Ever wondered what makes a testimonial not just good, but truly exceptional? Natasha Davis and I peel back the layers of just that—the art and strategy behind securing powerful testimonials that can vault your business into the limelight. We share three proven tactics to gather feedback that goes beyond mere compliments and truly demonstrates the transformative impact of your offerings. Whether you're debuting something new or aiming to solidify your reputation, these insights are goldmines for any entrepreneur seeking to fortify their credibility.
During our chat, we also lay out the blueprint for weaving an effective testimonial system into the fabric of your business routine. By engaging with beta testers and establishing a consistent workflow, you'll learn how to collect and showcase praise that resonates with potential customers. I'll even let you in on my personal approach to encourage clients to share their experiences in a way that's both easy and genuine. Ready to turn testimonials into your business's most persuasive advocates? Tune in and transform your client success stories into trust-building assets.
Meet Natasha: Natasha E. Davis, MBA-M, RN-BSN, CEME, CSMA affectionately known as “The Chief Visionary” holds a Master’s in Business degree, certifications in marketing and is the CEO and founder of Impact Branding Consulting, Inc. and CRM software platform The Profit Enhancer Analysis. Natasha specializes in positioning the daily operations of corporations and government agencies to perform in alignment with the vision of the leader through strategic planning and branding. The Chief Visionary has written and published four books focused on business development and branding, has been recognized by President Barack Obama with the Lifetime Achievement Award, awarded as one of the fastest growing home-based small businesses in the State of Georgia and featured in the “Big Grit” Entrepreneurial docuseries produced by Infusion Soft Keap.
Her specialty is helping entrepreneurs, companies and government create brands that have a sustainable & profitable impact. She thrives on fixing problems, closing performance gaps and eliminating frustrations for organizations and their executives. She believes that every business owner and leader should Think Big; Build Momentum and Scale Fast.
In her free time, Natasha organizes clothing drives and book drives for women of domestic violence and their children. Natasha has proudly served as the chairwoman on the academic advisory board for Shiloh High School in Gwinnett County and currently serves as the chairwoman of economic development for the state of Georgia with the National Small Business Association.
They don't want to just like type something oh, she was amazing when he was playing exclamation love him, he rocks, she rocks. Oh, they're the goat exclamation. So there you go. That's fine. But when someone wants to give like you know, they generally want to give a testimony they sit down, they're intentional, they think about it and they want to type it up.
Speaker 2:
Hey folks, it is your host of the Tiny Marketing Show, sarah Noel Block, and I am here with special guest Natasha Davis, who digs into how to get better testimonials. So this is a big topic behind the scenes with a lot of business owners, I'm in a coaching group and we're constantly talking about how we can gain credibility authority for a specific offer. So, let's say, you're launching a new service or a new product. You need those people to come in and be your beta tester, be your case study customer, and the goal with that is one to improve the service, the product, whatever, because you're getting feedback from them. But two, it's to get really amazing testimonials so you can start charging full price for this new offer. And today, natasha and I talk about three ways to get better testimonials, and she gave some real goodies in here. So get out the notebook or, my favorite, my Apple Notes, and start taking notes, because this is super simple three-stop formula to get better testimonials. And then this will drive the higher ticket projects. This will drive people from discovering you exist to saying, okay, I think I could work with them. I trust that they know what they're doing, because person X, person Y, person Z said that they transformed their businesses and I believe that they will transform my business too. All right, get pumped.
Speaker 2:
I'm gonna be sharing my conversation with Natasha in just one moment. Let's pump the brakes for a second Before we get into Natasha's interview. I wanna share a question that I got in my pod questions form. This is from Nick Dale, and he asked what microphone and camera the guest is using in episode with Brad Powell, and he did answer that. So let me give you that answer in one second. He uses the Samsung QNU microphone and the Opel Camera, Tadpole 4K webcam. So thanks, nick, for submitting that question.
Speaker 1:
People go searching for you. People are gonna look at least for at least five to seven ways to qualify that you are the real deal. And I can tell you, going to your isolated or your dedicated website, that's like number five or six that's half the time that's not even on the radar to prove that you're really the real deal. They're gonna go look at platforms. They're gonna go look at reviews. They're gonna go look at a bunch of different things and to see how did you treat other people.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, so case in point for anybody who's starting like a service business. For example, ask for the reviews, get cases of clients early and get testimonials, get reviews, ask them if you can do case studies on them so you can build that authority and trust early on in your business, because it's really hard to get people in the door if you don't have that that piece.
Speaker 1:
It's really hard. It's really really hard. And not being too proud to beg, I mean I'll tell people you don't have to be too proud. You can ask for a referral, you can ask for hey. Could you like, could you share? Could you give me a video testimony? Could you give me an audio? Could you give me? Can you give me something? Because I don't wanna always be the person tooting my own horn. I need other people. We need social proof.
Speaker 2:
User generated content or no matter. Then you use a video. Yeah, exactly Now I have the temptations in my head. Ain't too proud to beg.
Speaker 1:
I don't know. That's it, and that's why I'm not too proud to beg. And again, I always say that asking for a referral, a testimony, a recommendation, any of the sort is not mandatory. You're asking, it's a request, and so the person can choose not to do it. But if you only ask one person one time and that person chooses not to do it, then you're never gonna get it. It has to be built into your business model and your systems and processes. You gotta work with a client. And at what mile marker are you going to ask for a recommendation, a referral or even a testimony, like at what mile marker? And here's a key Don't ask for it on the first day because I don't know what you can do, right.
Speaker 2:
I put that in as a final milestone on all of my projects, like it's built in as a template on my project management tool, so I never forget to ask for it.
Speaker 1:
Yeah, ask for it, Because when you're in the weeds and during the day and things like that, those are things that will slip the mind. So if you put something in there as a reminder in the checks and balances, yes, but being able to ask for it, people, if you don't ask, you don't receive. What is it? Close mouth, then get fed.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, well that, and oftentimes people will send the request and it doesn't get responded to, so they're like they don't wanna do it. But that's not really what it is. Install boomerang in your email and have a boomerang back to you in a couple of days if they didn't respond to it, and ask again, because I'll tell you what. I have 53 emails in my inbox right now. I would have likely missed it, and I've been cleaning up my email all day today. I still have 53. So just ask again. I probably missed it.
Speaker 1:
I wish, I wish that's all I had. I'm sitting here like, oh my God, I had so many. I'm like, what do we do?
Speaker 2:
This was after I cleaned it out Is.
Speaker 1:
I'm at 53.
Speaker 1:
Oh okay okay, noted, don't keep it around me. Do we know it? Do we know it? It was after the cleanup. Okay, cause I was like, oh my God, I feel so inspired, like I should.
Speaker 1:
I don't know what I mean about it, but I think that that's a good point. It's like you don't, sometimes you can't commit everything to memory, like life or death things and routine things. You commit to America cause it's gonna happen, but when it comes down to those, those non routine things, it's imperative. I mean, that is how you put it on a board, you put it as a reminder and you make yourself like, okay, this is a step, like building out the steps and the processes is no different than the framework we just talked about, the business life cycles. It's no different. Things happen at certain times and if you say at the sixth, if you're gonna do a one year service, okay, well, maybe at the three month mark or at the five month mark or at the six month, you ask for a recommendation, because what I also believe is that you earn a testimony, right, just like you earned that client, you earned that exposure, you earned the testimony, you earned the recommendation, you earn it. So you do your work and then you can make the request free of shame and guilt, because you have earned that particular thing from someone and if you'd serve them well, there would be no reason for them not to do it. Aside from it got lost in the email they forgot, you know.
Speaker 1:
Again, it's something when someone cares, most people want to give a really strong testimony. They don't wanna just like type something oh, she was amazing or he was great. Exclamation, love him, he rocks, she rocks. Oh, they're the goat exclamation. So there you go. That's fine.
Speaker 1:
But when someone wants to give like you know, they generally wanna give a testimony they sit down, they're intentional, they think about it and they wanna type it up. And so what I recommend is you give them a little guidance. Just this is how you can write out your testimony in your own words and just give them a little guidance. And oh, I can answer that way. And once you give them a little roadmap, you can even say here are the five questions I'd like you to answer in paragraph format. Or the three questions I'd like you to answer in paragraph format what made you choose us? What was the problem you were having? You know, what made you choose us Like? What did we do to say yes to us and how did we serve you and what was your outcome? How do you feel now? Would you use us again Now? So you just kinda give them a little prop and say just answer it in paragraph format, because you're looking for a strong testimony and then you're good to go.
Speaker 2:
That is a brilliant thing and everybody take notes. That's the thing to walk away from. That's a great way to get a testimonial, because I think that that is like, besides you know being me and just having it overrun inbox, the other thing that holds people back is I don't know exactly what to say or what they want me to emphasize things like that. So giving them that guidance and the questions is brilliant. It's such a good way to do it and make sure that it aligns with your services and your offers.
Speaker 1:
Exactly. I mean, and anybody, it could be a product you know, like it could, I guess on your podcast like I'll send one because that's like, why not? If you had a good experience, then you can send it. But for the person who is like, ooh, I wanna give a good one, but I don't know how to start it, how to say you give them three or five questions, not like a whole dissertation here, we don't need like Then they'll be overwhelmed. They'll be overwhelmed and then they're like oh, I got a carve out two hours to write this thing. So three to five specific questions what problem were you having? Or what were you looking for? Why did you choose this product or why did you choose this as a service? Like, what was that key thing, what was the highlight thing we did to fix the problem? And how are you doing now? Would you use this again? I mean straight to the point. Kind of, go from there. They'll answer it in paragraph format. Boom, you got a recommendation letter, testimonial, endorsement letter, whatever we wanna call it, and now you can circulate that to your free will.
Speaker 1:
Also, I like to give people options. There are some people that they do have writer's block, but they can pop up a camera in a heartbeat and start rambling that's valid. Ask them, say listen, I would love it. You can do it in video format, you can do it in a letter format and you're just trying to get these questions asked and answered, I should say, because there are some people that are always on the go and if they have like three to five questions, I mean you'd be surprised.
Speaker 1:
They'll pop that phone up and they'll like do, do, do, do, do, do, do. Give you what you need, hit, send. Just tell them where they want you to send it. You know and you're done. You're like hey, thank you, and they move on with their life and you get your testimony. But never make it rigid, never make it complex. Ask for it, but allow. Ask for it formally, but don't be rigid on how it's delivered. Don't make the delivery so formal that people feel like, oh my God, I need a weekend to think about it and then I need to carve two hours out to write it and, oh my God, like, don't do that. If someone wants to give a testimony in their car at the stoplight, I don't care, as long as they answer the question.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, it's fine, give it to me.
Speaker 1:
however, if you're willing to give it to me, you could be on the treadmill working out and I don't care. I couldn't care less. All I want is the words coming out of your mouth.
Speaker 2:
And I feel like the more raw it is, the more real it feels, and you can use that for other content too. It'll appeal to more people. I think in the age of AI, we're getting so tired of perfection, manufactured content that the raw, unfiltered, messy content does better. It does, it does.
Speaker 1:
I agree, like I'm a big believer in being authentic in all capacities. So you know what authentically? Let them be authentic, because otherwise you'll get someone. If you give too much, too many instructions around how you want that video delivered, especially for a woman, I'm telling everybody now it's gonna take forever because they gotta wait till they have their hair appointment.
Speaker 2:
They gotta wait until they have their hair up.
Speaker 1:
They have to have the right outfit. That could take a minute, like.
Speaker 2:
I'm just like yeah, someone asked me for a video testimonial the other day. I was like we're gonna have to do this on hair day, so it's gonna be a minute, not today, not today.
Speaker 1:
So even in the testimonial you said listen, the more as authentic you wanna be or as structured as you wanna be, it's up to you, and you can give examples. Listen if you're in the car driving or you're at a stoplight or you're on the treadmill and you realize it. I'll take that as well, but give them the freedom to deliver it. The key is they give you good quality testimony. They answer those questions three to five. Get to the point. You don't want an endorsement that says, oh, he or she was great or he or she is so nice and who cares? Yeah, what do you do for me?
Speaker 2:
Yeah, 100% on that. That's great that they were nice, but did they do the thing? Did they do what they said they were gonna do?
Speaker 1:
Did we get there?
Speaker 2:
So, before we wrap, can you tell everybody how they can find you online, where you hang out and how they can work with you?
Speaker 1:
Yes, so I hang out pretty much on LinkedIn most of the time. But you can watch me. Yes, you know, but you can find me on Facebook and Instagram every once in a while. But LinkedIn is my place and of course, you can always go back to anything I put out on YouTube so you can find that. But the best way to connect with me is you can go to my direct website, natashadavisvisionarycom. That's NatashaDavisVisionarycom. You wanna connect with me directly? That's where you can go. But if you want the business side and you wanna get some business and some support on a higher level, strategic level, go to impactbrandingconsultingorg. That's impactbrandingconsultingorg.
Speaker 2:
Dang, that was professional, that was good, and all of these links are gonna be in the show notes so you can find them. And you can follow her on LinkedIn, and that was that. I hope you enjoyed my conversation with Natasha. You can find her over at impactbrandingconsultingorg or on LinkedIn that's where she spends her time or at NatashaDavisVisionarycom. She is a amazing brander and if you want a little bit more clarity around your offer, and especially a go to launch offer, then Natasha's your girl. So all of these links will be in the show notes page.
Speaker 2:
The thing that I want you to walk away with is you can create a system around your testimonials. So remember, couple things when you're launching a new offer or product, bring in those case study clients, those beta product testers, and ask for testimonials from them early on, so you have a little bit of hype around your launch. So that's the first thing. Next thing, build in getting a testimonial into your project management process. So, as you are finishing up a service, make sure your project management tool reminds you hey, this is the email you need to send at this time requesting the testimonial. And last, do it right Provide a structure to allow people to give you testimonials in the easiest way possible and the most authentic way possible. So give them some questions that they can answer in that testimonial. That will make it a lot easier for them.
Speaker 2:
Don't give them parameters in which you need the testimonial, like it doesn't have to be on Google, it doesn't have to be on LinkedIn. You could shoot me a video and I'll grab that. I'll use that on my website. So don't give parameters in how you want your reviews, but do give some structure in what should be in the review to give them some guidance, so they're not overthinking it or you're not getting a generic testimonial that doesn't help people make decisions about your service or product. Make sure to tell folks about the show. My marketing like review. I appreciate all of you. You guys are rock stars and if you have any questions then please give me a shout. I wanna hear them.