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Resources for Growth of Your Handmade Biz
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Hi there.
Speaker:It's Sue.
Speaker:And thanks for joining me for tips and talk day.
Speaker:These are bite-sized topics that I pull from community questions and
Speaker:things that I'm observing in the world of handmade small business.
Speaker:If you'd like to submit a topic,
Speaker:DME, over on Instagram at gift biz,
Speaker:unwrapped customer testimonials can honestly be the difference between somebody clicking
Speaker:that buy button or just moving on and continuing to search
Speaker:for a product elsewhere.
Speaker:Amazon's the one who started with all the five-star ratings and
Speaker:you see when you buy on Amazon and then you get
Speaker:that email back that says,
Speaker:Hey, rate this product,
Speaker:review it for us.
Speaker:My guess is that Amazon knows a thing or two about
Speaker:having people do reviews and how that affects the ability for
Speaker:them to sell their products.
Speaker:Not only is it social proof because you're seeing that a
Speaker:lot of people are purchasing,
Speaker:but you're also getting a lot of good feedback.
Speaker:How did an item fit?
Speaker:How did it work in terms of providing a solution to
Speaker:whatever the product is that you purchased?
Speaker:How quickly did it get delivered?
Speaker:All of those types of things,
Speaker:you can use the power of these reviews to help people
Speaker:make the decision that they're going to buy from you.
Speaker:Two words through what customers have to say about your product
Speaker:is so much more valued by someone who's looking at buying.
Speaker:Then you talking about your product.
Speaker:So getting those words from your customers is like gold,
Speaker:but here's what often happens.
Speaker:People know the power of the reviews,
Speaker:or they've just put up their website or a social media
Speaker:platform. And they go after reviews right in the beginning.
Speaker:So you'll see a lot of sites that have what,
Speaker:maybe three or five customer reviews,
Speaker:but they're from four years ago.
Speaker:And there's been nothing since then.
Speaker:So you can totally see that there was this onslaught and
Speaker:then nothing.
Speaker:I get why this happens because it's not on the top
Speaker:of our mind.
Speaker:We have so much to do in our businesses,
Speaker:that reviews where we may understand the power that they provide.
Speaker:Isn't something that we're thinking about with the day to day,
Speaker:the way to do this is to incorporate it into your
Speaker:system, to have some type of a routinized plan within your
Speaker:sales and checkout processes.
Speaker:That includes the request for review.
Speaker:Now, are you going to get reviews from everybody?
Speaker:No. Relatively small percentage of people will probably review,
Speaker:but this is what we're going to talk about.
Speaker:How you can put the odds in your favor that people
Speaker:will actually do a review for you.
Speaker:And then what you do with those reviews afterwards,
Speaker:let's go ahead and move on.
Speaker:And let's talk about how to get reviews.
Speaker:There are a couple of places within your sales process that
Speaker:make it easiest to get reviews.
Speaker:And of course the very first one is right after someone
Speaker:purchases. Here's a couple of ways that you can do that
Speaker:in a followup.
Speaker:So if someone purchases online,
Speaker:this is after the receipt,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:all the regular things that are part of your sales system,
Speaker:but a regular email that says,
Speaker:Hey, thrilled that you purchased something from our shop.
Speaker:It would be wonderful.
Speaker:If you could share with us your experience with our product,
Speaker:I don't know if you've had this happen to you,
Speaker:but I've had requests like that.
Speaker:And it's hard to write reviews,
Speaker:isn't it?
Speaker:Because you're like,
Speaker:okay, I would love to do the review them,
Speaker:but what do I say?
Speaker:One of the ways to help a customer overcome this is
Speaker:to ask them some questions.
Speaker:So in that email,
Speaker:you could say,
Speaker:what made you choose the color of candle that you purchased
Speaker:or something like that.
Speaker:So you're giving them ideas of what they could talk about,
Speaker:why they purchased,
Speaker:if it was for a gift who was it for and
Speaker:how did they respond?
Speaker:Or how did you choose what size color scent flavor of
Speaker:your purchase or the overall experience.
Speaker:This is one way,
Speaker:right after a purchase.
Speaker:This would be in a follow-up email.
Speaker:Another way you could do this is if you do monthly
Speaker:emails to your customer base,
Speaker:you could also put something in there about if you purchase
Speaker:something from us lately would love for you to leave a
Speaker:quick review and then how to do it with some prompting
Speaker:questions is really helpful.
Speaker:Another thing that you can do after a purchase is to
Speaker:include something in your packaging,
Speaker:having a card in there,
Speaker:or a message gives them directions again on how to leave
Speaker:a review.
Speaker:We'd love for you to take a picture,
Speaker:wearing your new necklace when you do make sure to post
Speaker:on social and tag me,
Speaker:I've seen a lot of people do contests that motivate someone
Speaker:to leave a review.
Speaker:You might say,
Speaker:well then am I paying for that review in a way?
Speaker:Yeah, you are.
Speaker:Yes you are.
Speaker:But you're paying for them to take the action,
Speaker:to write the review.
Speaker:You're not paying them to give you a good review,
Speaker:right? When I mean pain,
Speaker:some people will put a contest together.
Speaker:Like they'll say on a note that goes into a package,
Speaker:take a photo posted on Instagram,
Speaker:tag me in the picture.
Speaker:And when you do,
Speaker:you'll be entered into a monthly contest and your monthly contest
Speaker:could be a drawing for a discount on product,
Speaker:a free product,
Speaker:whatever it might be.
Speaker:So they're motivated to go out of their way to take
Speaker:a little bit of time to leave a review for you.
Speaker:So they get something for their efforts.
Speaker:I'm sure you've seen people doing this before,
Speaker:but it motivates them to do so.
Speaker:Another great place to get testimonials is when you're out at
Speaker:craft shows face to face shows,
Speaker:how do you do it?
Speaker:Well, when people come up to your booth and they talk
Speaker:about, oh my gosh,
Speaker:I have to get more of those lemon scented candles.
Speaker:They were so fabulous.
Speaker:The last time I had them,
Speaker:I'm here specifically to replenish my stock.
Speaker:This is a great time for you to say,
Speaker:wait a minute.
Speaker:Oh my gosh,
Speaker:would it be okay if I turned on my camera and
Speaker:you told me exactly what you just said,
Speaker:and if they aren't then say,
Speaker:is it okay if I just record the audio,
Speaker:prompt them with the question and then let them talk and
Speaker:then get their approval that you can use their audio,
Speaker:or if they aren't even comfortable with that,
Speaker:say, can I just use the words that you just said?
Speaker:And then put those up just as a quote.
Speaker:Okay. So super easy ways in person to get testimonials.
Speaker:The other thing that you can do,
Speaker:and any of you who have been out at shows with
Speaker:me know that I do this.
Speaker:When anybody buys a ribbon printer,
Speaker:we're so happy with them being a customer.
Speaker:Usually I give them a hug.
Speaker:I wonder if it will be able to do that.
Speaker:Nowadays, our first live shows are coming back up.
Speaker:I wonder if I can still do that,
Speaker:but we'll take pictures in the booth are brand new customers.
Speaker:They're joining the ribbon print family.
Speaker:And so we take pictures.
Speaker:Also customers who come by the booth just regularly.
Speaker:We always say that we're like your home base.
Speaker:If you want to leave your coat,
Speaker:all your stuff behind the curtains of our booth,
Speaker:go for it.
Speaker:And we'll take pictures with existing customers.
Speaker:So these are ways then at a live show that you're
Speaker:able to number one,
Speaker:just bond,
Speaker:even deeper with your customers,
Speaker:but also capture testimonials.
Speaker:The third way is more of what I'm going to call
Speaker:intended outreach,
Speaker:remembering that you always want to be collecting reviews and testimonials.
Speaker:You're talking with a customer and they say something nice about
Speaker:your company.
Speaker:You could say,
Speaker:oh my gosh,
Speaker:that was so sweet of you to say,
Speaker:would you mind giving a testimonial along those lines?
Speaker:Just email me something.
Speaker:And if it's okay,
Speaker:I'll attach your name to it.
Speaker:And it'll be a testimonial,
Speaker:all different places along a normal path of how you interact
Speaker:with customers is a great way to get testimonials.
Speaker:We weren't doing this for quite a while,
Speaker:and now we've incorporated this into our system,
Speaker:Laurie, once a month or so,
Speaker:we'll reach out to two or three or four brand new
Speaker:ribbon printing customers and ask them if they haven't already replied
Speaker:with a testimonial through another system that I'm going to talk
Speaker:about in a minute,
Speaker:we'll ask them through email.
Speaker:Would you be so kind as to leave a review for
Speaker:us and guess what?
Speaker:This is no different than what Amazon does and some will
Speaker:and some won't,
Speaker:but you know what?
Speaker:As long as you don't stay on their back asking and
Speaker:asking and asking,
Speaker:even if only a quarter of them do,
Speaker:that's more testimonials than you had before,
Speaker:right? Another place most people won't think about would be to,
Speaker:oh, there are people that you interact with in relation to
Speaker:your products.
Speaker:The first people that you always think of are your customers,
Speaker:of course.
Speaker:But what about vendors?
Speaker:People that you're doing business with,
Speaker:you can ask them for reviews of your company.
Speaker:They may not have tried your product,
Speaker:but they know what it's like working with you,
Speaker:that your responsive,
Speaker:that you're professional,
Speaker:you work with integrity.
Speaker:Same way.
Speaker:If your part of any types of shows,
Speaker:how about the organizer of the show?
Speaker:I know a lot of people who put on shows,
Speaker:craft shows,
Speaker:virtual shows,
Speaker:and there are people who are always get their things in
Speaker:on time.
Speaker:They come prepared.
Speaker:They, they don't moan or complain.
Speaker:They get solutions to problems that inevitably come up in any
Speaker:show organizers,
Speaker:we'd be more than happy if you're that type of person
Speaker:to say,
Speaker:I so enjoy having insert your company,
Speaker:name, exhibit at our shows because,
Speaker:and then for whatever those reasons are,
Speaker:that's another way they get to talk about their shows too.
Speaker:But really they're highlighting you as a great exhibitor.
Speaker:And then also,
Speaker:how about other exhibitors?
Speaker:If you get to be friends with someone who's a booth
Speaker:mate of yours at a show,
Speaker:and you've talked a lot because you've probably spent hours and
Speaker:hours. If not days with that person,
Speaker:depending on how long the show is,
Speaker:ask them.
Speaker:If they do a review so-and-so was so personable and fun
Speaker:to hang out with this past weekend,
Speaker:their spice dip mixtures are beyond fabulous to this.
Speaker:I probably had a few too many of them over the
Speaker:weekend, but I wanted to share with you this wonderful company,
Speaker:and then that's a review right there.
Speaker:Right? Okay.
Speaker:So then once you get the reviews,
Speaker:then what do you do with them?
Speaker:It's no good.
Speaker:If you put them in a little box on your desk
Speaker:and don't share them out,
Speaker:the idea is that other people will see them because the
Speaker:whole point of getting testimonials and reviews is to share third-party
Speaker:information about your product.
Speaker:They get someone to also decide to be a customer of
Speaker:yours. So put it on social media,
Speaker:put it on your way,
Speaker:cite, intersperse it with all the content that you put out
Speaker:on social.
Speaker:Very that already anyway,
Speaker:right? You want to talk a little bit behind the scenes.
Speaker:Maybe you put then a testimonial,
Speaker:then maybe you show a product.
Speaker:Then you talk about how you got into your business.
Speaker:Do you,
Speaker:don't just put all of a sudden five testimonials on your
Speaker:Instagram account,
Speaker:all in a row reviews and testimonials are hard.
Speaker:So any barriers that you can overcome are going to put
Speaker:the odds in your favor that they'll actually follow through and
Speaker:do it for you.
Speaker:I, an app called
This is not a sale for this.
Speaker:There are others out there.
Speaker:I've tried a couple,
Speaker:but this is the one we're currently using.
Speaker:And I really love I'll include a link in the show
Speaker:notes. It also provides a link to our customers.
Speaker:So when I was mentioning earlier that Laurie sent an email
Speaker:out in that email is a link.
Speaker:And when they follow that link,
Speaker:they can choose where they'd like to post the review.
Speaker:So it could be a Google review.
Speaker:It can be a Facebook review.
Speaker:It can just be a message too.
Speaker:So that's a message.
Speaker:Then back to us that isn't showing up in either Google
Speaker:or Facebook,
Speaker:but guess what happens?
Speaker:We get that review and then it automatically also gets added
Speaker:to our website.
Speaker:And of course,
Speaker:then it's on Facebook or Google already.
Speaker:So we don't have to place it there.
Speaker:It's just already there fact is.
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:we've often gotten emails from people that say,
Speaker:thank you so much.
Speaker:You helped out so much yesterday or one of the people
Speaker:in our support group,
Speaker:like Anita was a godsend over the weekend by helping me,
Speaker:blah, blah,
Speaker:blah, do whatever it is.
Speaker:We'll just ask them.
Speaker:Could we take the words that you just wrote in this
Speaker:email and use it as a testimonial now that then isn't
Speaker:connected with their name,
Speaker:but you can certainly put it in quotes and put it
Speaker:up on social.
Speaker:So we've just covered three ways that you can attract testimonials.
Speaker:One is right after the sale.
Speaker:Second is when you're in person and the third is intentional
Speaker:outreach. And I just gave you a bunch of different types
Speaker:of categories of people that you might not have ever thought
Speaker:of. And of course,
Speaker:another way to do this bonus is lead by example,
Speaker:think of a couple of people that you have loved the
Speaker:product that you've purchased,
Speaker:or you love working with them because they provide the best
Speaker:service or gosh,
Speaker:maybe they're just friendly.
Speaker:It's the way you feel interacting with them.
Speaker:Every single time you're left,
Speaker:ending a conversation in a great mood.
Speaker:They're so personable.
Speaker:They're so friendly.
Speaker:They're so helpful that in and of itself is a testimonial
Speaker:because remember testimonials,
Speaker:aren't always just about the product.
Speaker:It's about the brand.
Speaker:Overall, give us some thought today.
Speaker:The key to getting testimonials is to make it as easy
Speaker:as possible to actually ask incorporated into your system.
Speaker:And when you do,
Speaker:you're going to be using this really powerful capability of having
Speaker:testimonials, transition people from being just lookers,
Speaker:to being a buyer.
Speaker:That's a wrap.
Speaker:I'm a get to the point kind of girl.
Speaker:And this is what you can expect from these quick midweek
Speaker:sessions. Now it's your turn go out and fulfill that dream
Speaker:of yours,
Speaker:share your handmade products with us.
