0:00:01 - Betsy Jordyn
Hey, are you ready to turn your client success stories into powerful tools that attract and convert new clients? Join me now as we dive into how to create benefit-driven testimonials and case studies that will elevate your brand and make it easy for you to convince new clients to work with you. And welcome to the Enough Ready podcast. This is the show for consultants and coaches who want to forge their own path to success in their businesses and careers and lives. I'm your host, betsy Jordan. I'm a business mentor and brand messaging strategist for remarkable consultants and coaches and their unique strengths. You can find out more about my personal branding services on my website at wwwbetsyjordancom. So let's get into what we're going to be talking about today. We're continuing on my career to calling series, which is all about how to build a consulting or coaching business that is, yes, profitable, in alignment with your unique purpose, and what we're going to be talking about today is benefit driven testimonials and case studies. Have you ever felt like your client testimonials just aren't doing justice to the incredible results that you deliver for your coaching and consulting clients? If so, you are so not alone. Many, many consultants and coaches, both new and seasoned, struggle with turning client feedback into compelling stories that drive new business, and so today we're diving into the art and there's actually a science of creating benefit-driven testimonials and case studies. So what we're diving into? The art and there's actually a science of creating benefit driven testimonials and case studies. So what we're going to be discussing today is why testimonials are so incredibly important to your business success. The number one big mistake that many consultants or coaches make that turns away potential clients. The anatomy of a testimonial or case study that offers social proof and builds your credibility. And the three steps to compelling case studies and testimonials and how to use them for not just your website, but also market research, to optimize your LinkedIn profile, and so much more. So, before we get into the specifics, here's what I would love for you to do is put your consumer hat on for a second and just start to dial into why these are so important.
As a consumer, what role do testimonials, case studies and reviews play in your own buying decisions? So, for example, if you're going to go buy a car, choose a hotel, pick a restaurant, do the reviews matter? The stars matter. You know what is that what? What difference does it make? Or if you are trying to get something and you want to get a referral from someone that you know. How important is it that somebody else has tried it before and they can come back and say, yeah, that was a really good experience. You know, when you choose a stylist, a lawyer, accountant, coach, therapist, acupuncturist, manicurist, a doctor, dentist, do other clients experience matter to you? And I think the chances are you're probably saying yes, they do, it matters and it matters to your future clients. So the thing is is that for you as a consultant or coach, your benefit driven?
Testimonials and case studies aren't a nice to have. They're a game changer for your business, especially if you want to grow a business that is out of your immediate referral network. If you want to start using more attraction-based marketing, you need to have testimonials and case studies. Without them, you might accidentally be turning away potential clients, but if you have them, it boosts your credibility, attracts new clients and increases your revenue. So if you are serious about standing out in a crowded consulting or coaching marketplace, this episode is for you.
So if you are with me on it, let's get into the topic and let's get on with the show. So let me tell you number one, the number one testimonial mistake that you can make and it's simply not having them. The thing about testimonials and your social proof is it builds trust. It mistake that you can make and it's simply not having them. The thing about testimonials and your social proof is it builds trust. It shows that you are someone who delivers on your promises. Remember I said, as a brand is a promise that you make that you consistently deliver. So your testimonials show that, yes, I make a big promise and I'm someone who delivers on that promise. It solidifies your credibility. It demonstrates that you have a track record of delivering on those promises and it inspires your future clients. A well-written testimonial helps your clients see themselves in a future that they might not even believe that it was possible for themselves. So it helps them see that, yes, what I really want I could have, because if they can do it, so can I. So it's inspirational as well.
And you have to remember that when you are landing work or trying to get consulting or coaching clients, you have to deal with multiple sales at the same time. You know so that one of the sales that you have to convince your clients of is I have a problem, and then the next sale is and my problem is worth solving and actually it's solvable. And then the next sale is working with someone else is better than solving it on your own. And then the next sale is working with this specific consultant or coach is the best choice. And then the last one is saying yes, signing on the dotted line to your specific product or service is the last sale. Social proof, when you use it strategically throughout the entire client journey, helps your clients move from one sale to the next. So it's very important from a conversion standpoint. So you need to have social proof to help you move your client along. That's why it's so important.
The second is testimonial. Mistake and this is a biggie is asking for a recommendation versus a testimonial. A recommendation is not the same as a testimonial. So I want to give you an example. So let's say you were ready to invest a great deal of money in a business mentor and a personal brand and messaging strategist like me. I'm going to give you a couple options. Let me know what would help convince you that you get an ROI from working with me.
So let me give you the first recommendation. So somebody gave me this recommendation. That's on LinkedIn. It says I knew I would like working with Betsy. As soon as I read some of her material. She works the same way that I work, just in a different area. What I do for the sales process, she does for your whole business. She'll give you a fresh perspective of your business and how you operate Convinced. Do you feel like you're definitely going to get an ROI? Do you see yourself in a new future? I'm not sure that's a recommendation. Well, let me give you a different testimonial. This is a benefit-driven testimonial and it says after a 10-year financial plateau, I doubled my revenues after hiring Betsy to mentor me. She asked hard questions, pushed in ways that I needed to be pushed, and it introduced me to resources that have proven invaluable. As a result, I was more productive than ever, felt more relaxed and had more time to spend with my family.
Do you see the difference between the two? The difference between a recommendation and a testimonial is where the spotlight is. Is it on you or your ideal client? And what you really want in the testimonial is you want to be able to have the story about how that person transformed as a result of working with you, not just fluffy stuff about you. You know as much as you might really appreciate the compliments like oh, betsy's always on time and you know she's always so kind and you know, or whatever they might say, you know that or I don't know. People would say I was always so kind because part of what people like about working with me is I push them a little bit. You know, with good intentions underneath it. But you could see the difference between the two.
But let me give you more specifics around the difference between a recommendation and a benefit-driven testimonial. So recommendation is a statement suggesting the use of a product or service based on personal experience, versus a benefit-driven testimonial is a statement highlighting specific benefits or results gained from using from the product or service. So a recommendation endorses or promotes us as people, where a benefit-driven testimonial showcases the value and the effectiveness of what we do and the results achieved from working with us. So let's say Jane Doe as a consultant. Here's a recommendation. Jane Doe is an exceptional business consultant. Her expertise and insights have been invaluable to our company's growth. I highly recommend her services. That's the recommendation. Now look at it reframed as a benefit-driven testimonial. Working with Jane Doe transformed our business. In just six months we increased our revenue by 30% and streamlined our operations, saving us over 100 hours a month. Her strategic guidance was exactly what we needed to scale effectively. You could see, the benefit-driven testimonial really paints a picture for a future possibility for that client.
Or let me give you a coach example. John Smith is an outstanding executive coach. His coaching style is effective and supportive. I highly recommend him to anyone looking to enhance their leadership skills. You've probably seen that particular recommendation over and over and over again. Try this one out. John Smith's coaching helped me improve my leadership skills significantly. After three months of working with him, I gained the confidence to lead my team through a challenging project, resulting in a 20% increase in productivity and a successful project delivery ahead of schedule.
Do you see the difference between the two? You know one is a recommendation is it's super nice? You know we like to get compliments, but a benefit driven testimonial really showcases that. Yes, investing in this consultant or coach will give me the ROI that I hope to get, and that's the difference between the two. So that's the second big mistake. So the first big mistake is not having one. The second one is going for a recommendation.
Now let me get into the anatomy of a benefit-driven testimonial or case study, and they all basically have three parts. It all begins with the situation solution and then the results, both tangible and intangible. So this is a testimonial that I got from Jason, who says you know, I was blowing and growing 100 miles an hour with no map. I was making great money, adding great clients, but I was out of control. My brand lacked identity. My web's presence was abysmal. I tried doing W, doing Wix, wordpress, and even bought a WordPress kit for consultants. I was trying to do the quick and dirty until I met Betsy. That's the situation. The solution is what he says continues on, is working with Betsy. I got clear on the clients I serve and how I best serve them. As a result of the amazing one-on-one coaching I received, as well as a beautifully designed website that captures the essence of who I am and what I best serve them. As a result of the amazing one-on-one coaching, I received, as well as a beautifully designed website that captures the essence of who I am and what I do. So the solution is the coaching and the website, but then the result. This is where the magic is the results. This is what we so often just skip.
He says my authority in the market has increased substantially. I'm getting more opportunities at the C-suite. That eluded me previously. I have a brand that stands on its own. I've transformed from a transactional consultant to an industry leader with a vision and purpose. The transformation that's the heart and everything. The heart of your brand promise is about how you take the situation and turn it into the results. The solution part, even from a branding standpoint, is the smallest part of what you want to focus on. So the heart of a benefit driven testimonial is showcasing the benefits that people get because of what you provided for them. It's not about how great you are or how amazing your consulting or coaching is. It's about what people can create or achieve because they work with you. So now we're clear on the anatomy and actually this three-part aspect of a case study and testimonial is really the same as like a three-story act in a movie or a TV show or a book. It's that three-step situation solution results. So now let's get into the three steps to a compelling case study or testimonial results. So now let's get into the three steps to a compelling case study or testimonial.
The first step is brainstorm who you can get a testimonial or case study from. Really have to get a good list of that, because a lot of times you may be thinking about like, oh well, I don't have clients. So if you do have current clients, that's an obvious place where you can go. If you've been a consultant or coach for a while, your current clients or your past clients are a great place to go. But if you are new to consulting or coaching, you know, think about other people that you've worked with. You've been creating value throughout your entire career. Think about internal clients that you might have worked with If you were a leadership consultant or an HR consultant, or an HR leader, organization development consultant, a Six Sigma Lean, anybody who's been an internal consultant. You've worked with clients. You can get testimonials from them. But you could also look at former bosses, because in some ways your bosses are internal clients, or your colleagues, or if you've been on a volunteer team and you could look at all of those different places. Anywhere that you've created results, you can get a testimonial. Now you might think be thinking is, I don't have anyone who could testify to the consulting or coaching I want to do now. But the fact is, is what you've done in the past relates to what you want to do in the present.
What was really interesting is when I was doing the research to get ready to work on this, this podcast, I came across a testimonial that I got from a, an executive that I worked with years ago when I was still at Disney, and she said which is so interesting and she says I was fortunate to meet Betsy early in my career and grow alongside her. She's has such a clear idea of human behavior and a wonderfully supportive work style, which is nice, and the ability to cut through the clutter to get to the truth. I grew enormously by working closely with her. She gave me confidence in myself and helped me see my strengths. Now, if I knew back then what I know now, I would have pushed this particular individual to be more clear on the outcomes that she got as a result, because this is still more of a recommendation. But the truth of the matter is, with just a few tweaks and a little good pushed not pushy questions, but just a few pointed questions I could have turned this into a benefit-driven testimonial. But what my point is is that what she says confident in my confidence in myself and help me see my strengths that's what I do now and what I do and I never would have connected those dots. So everything matters and everything all makes sense.
So step two once you brainstorm who you could potentially get a testimonial from, send your clients a survey or interview them. So when I'm dealing with, like executive level, you know fast paced executives they tend to do interviews better. If, like, you could just get them on a call, you know, have it even on Zoom, where you can have a recording, that's great. Other people you know, your introverted thinkers like surveys better and they don't like to be on the fly. Surveys are nice, though, because you can have an ability to compare apples and apples and use it for other things. So you got to just think about your audience, and the thing is so you might be thinking like, oh, I'm going to send them a survey, yikes, you think I'm going to write the testimonials for them. That feels unethical, but the fact is that you're not writing testimonials, you're editing them, and there's a huge difference. So you want to get all that intel in from the survey or interview and then you'll edit it, and the thing is is that it's a huge gift for people Like a lot of people who really got a lot of results and a lot of value from working with you. They want to be able to help you out. They want to be able to pay it forward, but they just don't know what to say when you ask them for a benefit-driven testimonial. So actually sending them a survey or offering to interview them is actually a better way for them to do what they really want to do anyway for you.
And then you want to ask these eight questions in this order. It's very important that you go in this order because this order mirrors the whole situation solution results order. So question one you know what was your absolute biggest challenge you had before you signed up to work with me? Think back to when you first considered signing up. What made you interested in services like mine? Question two how did that problem or challenge make you feel? Question three what other solutions did you try to fix this problem or overcome this challenge? What frustrations do you experience with those other solutions? Question four what changed after our work together? What specific results have you been able to create as a direct result of working with me? Question five how did you change as a result of working with me? Question six what would you say to someone who's on the fence about signing up for my services and working for me, working with me. Question seven is there anything else you want me to know about my services and your experience working with me? And I just didn't ask you the right question. That would be the good wrap up one, because that's when they're going to say the nice things that you could say, but also how you're different than other people. And then the last question can I share your experience with my future clients and my marketing materials? Just give them a yes, or maybe yes, I'd love to encourage others who are seeking the same type of a success. I am, or maybe, but can you contact me first?
So now you have all of this intel from the survey and or the interview, and it's in the right order for you, and then what you want to do is turn that survey. So step three is turn that survey into a testimonial and send it to them for feedback and approval. So you're not going to write it for them, you're just going to edit it. So here's what I do I take the results like either from the transcript from the interview or from the survey itself, cut and paste it, put it in a Word document. That example that I gave you earlier came from a survey that I did and I just cut and paste, I put it into a document. I delete then all the words that I have. So now I have all the narrative all ready to go and then I take that survey and I turn it into a case study. You know, so you can turn it into a, you know, a several paragraph case study where you're still saying situation, solution, results, and then I take that particular case study and I edit it down into a paragraph size testimonial and then I edit it down even more into sound bites. So you want to be able to take the data, cut and paste it, put it into a Word document, have your case study up there, then edit it down into a paragraph size, then edit it down into a sound bite.
The benefit here is you have different uses. Case studies will show up in a different place than different uses. Case studies will show up in a different place than a soundbite, which will show up in a different place than a paragraph. So let's say, a soundbite you might have that like on a checkout page or something that you have like really small real estate, whereas a case study might show up on a success stories type of page, so you want to be able to have it in the different formats. So those are the three steps is brainstorm who you could talk to, then either do an interview or a survey and then you edit it down into the different uses that you have, and then you just have all of the different places that you want to use your testimonials.
And the whole point of your testimonials is to back up your promises. Remember when I said a brand is a promise that you make and deliver. So anytime you make a big promise with your marketing, especially on your website, you want to provide a testimonial to back up your claims. So on your website, it's for sure sales pages and your webinars, proposals, emails, social media posts anytime you're saying big promise. And then you want to have your social proof Big promise, and then you want to have your social proof. Another tip I would say around making the most of this is create a spreadsheet, a Google doc or some other system where you can easily find and use testimonials. Like you want to make this like almost like your standard operating procedures is you close out a client engagement or a project, you send out your survey, you do your interview, you get the information and then you edit it down and now you have a place where you can go, where you can easily find and use testimonials.
Another way to make the most out of this process is to swipe your great copy that. There's a treasure trove. This is a gold mine of website copy. So if you want to be able to take, like, let's say, you have several surveys so I have been doing this for a while. I have lots of surveys and I'll just take the copy that I've had from some of the questions and I just put it all together into a single document where I can go and reference it for the great copy. So what you're looking for is those sticky phrases of what somebody says, like phrases that make you stop and notice, or powerful expressions of of how they share the depth of their pain or their desires and what they say that reflects what everyone else is thinking but no one else is willing to say.
And now you have a source not just for testimonials, but a way to understand like, oh I, if I want to describe like, let's say, on your website page you want to have a pain identifier section like are you a whatever your ideal client is and struggling with this. You could just use their words. Another thing you can do is create a success stories website page. So if you head back over to my website at wwwbetsyjordancom forward slash success hyphen stories you will see what I would call like sort of like my mini portfolio of success stories, specifically clients that I've done more of like that whole full on branding to website, visual branding, all of that stuff together and you'll see I have the list of like the outcomes and then you can click to a page where you could see some of the case studies. So that's another thing that you can do as well. So hopefully now you are getting excited like wow, I really want to get into doing these testimonials because I think it will make a huge difference. I'm so excited for you and let's review what we discussed today.
So how to create benefit-driven testimonials? Ask for them, don't avoid it. Any social proof is better than none. Like it's just something's better than nothing. As I mentioned, I'm not a fan of the recommendations for your testimonials, but I'd rather see recommendations on your website than nothing. At least that there's some sort of social proof there. But really focus on getting testimonials, not recommendations, instead of asking for a testimonial, which will lead the person that you're asking it from to think that you want a recommendation. Just send out the survey or do the interview, set up the questions to match the anatomy of compelling testimonials and case studies, situation solution results, and then edit the results into case studies, testimonials and soundbites and then use them in your marketing and sales and more. So let's take action.
Number one just get started. Period At the end of an engagement, just interview people. Like that's your fastest path. Like, if you don't really want to get through the whole technology thing, just do an interview, but make sure that you record it so that you can get the actual words. Like you don't want to interview somebody and try to write it down, because I promise you you're going to miss the really great words that will be as compelling as they can be. So make sure you record it and make sure that you get that. And then ask for permission too, because if you are recording it, it would be great to have video testimonials for your website as well.
Um, another thing that I would say, though, is my recommendation to testimonial hack. Like just do this, so get started, and then, if someone gives you a recommendation. Here's what you do. You just say, oh my gosh, thank you so much. When you said whatever comp they complimented you on, you would just say, well, what difference that makes. So if somebody says, oh, I really appreciate, betsy, that you pushed me and asked the hard questions, I would say, well, that is so nice, like I know that was helpful for you, but what difference did it make? You know, and hopefully they'll say something like it made me really get clear on what is it that I really wanted to create for my business which helped me get, um, accelerate my ability to get focused so that I can get my business launch faster, or something like that. You just keep repeating that question until you get to the outcome. So if somebody does want to give you a recommendation, all you do, thank you so much. That means so much to me. But when I did X, whatever they say, what difference did it make? And just keep repeating until you get to the outcome.
Another thing that you can do is just go on LinkedIn. You know so in LinkedIn there is a recommendation section and then you just click on it and says, hey, I would like you to give me a recommendation. Don't do that. Just delete those words and just say something else. Just say something along the lines of hey, I'm really trying to, I'm trying to improve my LinkedIn presence and attract more of the clients that are just like you.
It would mean a lot to me if you could write a sentence or two about the value or outcome you got as a result of working with me. Like that's the key word. Like, if you need a testimonial fast and you don't have the time to do the whole survey, you don't have time to do interviews, you know, you just got like one shot with that person. Ask them that one question what is the value or outcome you got as a result of working with me? You know, and if you have time, you could say well, what is it that I do is unique, and you know. If you want to ask other things like that, but that's not as compelling what's the value or outcome you got as a result of working with me?
Now, if you're still stuck because after this whole series, we've talked a lot about identifying your ideal client and you're not quite sure about the value that you want to create or what you want to showcase in your testimonials, definitely encourage you to sign up for a free brand strategy. Call with me, you know, head on to over to my website at wwwbetsyjordancom. Forward slash schedule and let's talk about that. So, coming up next, I'm wrapping up my series on career to calling with my top five mistakes and my five top best practices, so I'm going to be giving you an insider peek into my mistakes and the things that I feel like really serve me and my business to help accelerate your journey from your career to your calling. So subscribe now so you don't miss it. And until next time, remember you have enough, you do enough and you are enough. I'll see you soon.
