Testimonials Are Awesome. Here's Why.

If you follow Insurance Soup and our other brands on social media, you've seen that we recently began shooting video testimonials. Because we're a community of insurance agents who experience many of the same things in our careers, day in and day out, we thought it would be excellent to let agents who've used our brands share their thoughts on them with the rest of you.

You may think that you may or may not have the same thoughts on a product that another agent might have, but for our purposes, these are a great way to let you hear what someone in your exact position has to say. NOT TO MENTION, they provide social proof of what our products do, they promote trust and confidence because we're happy to let others tell you what they think about us, they boost employee morale because you're probably saying cool things about us and they allow us to create an identity that followers can associate themselves with. As an added benefit testimonials also significantly increase client retention. BOOM.

These are just a few of the reasons why you should be asking your clients to write testimonials for your agency REGULARLY.  No idea on how to even begin such an undertaking? Here are some basics.

HOW TO EVEN GET A TESTIMONIAL FROM A CLIENT?

When a client writes a testimonial, they’re essentially providing a referral that can be viewed by anyone that is currently evaluating the insurance agency. Because they don’t need to think of any one person in particular to refer, the client can write the agent a testimonial at a moment’s notice. This opens the door for an insurance agent to call their clients to action by asking them to share their experiences with others.

WHY DOES IT MATTER THAT PROSPECTS SEE IT?

Testimonials are different from an online review because it is generally intended for an agency’s website as opposed to a third-party site like Google or Facebook. It’s important for agencies to have both. This is primarily due to the way people shop for insurance. After an agency is discovered online over half of the prospects will visit your website to determine if the agency is a good fit for their specific needs. This is why having a good number of authentic client testimonials is important to boost prospect conversion.

EVERYONE WANTS TO HEAR THEY'RE DOING A GOOD JOB.

People are always surprised when people compliment them and for agents, the number of people willing to say good things about them might surprise them! As a result, those staff members working with customers all the time are reminded of the direct impact they have on the lives of their clients. A regular stream of testimonials provides a needed sense of worth and markedly improves workplace morale.

THEY KEEP YOUR CLIENTS LOYAL

In addition to providing social proof as we said earlier, collecting testimonials is an effective way of increasing client retention. After a customer makes the commitment to promote you to others, it becomes a part of their self-image, not just yours. We’ve found that customers who’ve put a stake in the ground and said “This business is great, and here’s why” are far less likely to leave and buy from another company.

ALWAYS ASK FOR YOUR CLIENT'S THOUGHTS

There is no limit to how many testimonials an insurance agency should collect and share. The more you have the greater the impact will be on social proof. Prospects will not read or watch every one of them, but once you've got a bunch to show off, prospects will take note. Lastly, because of what testimonials do for your client retention,  you should always be collecting them.

We hope this crash course on testimonials has opened your eyes to having clients toot your horn for you if they're so inclined. We feel that it's an excellent way to boost business and strengthen relationships along the way!