How To Use Testimonials To Make A Killing With Your Barbecue Business.

The other week I had a discussion with some barbecue catering folks regarding website design.

One of the gentlemen asked for an opinion on his website design.

Now when I looked at his website it was clearly a home made job, however, I think “bootstrapping” when you’re just starting out is the way to go.

There’s something magical about creating something out of nothing or using your limited resources to create an excellent marketing plan.

So anyway, one of the first things I noticed on this gentleman’s site was the lack of testimonials.

The funny thing is, NOT using testimonials in your marketing is one of the biggest mistakes I see entrepreneurs and business owners making with their marketing materials.

It’s been said what others say about you, your company, your products and your services is way more believable than anything you can say about yourself.

What you say about yourself is a claim–when your happy customer makes a statement about you — it’s a fact!

Get it? Good, lets keep going…

You see, people are more and more skeptical of marketing and advertisements especially on-line.

So its really up to you to over come their skepticism and one of the best ways to do this is by using testimonials.

It’s social proof!

So what should a good testimonial look like?

Well for starters a testimonial should be a “before and after” picture.

Before I was fat- now I’m skinny, before I had problems remembering now I remember everything, before I was a slow reader- now I read 50 times faster…

You get the picture don’t you?

Testimonials should also be specific and not general. You don’t want people to say you have the “best barbecue” or the “juiciest brisket” or the “biggest pulled pork sandwiches.”

You’ll also want to make a list of all features, benefits and what you want your marketing to prove and then–make a list of any objections, doubts, fears or questions your customers might have and tailor your testimonials specifically to prove your claim and to remove all doubts and fears.

So here’s an example of a very good Testimonial…

” I used xyz barbecue cater last year and things didn’t go so well. The food was cold, there wasn’t enough BBQ to go around and the price was much higher than originally quoted.

But using BBQ Freaks Catering Company, the food was piping hot, there was more than enough food to go around and the final invoice matched my original quote. All my guests left very full and with huge smiles on their faces.

Bill Parlaman
Exton, PA”

Oh and the other thing, whatever you do, make sure you list the Full Name, City and State in which they live.

Again, people are skeptical. I’ve seen way too many testimonials saying,” John S., PA”

Its also not a bad idea to put the picture of the person making the testimonial on your website. This gives even more social proof!

So there you have it. Now this is not the end all be all of writing a good testimonial but it will get you started. And after all, if you don’t start, you’ll never finish!

Now go smoke something, Bill Parlaman

If you enjoyed this please feel free to post a comment below in the comment section of the blog. I really would love to hear from you.

And if you have any ideas on other ways of crafting your testimonials please feel free to post them too! I’d love to read them.