The year is 2000. You are playing this new game called Sims and listening to your favourite song by Destiny’s Child. You have been trying to get your face breakout under control.

You spent money on a product you saw in an ad, but the results it promised didn’t match what you experienced. You were hesitant to spend money on another product, but thankfully a friend of yours recommended a brand they use and within no time your break out cleared up.

Many of us have been in a similar situation before, and after an experience like this most of us would go to the friend for recommendations before buying anything the first time.

Fast forward to the year 2020, the Sims may still be around, but we no longer have to rely on just the people we know for recommendations.

Every major search engine, social media platform, and e-commerce store has testimonial ratings integrated. For most people, this is where the conversion process happens.

“93% of consumers say online reviews impact their purchasing decisions.” (Podium) This can benefit your business just as much. “68 per cent of consumers will form an opinion about your local business after reading just 1-6 online reviews.” (Revlocal)

You understand that testimonials are needed, but whenever you ask, customers feel like they don’t know what to say. Are there specific questions you should be asking your customers?

In this blog, I will share with you a series of questions that will guide your customers through the testimonial process, increase the number of testimonials you receive, and help drive sales by answering the questions potential customers have. Each question is designed to relate to one part of the Buyer’s Journey.

What is the Buyer’s Journey?

The Buyer’s Journey is made up of three stages people go through to learn about their problem, find possible solutions for their problem, and then commit to signing up for or purchasing that solution.

The 3 stages in the Buyer’s Journey:

Awareness Stage – The buyer notices a problem they have and begins to research the problem.

Consideration Stage – The buyer understands the problem and begins searching for solutions.

Conversion Stage – The buyer decides to commit to one solution.

The template below provides the questions for your customers to answer along with text to explain. As well as an explanation to better understand the reason behind the question.

WHAT PROBLEMS WERE YOU FACING BEFORE VISITING OUR BUSINESS?

Please briefly share with us where you were before visiting our business. Have there been any other at-home things you tried? How long had you worked to find the result you wanted?

This first part is a great opportunity for your customers to share their stories and relate to people who are currently searching for the answer to their problem.

WERE YOU NERVOUS/HESITANT TO SPEND THE MONEY ON OUR SERVICES?

Honesty is great here. Was there anything that made you want to know more about us before buying from us? Did products or services you had tried on your own cause you to be doubtful?

Once again, honesty is great here. Potential customers will have objections that need to be answered before they purchase. If that objection can be pointed out in a testimonial and then answered by the customer’s result, you have just gained a new customer.

WHAT SPECIFIC RESULTS DID YOU OBTAIN FROM VISITING US?

What did we help you achieve? Would you recommend us to a friend?

This last question wraps up the entire testimonial by sharing their positive result, answering any objections your potential customers may have and communicating the social proof needed to create sales.

Use this template as just that, a template. You can modify the questions to better fit the specific services you provide. What we can guarantee is that using this template will help increase the number of testimonials you receive and help drive sales.