102: How to Build a Testimonial Strategy for your Design Business WITH MADELEINE POTEAT

On the podcast today is Maddie Poteat, the founding partner, and lead marketing strategist at MP Consulting based in Nashville, Tennessee. Maddie and I are going to jump into a conversation about testimonials. We're going to talk a little bit about the difference between just asking for feedback from your client and really having those social proof testimonials. We're also going to look at how to create the questions, how to collect that information, where to put it online, and why we need to do it. We're going to discuss the benefits, and then even what not to do, or what's not really the best way to go about gathering testimonials. Testimonials, as many offer to us, are a free way to have a large marketing impact, so we don't want to overlook how to get, use, and manage them properly in our business. So I hope you'll walk away with a couple of ideas of the testimonials you need to get, how to add that into your process, and where you want it to show up.  

Topics Mentioned:

• Testimonials 

• Feedback 

• Negative Reviews

• Analytics

Key Thoughts:

• The benefit of asking for and receiving testimonials is that they help your business build trust and credibility. - Maddie (06:58)

• When do we ask for reviews and testimonials? Build it into the sales process where it makes most sense. Maddie (14:47) 

•  Make sure you have a process document on how you solve problems. Michele (25:43)

• Ask for reviews on Google, FB, Yelp, Houzz, LinkedIn, Angie’s List, Bing, then decide how you want your ads to show up. Maddie (33:47)

• Ask specific questions when requesting a testimonial or review. Michele (38:41)

• To get past being braggy you need to be very professional about how you ask for your reviews. Maddie (44:37)

Contact Michele:

• Email: [email protected]

• Facebook: Scarlet Thread Consulting

• Instagram: @ScarletThreadATL

Contact Maddie:

• Website: mpconsultingfirm.com

• LinkedIn: MP Consulting

• Facebook: MP Consulting

References and Resources:

• The Designers' Inner Circle - Become a Member Today