Among marketing tools, the customer testimonial is one of the best. It’s proof positive that your work is awesome. Many people, myself included, choose the businesses they work with based on customer testimonials. We even choose the places we shop and the restaurants we patronise based on testimonials (thanks Yelp). You’ve probably even read a book or seen a movie based on a friend’s recommendation. (Honestly, who reads professional reviews anymore?)

The reason why testimonials work seems obvious; testimonials generate business because it’s proof that you have customers and that they like you. But the real reason is even deeper than that: testimonials work because they give you a chance to empathise with potential customers.

Think back to a testimonial that convinced you to user a service. I’d be willing to wager that the testimonial started by acknowledging a problem. “I had a boring website that people wouldn’t come to.” “My product wasn’t being marketed very well.” “We were having trouble finding new users.” These testimonials resonate because they show that your existing customers shared the problems that your potential customers are currently dealing with.

Even more importantly, a good testimonial finishes by explaining how your business solved that problem. “Fortunately, Van Patten Media was able to redesign my site and help me start a content management strategy that keeps users on the site almost twice as long.” “Luckily, MarketPro was able to create an awesome plan that tripled my sales.” “GrowthTeam ran A/B tests on our ad campaign that increased new signups by 250%.” The empathy is the hook that starts someone reading, and the solution is what gets a person to your contact page.

The key takeaway is that without acknowledging a problem, your testimonial is not reaching its full potential. When you’re asking your clients for testimonials, try to ask structured questions to make sure you’re getting as powerful a testimonial as possible. (I like the seven question method suggested by sales legend Jeffrey Gitomer in this Udemy course.)

A bonus takeaway?

You can even use these “empathetic” testimonials to fuel other areas of your marketing. For example, if a lot of testimonials started out with something like “I just couldn’t figure out an easy way to build a WordPress website,” you can use that knowledge to create content that targets people with similar problems (perhaps a “get started with WordPress” series, or a “WordPress 101” video series). Having an understanding of the problems your customers faced before they found you is a great way to learn how to help others find you too.