Tell me a story--encouraging customer testimonials.

[Anonymous]

I would like to launch a tell me a story campaign to try to initiate customer stories and testimonials. Has anyone done this? Did you offer an incentive? I would like to start with our upcoming quarterly newsletter. Any ideas would be helpful. We have an outside sales team but they are always way to busy to help.

[Anonymous · Accepted solution]

We've initiated these, and always offer a small incentive. Gift cards or discounts on services are nice offers. We've done dinners too.

[Anonymous]

Thank you for the Feedback. Really appreciate you taking the time to respond.

[Anonymous]

We found that product discounts were the best incentives, and allowed us to partner with the outsides sales reps in reporting it. 
Caveats to keep in mind: 
Make sure your URL for filling out the testimoninal is simple (I wouldn't recommend doing any paper "send ins" as for our first few they incited major headaches).
Generate follow up emails for those people who do fill out the testimonial and consider offering them an elite opportunity further down the road. We often made stellar customers part of our KOLs, then would assist with organizing dinners at tradeshows, etc for follow up.

I think you could also look to Marketo's model of customer referrals. They do a great job. 🙂

[Anonymous]

Thank you so much for the information here. Very much appreciated.

[Anonymous]

Thank you for your information. Much appreciated.