For professional services organisations, making your firm stand out from the competition is always a challenge. Clients are increasingly sophisticated and have access to many channels that can readily build-up a picture of your firm, as well as influence the decisions they make and their buying behaviour.

Technical expertise is a given, so one of the greatest differentiators for many professional services firms is its service, and who better to turn to for a credible observation and report on this than your clients themselves. By gathering client testimonials you can build up independent feedback and views from your clients that can legitimately and credibly help to influence and inform new clients that are considering buying your products and services.

Here are V’s top tips for gathering strong client testimonials and making the most of them.

1. Ask! Sounds daft, but how often do you ask your clients for feedback or a testimonial? Put a system in place to automatically ask your clients for feedback at the end of a project or after a purchase has been made. Or ask a select group of clients personally.
2. Share the feedback internally. Make sure testimonials are shared internally as well as externally. Give recognition to the individuals or teams involved in the client’s experience with the firm. Use them in internal training sessions and presentations.
3. Get permission. Don’t forget to ask your client for permission to use the testimonial in your marketing material and check that they are happy to be referenced and for their comments to be made public.
4. Publish them. Look for appropriate ways in which testimonials can be published – on the website, in marketing material, in PR or share on a blog.
5. Reciprocate. If you are using client testimonials online, provide a link back to their website or use their logo (with their permission).
6. Organise your testimonials. Keep a central bank of all testimonials so they can be easily accessed for use in presentations, tenders and proposals.
7. Keep them specific. Gather testimonials for certain teams, products, services or sector specialisms so you have a selection of testimonials that are relevant and resonate with specific target audiences.
8. Keep them up to date. Make sure you have a steady stream of up-to-date testimonials and don’t just use the same one or two over and over again.

For more information on making the most of client feedback, contact the V team today.