For the last 2 weeks, I’ve helped a client compile a series of 2-5 minute video testimonials from his happy customers.
These people have had crazy good results. But they weren’t being shared in his marketing.
A mistake people make when collecting testimonials is being WAY TO VAGUE in their questions.
They ask things like:
“What was life like before you joined?
What was it like to use the program?
What results did you get?”
I made this mistake a while back. Here are a few answers people gave to the “what results did you get?” question:
- “I achieved most of what I wanted”
- “I am more confident at everything”
- “I’m able to view life from a healthier perspective”
Not super exciting.
A great testimonial shows clear, specific results. You want the reader to have a picture in their mind of what success looks like.
Not just “more confident” but something like “I got the confidence to ask out this girl I’ve had a crush on for months and she said yes.”
The more the reader can SEE the success the more it’ll stick.
So how do you do this?
- Ask specific questions. Specific questions lead to specific answers. Vague questions get you vague (aka useless) answers.
- When possible, hop on a call with the person to get the testimonial video (I record them on zoom). That way you can coach the person through and ask them to dig deeper if their first answer is a bit superficial.
Okay, but which questions do you ask?
For mine, I went with questions that would paint a clear before/after picture. And also one that would help the viewer overcome their own objections.
Here’s how I did it:
Step 1: The “Before” picture”
Don’t just ask what was going on when they joined. Ask what their single biggest challenge with a specific problem when they joined.
“What was your biggest challenge with building your audience?”
“What was your biggest challenge with getting your child to follow directions?”
“What was your biggest challenge with losing weight using diet programs?”
You can even give them a prompt. Tell them to finish this sentence: “Before joining the program, I…” then ask them to fill that in with the biggest challenge they faced.
Why ask about their challenge?
Because now you can beef up your testimonial. You show the reader a BEFORE picture they can connect with.
Part 2: Overcoming objections
This step darn near everyone skips.
Ask your customer what their biggest objection to joining was and how they overcame it.
You can even give them the prompt: “I almost didn’t join becasue…”
Some customers will tell me “nothing.” When that happens, I usually ask them about something that I know is a big objection for most people.
For example, I’ll say: “Well I know a lot of people see the price tag and decide not to join. What was it that made it seem so worth it to you?”
And right there, you get ammunition to overcome the price objection. You won’t have to beat people over the head with shady stuff like “Well if you really cared about your children you’d buy this program!”
You can simply show how other paying customers dealt with that same objection.
You’re essentially showing people they’re not alone. And giveing them a roadmap for how to overcome their doubts.
Step 3: Ask for specific results.
Remember question 1? You can basically flip that question around and make it focused on the results instead of the problem.
For example:
“How had your audience grown since joining the program?”
“In what ways has your child’s behavior improved since joining the program?”
“How much weight have you lost?”
Again, you can give them this prompt and have them start: “Since I joined the program…” or “after working with Big Shot Guru…”
The reason for this question is obvious — it’s proof your stuff works.
And again, you want to paint that picture. “When I tell Timmy to put his toys away he said “yes mom” and put them all in the bin” is more clear/enticing than “Timmy listens to me now.”
Putting it all together: Give all the questions at once
I’ll start the interview by giving the person all three questions. Then tell them to introduce themselves to the camera and then answer all three.
It’s worked really well. They talked about how they had no clarity on what to do and how hard it was to find a business coach that cared and understood them. Then how they overcame the objection of thinking he was just like all the other coaches by talking to people who worked with him and learning how much he cared and how the advice he gave was specific to each business (more social proof!). They even mentioned specific results like tripling revenue and earning $10k extra that first month.
After getting this 3-5 minute clip, I’ll ask a few other questions for research purposes and extra digging in case there’s an amazing story I haven’t found. But this formula alone will get you video testimonials better than what most people have.
Recap
Specific testimonials are sexy. They are way more interesting and create more desire in your prospects than vague ones.
You get specific testimonials by asking specific questions.
A great go-to formula is to focus in on the before, the big objection they had and how they overcame it, and the results.
Well that was fun. Let’s do it again sometime.
Oh and if you found it helpful please leave a comment and say what part was useful to learn. Otherwise I feel like I’m talking into a vast void of nothingness 🙂