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  1. #1
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    Question Feelings Toward Testimonials?

    As a business: Does anyone use real testimonials on their website to help sell their product/service?

    As a user: Do you read the testimonials on a website and give them much weight in your decisions?

  2. #2
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    I give testimonials weight if they come directly from someone I know. Otherwise, I'm rather leery of them. Thanks to the rather public Sony debacle of several years back, we all know now now easily (and how often!) 'testimonials' can be embellished if not outright created from whole cloth.

    If I know the owner of the business and respect them, I'm more likely to give the testimonials more weight. Then again...if I know the owner of the business and respect them, it isn't all that likely that a testimonial will clinch a sale.
    Lesli Schauf, TLM Network
    Linux and Windows Hosting: Scribehost

  3. #3
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    We do it. When we receive a testimonial from client we kindly ask him/her if we can use it on our web site.

    Regards
    D.
    DawHB.com - Web Hosting Blog | VPSHostDir.com - VPS Hosting Media

  4. #4
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    Originally posted by living_media
    ...Thanks to the rather public Sony debacle of several years back, ...
    This may be a silly question, but what Sony debacle are you referring to?
    Take care,
    Brad Birmingham
    http://www.bluevirtual.com

  5. #5
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    When A Knight's Tale came out (medieval-period movie with Heath Ledger and a rock soundtrack), there were testimonials and reviews and critiques sent around about the movie. One of the "reviewers", in particular, was from a small local paper in Connecticutt. This person had written reviews of several other movies released by Sony. The person in question did not work at that paper. Sony had made up the person.
    Lesli Schauf, TLM Network
    Linux and Windows Hosting: Scribehost

  6. #6
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    ah, interesting bit of info.

    It's because of exactly that, that I take testimonials with a grain of salt. I've never thought that any testimonial that I've ever read was fake, but its always lingering in my mind that it could be completely made up by the company.

    That's not to say testimonials are bad, just that one should only use testimonials as part of one's decision process.
    Take care,
    Brad Birmingham
    http://www.bluevirtual.com

  7. #7
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    For small businesses, testimonials are generally considered to be one of the stronger marketing tools you can use.

    Personally, I like to know that I can check on the validity of people that are making a testimonial for a product/service, if not having direct contact information to use them as a reference.

    Regards,
    --
    Doug
    Regional Internet
    Since 1999 | San Diego, CA USA

  8. #8
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    We have one customer testimonial on our site, just in case that's someones key decision when looking for a host. If I was a user, I really wouldn't look at the testimonials on the host's site, but more of do an extensive search on WHT to find out the pro's and the con's.

  9. #9
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    There is no denying that testimonials are (or can be) an effective marketing tool. Top marketers use them all the time. The problem I'm hearing is that simply most people don't beleive they are real. But like Q87 said, what if you are able to minimize that problem with providing the person's contact information or some other way of validating that it is real?

  10. #10
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    Good point, Doug - if it is possible to actually track down the person behind the testimonial, and it's easy to do so, that goes a way toward making me feel less like the testimonial is a fabrication.

    I studied linguistics in college, so I'm pretty cynical about how language can be manipulated. I can spot things that companies try, and it really irritates me when I feel that a company is essentially relying on consumer ignorance to sell their product or service. They're not trying to explain the benefits of their product / service, or identifying a need and filling it: they're fabricating a need and convincing people that they're the only ones who can fill the void in the consumers' o so fragile and pathetic lives...

    ...yeah. Hotbutton issue.
    Lesli Schauf, TLM Network
    Linux and Windows Hosting: Scribehost

  11. #11
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    living_media, sounds exactly like the infomercial industry. The foundation of most of their marketing & sales is based on testimonials.

  12. #12
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    Yep.

    They took the idea of "friends telling friends" and expanded it like crazy. What people don't always remember is you don't personally know the people making the recommendations. They aren't "distrustful sources of information", but neither are they "trusted sources of information". People really like community, and like the idea that everyone with whom they communicate shares their same mores and values, and wouldn't dream of steering one of their good friends wrong by recommending a product or service that didn't fit their needs very well and wasn't an oversell. We like the thought that everyone likes us and wants to help us.

    The unscrupulous play on these wants and needs. And we end up with consumers who get burned, and end up hostile rather than just cautious.

    As for your original question, if you have testimonials on your site, make it easy for the people to contact those who made the testimonials. Use a form mailing script. Keep profiles on your testimonial givers, including their URL. Make it possible for visitors to email or chat with the testimonial givers or visit their web sites. The minute a customer leaves, or changes their primary domain, update your testimonial or remove it from the rotation. These things won't guarantee you success, but they will be testimonials (can give you more keywords for the search engines) and they'll let potential clients get in touch with those who made the testimonials in the first place. (You'd have to clear everything in advance with the people who write the testimonials, just so they know that some of their information will be made semi-public.)
    Lesli Schauf, TLM Network
    Linux and Windows Hosting: Scribehost

  13. #13
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    We also display testimonials on our web sites, as many companies do. We include them because we are proud of the comments, and because we do get requests from pre-sales asking for testimonials or references. We try to display them just as they were given to us by the customer, and when given permission we include the person's name and/or web address to give it more validity.

    I think testimonials do a few things for me as a consumer: a) they show me that people, somewhere are using the service. b) when the comments are elaborate and include identifying information about the author, they give me a sense that the service has some loyalty from solid businesses who are willing to go the effort to share their experience; c) they give a sense of professionalism, even though it may seem mainstream.

    I have definitely seen testimonials that look completely fake or questionable to me. It's unfortunate that it happens but it does. I remember a tv commerical I found sort of funny - there were a series of people talking about their experience with this service (I think it was for a cable company) in a candid interview format... and in tiny tiny print at the bottom of the screen, it said "not actual customers or customer comments".
    JC, www.webii.net
    Premium Hosting Services Since 1996
    Custom Development- www.webxess.net

  14. #14
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    I have worked in the past with a company that did infomercials. One of the companies with the most successful and longest running television campaigns in history uses testimonials as the complete foundation of their marketing. Of course, seeing someone on video may be a "little" more believable.

  15. #15
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    response from WHD forum

    I will post it here as well:
    Yes, we have a testimonial page. The reviews are real, and as verifiable as can be.
    Ours are published in the form received.
    If they include email ONLY with no site url, then thats the way its gets put up. They might include their site url and no email.

    I will add to my response here because of the fact this forum gets alot of reviews of certain hosts that just opened their doors. ALOT of those appear to be skeptical as they may only be 1-10 days into their usage of the service. If you notice across the boards very FEW clients come back and update after 3mo. or better. You usually never see them again, unless of course they are back here complaining about poor service, etc.
    HostCaters.com - Quality Web Hosting - Under A Gig! - Since 1999

  16. #16
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    The only problem I have with testimonials is that a company can get many of them, but only posts the ones that portray a good image for the company. Sure you will get 2 or 3 good quotes about that company, but what about the other 'rejects' that the company didn't think were good? That's where WHT comes into play, displaying the pro's and con's to a company.

  17. #17
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    I try to disregard all testimonials posted on a company's website. Sure, if they post means of contacting the author it's aplus, but what can guarantee that the person at the end of the line is not paid or an interest in telling me good things about the company? No, I don't care for testimonials. Testimonials without means of contacting the author are (generally) a turnoff for me.

    Just my 2 cents...

  18. #18
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    If they post a means of contacting, definitly - that is great. However, most do not (ourselves included). I know if I was a client of a company, as long as I liked them enough - I would most definitly give them a testomonial. However, I wouldn't let them give out my contact information - I couldn't imagine every potential client contacting me. The best way is just WHT - Simply put.

  19. #19
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    For those of you do not care for testimonials, do you ever ask a company you are dealing with for references? Are references any different than testimonials in your mind?

  20. #20
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    It is the exact same thing as testimonials - except hearing them straight from the client, instead of from the client, through the company.

  21. #21
    For the cynic, testimonials can be a great tool in checking out a web host. Plug portions of the testimonial into Google and see what pops up. If you get several results returned of the same testimonial that could certainly raise an eyebrow or two...

  22. #22
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    Originally posted by Watcher_TVI
    For the cynic, testimonials can be a great tool in checking out a web host. Plug portions of the testimonial into Google and see what pops up. If you get several results returned of the same testimonial that could certainly raise an eyebrow or two...
    .....or three depending on your grooming habits.

  23. #23
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    The consenses in this thread seems to be that testimonials are not something valued. Are the people here on this board different than other consumers? Possibly more skeptical? If testomonials are not helpful in purchasing decisions, why do so many companies use them in their marketing? Because they work in convincing other people but not us?

  24. #24
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    It isn't that they do not work in convincing people.

    They work to convince SOME people.

    You have to have a little bit of everything for everyone. We do sales/support via AIM/MSN/ICQ/Php-Live/E-Mail/Support Desk and soon to be forum. Why? Each client has their own different way of contacting us, so we stay available for them on each. Same thing sort of goes for marketing. You have to have some form of marketing for people who think one way, and another form for people who think another, and so on.

  25. #25
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    Actually it really depends on the people. I believe my father would put 90% faith on testimonials. I can almost hear him (in my native language though): "Listen to this: this guy never had an issue that was not solved."

    He's just too gullible!

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