Harness the power of customer testimonials and case studies

Your small business website may look awesome, complete with fantastic colour, image and design choices throughout. It may be rich in wonderful written (or even video) content, which effortlessly showcases your wares. Your website may be easy to find, use and navigate. However, not including any customer testimonials or case studies could seriously limit its success.

What are customer testimonials?

Testimonials are recommendations from satisfied customers, confirming their delight with the products, services and value they’ve received. There are various types of customer testimonials, but even just one or two killer sentences from a handful of happy punters can add much to your website.

As Karisa Egan comments, in her post (The Benefits of Testimonials and How to Do Them Right): “Testimonials work because they aren’t strong sales pitches, they come across in an unbiased voice and establish trust. You’re using real people to show success in your product or service.”

According to Chris Scott from the Digital Doughnut website, customer testimonials can help convert many more visitors to your website into customers, because “they add legitimacy to your website and make people more willing to buy from you”.

“Testimonials can ease customer concerns about buying from a new supplier, because they are perceived to prove credibility, reliability and trust”

Credibility, reliability and trust

Customer testimonials, Scott continues, make people “feel more comfortable [about] making a purchase if they know that other people have made the same purchase for similar reasons and have been happy”. Testimonials can ease customer concerns about buying from a new supplier, because they are perceived to prove credibility, reliability and trust.

Getting first-time visitors to your website to get in touch, let alone buy from you, can be a challenge, but including a few well-chosen customer testimonials can make a big difference. Reportedly, almost three quarters of consumers say positive testimonials and reviews increase their trust in a business.

Some of your most satisfied and loyal customers will probably be happy to provide a testimonial (or sign-off on one you write on their behalf). Aim for two or three sentences from half a dozen of your most satisfied customers. These can be strategically placed on your home page and others, while some dedicate entire website pages to customer testimonials. Quotes can also be reproduced in your other online and offline marketing, of course.

Testimonial length and content

Search online and you’ll find questions you can ask to create glowing customer testimonials. Seek quotes that specifically explain how your products or services satisfied the customer’s needs or remedied a “pain point”. Testimonials should praise the value you provide and even if you sell products, include comment about the service quality that goes with them.

Also include an image of your customer with their testimonial, because it “shows that it’s coming from a real person”, which further encourages trust. Your testimonials should represent the diversity of your clients or customers and your core product/service range.

Authenticity is key, so, never fake any customer testimonials. Normally, such tactics are easy to spot. Get real quotes from real customers and tell readers who they are. Satisfied customers are normally happy to provide testimonials.

“Some 70 per cent of UK marketers use case studies as part of their campaigns. They are believed to be the most effective type of marketing content”

What about customer case studies?

Basically, these are longer customer testimonials. Some prefer to use the term “customer stories” rather than “case studies” (which, admittedly can sound rather dull, academic, etc). Some 70 per cent of UK marketers use case studies as part of their campaigns. They are believed to be the most effective type of marketing content.

Dan Shewan, in his blog – How to Write a Convincing Case Study in 7 Steps, believes that too many marketing case studies are “dull, boring and forgettable”. None of these terms should apply to yours, of course.

Shewan says case studies should be “self-contained stories about how a real customer overcame their problems [by] using your products or services.” And, as regards structure, he adds: “Good case studies have a beginning, middle and end, as well as a protagonist – your customer – overcoming a problem and achieving their objective.”

Case study form and content

Case studies should be persuasive and have a compelling angle. Readers should be able to relate to your customer and their challenge/issue. A well worn but effective website case study structure is to introduce the customer in the opening paragraph, then detail their challenge/issue in 200-300 words.

The following 400 or so words should explain the solution your business provided, before 300 words cover the results and benefits gained. Effective case studies include impressive numbers and are rich in powerful customer quotes, because both carry the most weight. Include some nice images, too, including one of the person you quote.

Marketing Donut provides some useful pointers on how to write your own customer case studies. If writing isn’t your thing, budget permitting, you could hire a freelance copywriter with case study experience.

“Cut out repetition, shorten quotes and make sure everything you write is vital to the story”

Case study length and position

In her blog – The ultimate guide to writing case studies that drive leads – Lauren Lovett says case studies should be no more than 750 words long. “Any more and people just won’t read it,” she warns. “Cut out repetition, shorten quotes and make sure everything you write is vital to the story.” She cautions against using marketing speak or clichés; “keep it human”, accurate and be specific (because “details matter”), she advises.

Writing for Marketing Donut, Sharon Tanton recommends giving your case studies due prominence on your website. “Too often companies stack them at the back of their site, like dusty old volumes on the top shelf of a library,” she observes. “Make them grabby and appealing and stick them in the waiting room. Think glossy mag, not Encylopedia Brittanica.”

• This blog appeared originally on the Manage My Website website.

What leadership lessons can small businesses learn from Sir Alex Ferguson?

Even if you’re not a Manchester United fan (and many of us aren’t), you have to respect the club’s success under former manager Sir Alex Ferguson. Without him, United’s phenomenal achievements simply would not have been possible.

Things could have been very different. Had United not won the FA Cup in 1990, months after what Ferguson describes as his darkest period in the game, he may have lost his job, three years after joining United from Aberdeen.

His first English Premiership title came in 1992 and 12 more followed. On retiring in 2013 Ferguson had played a pivotal role in bringing 38 trophies to Old Trafford, including two UEFA European Champions League crowns and a historic treble in 1999.

Harvard Business School

Knighted in 1999, the 78-year-old Glaswegian continues to serve United as a director. And such is the regard for his management, in 2012 the Harvard Business School created a case study of his career, and he became a Fellow to Harvard’s executive education program.

So, what of Ferguson’s management philosophy and what can it teach small-business owners?

Truly fascinating insight is offered by Leading, which publishers Hodder & Stoughton describe as “An inspirational guide to leadership, from the most successful football manager of all time”. Ferguson and his friend, the author and investor Sir Michael Moritz, have penned the book, which is “packed with insight, wisdom, humour and honesty”.

“If you are leading people, it helps to have a sense of who they are. The only way to figure this out is by listening and watching” Sir Alex Ferguson

Team talk

If running a company, Ferguson says he’d listen to its most talented youngsters, because they’re most in touch with today and “the prospects for tomorrow.” Youth should be blended with experience to create great teams, but true teamwork comes from members understanding and having close bonds with each other, he explains.

“If you are leading people, it helps to have a sense of who they are. The only way to figure this out is by two underrated activities: listening and watching”, Ferguson reveals. Balance is the key to successful teams and Ferguson describes maintaining this as a perpetual challenge. Successful organisations must change with the times he reminds us (at United, he reveals, the cycle was every four years).

“From an early age Ferguson absorbed the idea that the only way to improve his life was to work very hard”

Discipline and hard work

As you might expect, Ferguson believes discipline is crucial and he says many of United’s triumphs were the result of “consistent application of discipline”. From an early age Ferguson says he absorbed the idea that the only way to improve his life was to work very hard. He was always first to turn up (7am) at United’s training complex, and was among the last to leave (9pm some days), and he never took his full holiday entitlement.

Success in business and football comes from hard work and commitment, and Ferguson admits to being irritated by those who waste their natural talent because they won’t put in the hours (he even played football on the day he got married). “Top managers have a formidable work ethic”, he writes.

“I cannot imagine how anyone, without firm convictions and deep inner beliefs, can be an effective leader,” he states. Successful managers must remain true to their own beliefs and convictions. He adds: “Desire and a ferocious need to win are wonderful attributes, but they have to be tempered by a cool head.”

“As a leader you don’t need to be loved, though it is useful, on occasion, to be feared. But most of all, you need to be respected” Sir Alex Ferguson

Motivating staff

Success comes with a series of small steps, not one giant step, says Ferguson. He recommends dividing big challenges into digestible chunks. He also believes in “prioritising a long-term strategy”, while warning that failure to stick to your plans can land you in trouble. He describes complacency as a disease, and says despite his success, he always looked ahead and tried to think of ways to improve.

While famous for his no-holds-barred half-time dressing downs (known as giving players “the hairdryer treatment”), revealingly Ferguson writes: “You don’t get the best out of people by hitting them with an iron rod. You do so by gaining their respect, getting them accustomed to triumphs and convincing them they are capable of improving… The two most powerful words in the English language are, ‘well done’”. Much leadership, he says, is extracting “that extra five per cent that individuals didn’t know they possessed”.

Sir Alex Ferguson doesn’t believe in getting too close to those you manage. In summary he says: “As a leader you don’t need to be loved, though it is useful, on occasion, to be feared. But most of all, you need to be respected.”

• Leading by Alex Ferguson with Michael Moritz is published by Hodder & Stoughton. Written by Mark Williams, this blog appeared originally on the HSBC Knowledge Centre website and was commissioned by Atom Content Marketing.

Why it’s OK to fail sometimes in business

Chances are, you’ve probably never heard of Traf-O-Data. It was a venture started in the early 1970s by a couple of teenagers from Seattle, Washington. Using the Intel 8008 processor, Traf-O-Data analysed traffic data punched into paper rolls, so traffic flow could be improved. The budding tech entrepreneurs tried to market Traf-O-Data to local government.

The venture was founded by William Henry Gates III (now better known as Bill, of course) and Paul Allen, the dynamic duo that would later take their place among the world’s richest business men after setting up Microsoft in 1975.

Corporate history provides many other well-known business people who failed but went on to achieve phenomenal success

Flawed business model

In a 2011 Newsweek interview  Allen conceded: “Traf-O-Data was a good idea with a flawed business model. It hadn’t occurred to us to do any market research, and we had no idea how hard it would be to get capital commitments from municipalities. Between 1974 and 1980, Traf-O-Data totaled net losses of $3,494. We closed shop shortly thereafter.”

He continued: “Since then, I’ve made my share of business mistakes, but Traf-O-Data remains my favorite, because it confirmed to me that every failure contains the seeds of your next success.”

Corporate history provides many other well-known business people who failed but went on to achieve phenomenal success. Rowland Hussey Macy had many failed retail ventures, before (aged 36) launching R.H. Macy & Co, which became Macy’s, one of the world’s most successful department stores.

Henry Ford started two automotive companies that failed before he enjoyed enormous success with the Ford Motor Company (reportedly worth US$188bn when Ford died in 1947). Ford is quoted as remarking: “Failure is the opportunity to begin again more intelligently.”

Although we’re encouraged to fear failure, hide our mistakes and be embarrassed when we slip up, failure in business and life offers valuable learning opportunities

Creative thinking

Closer to home, Sir James Dyson made thousands of failed prototypes which sucked up his personal savings for 15 years before he finally created his hugely successful vacuum cleaner.

Speaking to Fast Company he recalled: “I made 5,127 prototypes before I got it right. There were 5,126 failures. But I learned from each one. That’s how I came up with a solution. So, I don’t mind failure. Schoolchildren should be marked by the number of failures they’ve had. The child who tries strange things and experiences lots of failures to get there is probably more creative.” The renown British inventor and businessman now has his own foundation, which “is dedicated to encouraging young people to think differently, make mistakes, invent and realise their engineering potential”.

Although we’re encouraged to fear failure, hide our mistakes and be embarrassed when we slip up, failure in business and life offers valuable learning opportunities. In many ways, failure is part of the entrepreneurial journey – it can drive us forward to achieve great things. And if you’re not prepared to risk failure by trying new things, you might never achieve great success.

We shouldn’t fear failure. Failure reminds us we’re human and that we can’t get it right every time. Never learning from your mistakes is another matter altogether, of course

Definition of insanity

In the USA, in particular, there’s a different attitude to failure in business. Indeed, some believe you cannot truly claim to be a success unless you’ve overcome failure. Many highly successful entrepreneurs have endured epic failures. The key is to recognise your mistakes, learn important lessons when things go wrong, don’t let it happen again and seek to improve. We shouldn’t fear failure. Failure reminds us we’re human and that we can’t get it right every time.

Never learning from your mistakes is another matter altogether, of course. Failure can lead to more failure – and eventually business failure. In the words of Albert Einstein: “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results”.

• This blog appeared originally on the HSBC Knowledge Centre website and was commissioned by Atom Content Marketing.