The Power of Customer Testimonials – Do You Have Enough, and Are You Using them Effectively?

By Kris Murray

Most business owners put very little thought into the most powerful marketing tool they have – testimonials from current and past customers. Customer testimonials are an often-untapped source of marketing power in your child care business, because they offer “social proof” to others that you provide a quality child care experience. What others say about you is MUCH stronger than anything you say about yourself.

I’m not talking about a few simple quotes scattered here and there on your website or brochure. You must have a strategic SYSTEM in place for gathering lots of testimonials that contain the right messages you need to get new enrollments. Your testimonial system needs to address these factors:

Quantity. Simply put, you can NEVER have too many testimonials. When prospective families look at your marketing materials, they should be blown away by the amount of people saying great things about you. In this case, more is always better.

Quality. You want testimonials that mention specific BENEFITS of your program, such as “they helped my child overcome a behavioral issue”, or “they were directly responsible for preparing my child to excel in Kindergarten.” These benefit-driven testimonials are much stronger than just the generic “this center provides great child care.”

Variety. It’s also good to have testimonials that address possible objections in your prospect’s head. Identify the biggest weakness of your center, and use a testimonial to diffuse it. For example, if you have small rooms and an older facility, use a testimonial to say “the facility may be older than the fancy new franchises across town, but the quality of care was superb and my children’s development was more important to me than a new building.”

Multi-media. One of the most powerful ways to use testimonials on your website is to add an audio or video component. An inexpensive and easy way to add audio testimonials to your website is a service called Audio Acrobat, which hosts your testimonials for a small monthly fee. Your customers simply call the toll-free number set up just for you, they record their testimonial, and it’s saved for you with a special link that you add to your website. Video testimonials are even more powerful, and can be captured & uploaded easily using a small Flip video cam.

So how do you go about gathering these testimonials? Each time a customer praises your center, simply ask them “could you do me a favor?” Then pause. They will almost always say “Sure”. Have a short, easy “Feedback Form” ready for them to fill out on the spot. Another great way to get lots of testimonials is to hold a testimonial contest, and offer a nice prize (like a $100 dinner for two, or a gift card) for the best testimonial. Or you can randomly draw the winner from everyone who enters the contest. Guide your customers on how to provide a benefit-driven testimonial by giving them some examples of what you’re looking for.

Using these simple strategies, you’ll soon find yourself with tons of high-quality testimonials, and more prospective families contacting you.

Kris Murray is an expert in helping small businesses grow and become profitable. She has 20 years of experience in business management, profitability analysis, and marketing. Over the past two years, Kris has focused her talents on helping people start and run a successful child care business, either in their home or in a center. She has helped hundreds of people get started in a way that increases their chance of success, through cutting-edge marketing techniques & a unique approach to the child care business.

Kris is the author of “The Child Care Business Success System” as well as a professional speaker. She is the President of Child Care Marketing Solutions (www.childcare-marketing.com), which offers information, business coaching, and products related to child care marketing & business management. She is a member of the National Association of Child Care Professionals & the National Association for Family Child Care. Kris is married with two young children, and lives in Northeast Ohio.

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