When it comes to the voice of customer data for your marketing and referrals for your sales, there is no stronger statement than a customer testimonial. They provide valuable feedback and verbiage to use in our marketing and strengthen our perceived value in the eyes of potential customers.
A testimonial is an incredibly powerful tool that must be wielded ethically because you are using someone else’s words to sell your product. With their name, their person, their brand… still attached.
That’s an awesome power to wield responsibly.
As business owners, we gather testimonials at every stage of our business. When we are just starting, when we are testing and pivoting, and when we are finally tried and true and know our path. So this begs the question:
Do testimonials expire?
I believe so, yes.
How do you know one has expired?
Simple: when the product changes drastically from what someone gave their heartfelt testimonial for into something different, it’s time to retire that testimonial. Either outright, or reach back to the person and ask if it would still be valid considering all the changes.
It’s a true sign of a “holistic business” that puts the weight of someone else’s words before the desired weight of their purse.
And where do we draw the line in their use? How do we differentiate what testimonial is for what service or product?
How trustworthy is a testimonial if it’s not served up with the product or service for which it was directly given?
Even more-so, how trustworthy is the business that uses testimonials completely out of context?
These are thoughts I have about the various ways I use testimonials in my business and marketing material because, well, I do rather poorly at collecting them in the first place. The Fiery Well is the best-kept secret in the witch-verse because I don’t collect testimonials consistently and when I do… I rarely display them. (Don’t be like me.)
For example, I offered a few SOS, or Session on Signal sessions at the start of 2021. It was a trial for VIP days and they were a great success I loved them and the feedback was exceedingly valuable.
But that feedback was for SOS, something I ended up not offering as a service, so I don’t use the testimonials. Could I use the testimonial as an example of working with me? Sure! But that requires specific and clear copy that I want to make sure I get right so I don’t put words in my client’s mouths about a product or service they haven’t received from me or risk promising something to a potential customer about what it is I can do for them, that isn’t even what I’m selling.
As my business pivots and transitions, I think about testimonial usage a lot. So I’m very specific in how I go about asking for them. When I do (I’m getting better.) I ask specific questions so I can frame all testimonials specifically for the work that was rendered.
And when I pivot, I of course reach out to customers to ask if their testimonial is still be valid, or if they would like to update or rescind the testimonial in that specific instance.
Because… consent isn’t permanent.
But maybe that’s just me.
This was inspired because I found that a testimonial I had provided for a coach for a specific service they provided was being used to sell a program that they created long after I worked with them and that I never took. Nor would I ever, ever, ever endorse. They warped my words to promote something I never participated in and it made them look like my success was due to them. Never been more pissed in my professional life. I wrote this in 2022. It’s 2024 and I’m still mad. Hence, this post. They have since closed their business and now offer high-end coaching and consulting only.