If you ever buy or sell on Trade Me, you’ll know all about the value of feedback. Giving and receiving feedback helps to keep the buying and selling community safe. It lets you know whether you can trust a buyer or seller enough to do business with them.
At BNI we can take feedback a step further and create testimonials for people we deal with.
What’s a testimonial exactly?
A testimonial is a “written declaration certifying to a person’s character, qualifications or excellence; a letter or written statement of recommendation”.
At BNI we usually give great verbal testimonials for a member who has provided us or one of our contacts with services at the end of a weekly meeting. Acknowledging a member in this way helps to build their credibility, grow their business and creates a strong chapter.
These verbal testimonials can be taken a step further if transformed into written pieces. Written testimonials will provide more detail on the member’s offerings and why they are being recommended. The testimonial can then be used as marketing material by the member; shared on social media, their website, LinkedIn and BNI Connect.
Why are testimonials so important?
- When we have close personal contacts who have provided testimonials for a local business, we hold their experiences and feedback at a higher level than an individual we don’t know personally. Before people want to purchase your product or service, they may want the comfort of knowing what others have said about you.
- Testimonials increase our business because they provide more credibility than a marketing message. In many cases testimonials can help clinch a job for you. That is a lot of weight riding on someone else’s words about you and your services. A written testimonial on professional letterhead from one business to another is powerful, especially if that business is highly respected.
Don’t forget BNI Connect
One of the great new features of BNI Connect is that it allows you to write a testimonial for one of your members and post it on their profile. Take advantage of this fantastic feature. When your chapter has the next featured speaker, how great would it be to have another member of your chapter provide a testimonial on BNI Connect that week and read it out?
3 easy tips for writing testimonials
- Outline the problem, explain how they helped and talk transformation.
- Be specific and memorable.
- Put it in the first person, provide details and make it personal.
Testimonials are hugely powerful and an important part of what we do at BNI. Start writing now and see how our community becomes stronger for it. If your chapter is already creating testimonials, please share some with the BNI Support team.
