4 Questions to Get the Perfect Testimonial
Kelly Alderete, Driver Provider’s director of sales development, had the script memorized. Talk about the company vehicles, our reasonable rates, the benefits of duty of care, and so on and so forth.
She would schedule pitch presentations with prospects ranging from small local businesses to billion dollar corporations. Different businesses, similar conversations.
Sometimes her sales approach worked; sometimes it didn’t.
After one too many times losing prospects she felt like were layups, she asked Limo University’s Bill Faeth for advice.
He gave her one, easy tool. Actually, it was simply a question: the Golden Sales Questions - one part of Bill’s Copy and Paste (C.A.P.) Sales System.
At first, she was hesitant. After all, she’d gotten comfortable to her usual pitch. Now she had to transform her entire strategy from A to Z.
The first few times her voice shook - you could hear the vibrations from her vocal cords like they were church bells on Sunday.
But on the day of her first meeting with one of the largest corporations in her market, she posed the question with the confidence of Queen Elizabeth.
Not only did she close a billion dollar deal, but she gained the confidence to ask the question to all prospects moving forward.
That story, my friends, was made possible only through strategic questioning.
Capturing the most impactful testimonial for your business requires developing a sort of mini-story. I’m not talking “Lord of the Rings” trilogy types of stories.
No, what I’m suggesting is more stripped down than the descriptive prose you might read from Tolkien.
And you can get it with 4 quick questions.
- “When you first heard about [insert company name]’s [insert specific service], what were your first thoughts? What made you skeptical about us?”
Seems counterproductive to ask this question, doesn’t it?
In my experience, you’ll get your best responses with this one. Your interview subject (a.k.a. client) will give you every reason they objected to your service. They will tell you the hurdles they had to jump over before they picked up the phone or clicked the “Book Now” button.
By showing the reasons someone booked despite their skepticism, you help potential clients overcome the objections themselves.
- “Why did you ultimately decide to book with us? What eliminated the risk of booking for you?”
Here, your interviewee will discuss the value they felt you provided before actually using your service.
- “Describe your experience with our company and chauffeurs. What aspects of our service stood out to you?”
Then, allow them to share the value they felt you provided after spending time in your cars with your chauffeurs.
- “Who would you recommend our company and services to?”
The last question helps you determine whether a client could become an evangelist for your brand and company. If they would recommend their family and friends, ask them to explain why they would do so.
Most importantly, these 4 questions inspire emotional responses from your clients. They get to the core of why a person chose you - of all the other options they had.
If you can emotionally connect with prospects through real client testimonials, you have the opportunity to achieve 3x as much reach through word-of-mouth.