If you’re selling a product or service online then there’s nothing quite like the power of social proof. Testimonials for your product or service will ease customer skepticism, prove your product does what it says, and even assist you in telling and selling your customers.

Warning! – Never use fake testimonials, or testimonials from friends, family, or anyone who has never used your product. Why?

If you are reading this site and are like me you probably want the best, you want to use the best sales tactics possible, you want powerful, strong sales copy that holds no doubt, stands up to skepticism, and shines through with honesty, integrity, and truth. You want the BEST, and unless you are using real paying customer testimonials on your site you are selling yourself short. Let me explain…

People see through crap, they see through gimmicks, and they immediately sense dishonesty. No matter how hard someone tries to craft fake testimonials or get ones written only to sell their product people will see through it, consider it a customer sixth sense. Besides, shouldn’t your product be able to hold its own and get real glowing customer testimonials? Don’t sell yourself short, raise your standards!

There’s also another reason you should be using testimonials from real paying customers. Real customers have something no popular marketer has, nor do you have it. Real customers have the experience of owning your product, they have experienced the benefits, used the features, and their life has been improved in some small or great way by using it. Customers speak from this experience and will connect with your visitors in a way you never will.

You will be amazed at the things customers will tell you, unique ways they have used your product, unique aspects they like about it, things you have never even thought of. You will also be pleasantly surprised at how they will describe your product or service in a way that will directly answer the same questions and concerns your visitors have. Simply put, testimonials from real paying customers are the best you can have.

Now, it’s completely okay to have testimonials from popular marketers or well-known experts, in fact these are the best if you can get them. Just make sure they are actual customers and users because it will come across in their testimonial if they are not. I’ve received several testimonials from well-known marketers and other experts that only sent me their testimonial because they wanted the exposure. Those testimonials always paled in comparison to ones from real customers and users of my products. If your testimonials are not from customers then you have ‘endorsements’ and not ‘testimonials’, which are great as well, just make sure you know the difference and let your visitors know the difference as well.

Years ago I sold a software program and had tons of testimonials ALL real customers who paid full-price for the product. These testimonials practically sold the product for me and they made up more than 50% of the entire sales letter!

Nothing is as powerful in sales as the truth, plain and simple.

Read Part 2 or Part 3 of this series.