that client has a chance to vent about it to their friends, or even worse, online! Satisfaction surveys can help you identify what you’re doing really well and problem areas that need to be addressed.
Client satisfaction surveys are also a great way to request testimonials. If you receive positive feedback from someone, reach out and ask them to write a testimonial for your practice. Even better, include a question in your survey asking them to provide a testimonial for your website. This allows them to write the testimonial at the same time as they’re completing the survey, and enables you to directly ask them for permission to post the nice things they’re saying about your practice on your website.
If you have a WebDVM4 website, VSmart Alert will help you automate this process. You can set up satisfaction surveys to send out automatically within 24 hours of a client’s visit. These satisfaction surveys include an option to write a testimonial for your website, and if the client chooses this option, VSmart Alert will automatically upload the testimonial to your website. It makes the process of collecting testimonials completely hands free!
Provide an Option on Your Website
Do you have a testimonials page on your website? Clients checking out this page may wonder how they can share a testimonial too. Make it really easy for them by providing a link to share a testimonial at the bottom of the page. This link can lead to an online form that your clients can fill out and submit to you. As an added bonus, providing a link like this also lends a sense of credibility to your testimonials – it can make it look like the testimonials on your page were written by other clients who clicked on the link.
Use Online Reviews
Has your practice ever received a particularly glowing review on Google, Yelp, or Facebook? Make the most of that review by using it as a testimonial on your website too. But before you hit copy-paste, make sure that you get the permission of the writer, especially if you intend to use their name with the testimonial (which we strongly recommend – it lends a lot of credibility). If they wrote something positive about you online, they’re probably more than happy to have it shared on your website, but it’s always better to be safe than sorry!
Offer an Incentive
Creating a testimonial takes a bit of effort. Your client has to sit down and take the time to write out what they like about your practice. While it’s always a good practice to thank your clients for giving a testimonial, one extra way to make sure your reviewers feel appreciated is to give them something as a thank you. You could offer a free bag of treats, a discount on their next visit, some swag (which is also great marketing for your practice), or entry into a draw to win a bigger prize. Whatever incentive you choose, make sure it’s scalable, so if you get a sudden giant influx of testimonials, it doesn’t cost you more than you can afford.It can be intimidating, but asking for testimonials is a fantastic way to show potential clients how much your current ones love you. Armed with these tips, you’ll be drowning in great testimonials in no time!
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