Discover Your Coaching Niche

Why Use Testimonials?

Many successful coaches build their coaching practices by using testimonials. But many others either do not use them, or use them poorly. The fact is, a well-crafted, relevant testimonial can be a potent influence on your prospects.

But only if you know how to use them effectively. Read on to find out how…

What is a Testimonial?

A dictionary definition is:
“A statement, usually written, in support of another’s character or worth; a personal recommendation.”

Or more succinctly:

A testimonial is a statement from a client that details the benefit they gained from working with you.

OK, So Why are they Important?

Testimonials are important as they rely on Social Proof – one of Dr. Robert Cialdini’s potent factors of social influence. “Social Proof” is a psychological phenomenon that occurs in ambiguous social situations.

Under these circumstances, people who are unable to determine the appropriate way of behaving look to others for clues as to what is appropriate.

What is Needed for Social Proof

Social Proof is one of the most potent factors of influence and involves seeing what others around you are doing.

We’ve all seen it before – we choose restaurants that are popular over ones that are nearly empty. The logic is that if the restaurant is full then it must be good.

The power of Social Proof is greatest, Cialdini argues, when three things are true.

1. You find yourself in conditions of uncertainty.
2. Many people can be seen engaging in a particular activity.
3. You believe these people are similar to you.

Therefore, the more people there are engaging in a given activity, the stronger the social proof. Likewise if the people are like you (dress like you, appear to be part of your demographics or psychographics etc.), their actions will be more persuasive.

Social Proof & Coaching Testimonials

We can utilise social proof via client testimonials to gently persuade our prospects to buy our products and services. If we use these testimonials appropriately in our marketing, we can leverage the legitimate social influence inherent in our client’s recommendation to grow our business.

Making Testimonials More Persuasive

Knowing what we now know about social proof, we want to use testimonials that our audience can immediately relate to as coming from members of their group. In our case this would be people like our target audience.

People who have already attended one of our programmes, gained value and recommend it to others are likely to influence the others by their testimonials. So these are the people we want to ask.

But what makes a good testimonial? Read the next part of this article to find out!

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