Testimonials, Why They Work

The fact that testimonials are important to your real estate business is a well known idea, but do you know exactly why testimonials work so well, and what they’re saying to your customers? Knowing why they work leads to better use of your testimonials, and can help to avoid some potential issues with them if you aren’t careful.

A testimonial is great at helping to show people that an outside source agrees with what you have to say in your marketing. Consider a real estate company that wants to get some brochure printing done where the focus of the color brochure is going to be about their great customer service. What sounds better: the company just saying that their service is great, or an actual customer agreeing with them, and talking about what they enjoyed.

Now, the real reason why people like this so much is because it lets them see that someone a lot like them enjoyed the services, so they’ll probably enjoy it as well. This is why it means so much when a friend of yours tells you how great a place is, because you have a greater trust of their opinion.

This fact is particularly important because most companies overlook it. They understand that people want an outside source to agree with a company’s assertions, but they don’t understand that some people also want to connect with that testimonial on another level. It isn’t just the outside approval, but also that the customers can see who is giving the testimonial, and see whether or not that person is like them.

If you run a real estate company selling luxury homes, and you had a testimonial from a business executive who had never purchased a luxury home, will people really care or believe it? The person giving the testimonial has to be similar enough to your customers that they can relate to them. So, if your targeting other luxury home buyers, it will work. However, if you’re targeting other types of buyers, it may not work.

This also means you have to give a decent amount of information on the person giving the testimonial. Don’t just say “satisfied customer”, but instead give a name, a picture, even an occupation. Now your customers can draw a stronger connection with the testimonial, and they’ll be more likely to read it and believe what it has to say.

Testimonials often work best with advertising that allows you the room to accomplish all of this. Brochure printing and booklets will give you a great chance to both push a message and have a detailed testimonial. You will also want to put these testimonials on your website.

Now that you know how testimonials work you can use them more effectively to market to potential customers and bring in more sales.