Make your Testimonials Work

Link: Creating Passionate Users: Rethinking testimonials.

"A great service," says Martha X.

"Really fast," says Kenny G.

I kid you not, those types of testimonials are often used on wireless broadband web sites, particularly small WISPs. Not only are they shallow, but they are unconvincing. Who can believe a customer that doesn't give their last name for a productivity enhancement tool? 

Don't get me wrong. I strongly recommend testimonials, but only when they are done correctly. I believe testimonials for a consumer product or service work best when they have the endorsee's full attribution and comments about how he/she used the product or service to get their work done more efficiently, quicker or for less cost.

As Kathy Sierra puts it in her post,

"... wouldn't users rather hear how other users--people just like them--have used it to kick ass in some way?"

So next time your mobile phone or broadband wireless company considers putting a testimonial on the company web site, make sure it includes the endorsee's full name and teaches other customers  how they benefited from it.

Note: I do believe that anonymity on testimonials is ok in certain B2B circumstances, like consulting services. For example,  I don't think many consulting companies could get fully-attributed testimonials from a company that hired them to fix their billing system.

However, even without the full attribution, I still think the testimonial should speak to the benefit of hiring the consultants and the results that were achieved.