6 Ways to Win New Business with Customer Testimonials

If you’re doing great service work (and of course you are), chances are you often get emails and calls from customers thanking you and your employees for a job well done. That feels great. Customer testimonials are proof that the claims you make about your work and your business are true. (In marketing we call it “social proof.”)

However, there’s a lot more you can do with those testimonials than just enjoying the pat on the back. You can use them in a variety of ways to help you win new business.

Here are some proven ideas to inspire you.

How to use customer testimonials to help you win new business

When you put positive customer feedback in places where your prospective buyers are looking for information about you, that helps you win new business because prospects gain the confidence to choose your company.

Let’s start with a prerequisite: always get your customer’s permission before sharing their comments publicly. Chances are, they will agree and be pleased that they can help you win new business.

1. Encourage customers to share their feedback online

First things first: when you talk with (or email with) a customer who has great things to say about you, ask if they would mind posting their comments online. You can make it easy for them by sending them links to your Google business listing, Yelp listing, and your own social media pages.

This is the first priority, especially for a service business, because these are the places prospects will go first to look for feedback about your company.

Almost every company has some negative feedback (it actually looks suspicious if you don’t). But do whatever you can to bury and counteract those negative comments with positive customer testimonials.

2. Share and promote customer feedback on social media

When you get a positive comment online, go ahead and share that on other platforms. When you do, start by thanking any employees named by the customer or involved in providing a great customer experience.

3. Add customer testimonials to your website pages

With your customers’ permission, post positive testimonials on your website. Start with the home page, but definitely don’t stop there. Which pages do prospective customers visit most often? Chances are it’s the pages that describe your services, or even your contact page. You’ll want to include testimonials there as well.

It may seem easier to create one page for all your testimonials, but that strategy can backfire. Unless visitors specifically look for a testimonials page, they’ll never see it. People just beginning to think about a purchase don’t usually do that. It’s much more effective to put a few great quotes on the website pages your prospects are most interested in.

4. Publish customer success stories

Especially when it comes to commercial work, your prospects want to know that you can solve challenging problems. What better way to prove you can than by sharing success stories?

When you have a happy customer with an interesting or difficult problem and an impressive solution from your company, start by interviewing the customer. Ask for the details you might not know about, such as how the problem was impacting your customer’s business and costing them money. Then craft a short article or video that highlights your hard work, responsiveness, diagnostic skills, and other factors that will help you win new business from prospects.

You can publish customer success stories on your website and share them on social media. You can even have your sales team email them to prospects who are facing similar challenges.

5. Include testimonials in sales materials

When you get to the proposal stage with a new prospect, it’s time to pull out all the stops. So why not use customer testimonials to help you make the sale? Include quotes from similar customers in your sales materials and even the proposal itself.

For example, if you’re quoting a high end residential job, include quotes from other customers in the building or the neighborhood.

6. Get people talking to win new business

Don’t overlook the value of word of mouth, even within your own team. Here are a few suggestions:

Share customer testimonials internally and thank those involved. That alone can get people talking and sharing the stories in their interactions with customers.
Teach your sales team to tell customer success stories as part of a verbal sales pitch.
If you have a chance to speak at an event, tradeshow, or have any chance to talk about your business, always include a customer success story.

And don’t stop there. Pay attention to all the ways prospects are trying to learn about you, and make sure to put your best foot forward with customer testimonials.

More resources for HVAC and Refrigeration service businesses

Check out these helpful articles for HVAC and Refrigeration business owners and managers.

HVACR Career Connect NY was created to promote the exceptional quality-of-life benefits of a career in HVAC and Refrigeration service, and also to provide a clear path for getting started in the profession. In doing so, we serve as a resource for employers in the New York City metro area to find and hire smart and capable new technicians. We also serve as an educational resource to support HVACR business growth and to help service technicians succeed in their chosen profession.

By: Shane McMorrow