The service, called My Customer Testimonials, helps retailers collect credible customer testimonials that they can then use to aid marketing.
Founder and director Darren Bourke said, “The trust and credibility established by a quality reference such as a customer testimonial is memorable and motivating.”
This is particularly true for the significant, often emotional, purchases made at jewellery stores where the personal experience of other customers might be more persuasive than if a shopper were buying something mass-produced or low-cost.
Bourke told Jeweller that testimonials are seen as a more trustworthy form of marketing because they are created by a third party: “Prospective customers are likely to trust the recommendation of an independent, third party rather than self platitudes in advertising copy. The ability to differentiate your business through powerful testimonials is key.”
He added that testimonials are a cost-effective marketing tool, because a retailer can use them over and over again – unlike one-off advertising.
“The power of customer testimonials is often underestimated and overlooked but the reality is, customer testimonials are an influential marketing technique which deliver a qualitative set of key business messages to potential customers,” he explained.
According to Bourke, one of the pitfalls of businesses trying to collect customer testimonials themselves is picking the right questions to ensure the most relevant and direct testimonial is collected.
“At My Customer Testimonials, we craft questions that will guarantee a clear and accurate synopsis of what a prospect wants to hear from a happy customer. Positive word of mouth is simply worth its weight in gold and is part of the formula in helping to grow a business,” he said.
Retailers can choose from three packages; Basic (three testimonials), Deluxe (six testimonials) and Premium (nine testimonials). They then provide details of the customers they wish My Customer Testimonials to contact and the company will convert their interviews into text and audio documents, for use on the retailer’s website or in other marketing materials.
Those retailers that choose a Deluxe or Premium package also benefit from a hosted website landing page, where prospective customers can go to read or listen to their customer testimonials.
Bourke recommends that retailers add the link for their customer testimonials webpage onto their outgoing email signature, “so that every outbound email contains a marketing message”.
According to recent research from Nielsen, third-party recommendations are the number one reason why people choose to do business with a company.
*Jeweller e-newsletter and magazine subscribers can benefit from a 15% discount on My Customer Testimonials’ Deluxe and Premium packages, by entering the promotion code JEWELLERMAG during the online purchasing process.