What’s Better – Customer Feedback or Vendor Success Stories?
As buyers, we need help making decisions. There are just too many options.
My last post revealed my own decision anxiety, multiplied when there are no customer reviews or success stories for me to rely on.
From personal experience, reviews help us make decisions faster and feel more confident about them.
But what’s the difference between customer feedback a la Amazon or eBay compared to vendor-produced case studies and success stories? And how can companies benefit from both?
Customer Reviews
Smart companies today ask you for your feedback. They email you after a purchase requesting that you follow a link and "rate and review" the product or service.
- Feedback is raw, real, unpolished information right from customers.
- Customers are free to share their negative experiences.
- Any grammar errors or typos are still there, adding to the authenticity.
- It’s free-form, so customers talk about what is important to them, usually without any prompting questions.
- As a short review, it only takes a few minutes.
- There may be a shortage of free-form reviews on higher-end solutions (i.e. $1 million ERP software implementation).
- That content isn’t leveraged beyond showing up on review sites.
- Cheap or free for vendors.
Vendor Case Studies & Success Stories
Case studies and success stories, produced by the vendor company, formally capture a customer’s experience.
- Vendors reach out to their most successful customers, so no negative stories.
- Prospective customers see them as more slick or "commercial" than raw feedback.
- Customers agree to share their story formally and publicly.
- Formal interviews draw out specific aspects of the customer’s experience.
- The story format engages readers in a different way, taking the audience through challenge, solution and resolution – allowing prospects to better see themselves in those stories.
- Results are measured – to the extent possible.
- Once approved, the content can be used in various formats – press releases, stand-alone testimonials, award applications, etc.
- Takes more money and time.
In today’s buying climate, you need these customer experiences to help buyers. What do you choose?
Both. Ideally, your prospective customers can find free-form feedback on the web AND review more formalized, comprehensive, measurable stories about customer experiences.
Customers today benefit from both. The first provides more AUTHENTICITY and the second much-desired DETAIL – both critical pieces of a buying decision.
In fact, make both a part of your marketing plan:
- Give happy customers links to online feedback sites.
- Approach those same happy customers about documenting their stories more extensively in print, audio or video.
- Send prospects to sites with customer feedback (hopefully it’s good!) and to stories on your website.
Regardless of what mix you choose, always ensure that you give prospects access to other customers’ experiences. You can help them get past indecision.
What’s your take? What do prospects gain from free-form feedback versus vendor stories?
Customer Successes – Help Buyers Decide FASTER
All week, I’ve been mulling over a few purchase decisions – comparing specs, prices and especially reading online reviews from other buyers that have gone before me.
Not the impulsive type, my research was going well until one of the purchases on my list hit a wall – NO customer reviews or success stories.
If you’re like me, you’ve grown very accustomed to having real feedback from other buyers on anything from a $10 book to a $20,000 car. A lot is riding on each purchase: a big investment of time in the first case and a chunk of change and safety for the latter.
We’ve come to rely on these "Citizen Marketers" (coined by Ben McConnell and Jackie Huba) as our compass for making decisions. Without it, we can feel lost in the woods.
So what’s really going on when a buyer can’t get her hands on other customer experiences?
We make decisions more slowly – or not at all
This week I’m investigating new video cameras and hotels for a spring vacation. Sites like Amazon.com, TripAdvisor, and stories/testimonials on actual websites of hotels and bed and breakfasts have all pushed me closer to buying.
With that rich information, I am MUCH closer to making a decision.
Yet for a business product I’m considering, no such customer feedback is available. So instead, I put off that decision for now.
We buy less confidently
What’s really behind it? I’m just not confident enough in the business product to move ahead. Maybe it’s a fabulous product, but I’m going to need more than the company’s sales copy to help me decide.
I don’t think I’m alone. Buyers today are very accustomed to having that level of information to support their purchases.
Think about it. Are your buyers hesitating without customer feedback? What can you do to change that?
Whether it’s suggesting happy customers post on review sites or capturing the details in case studies or success stories, HELP prospective customers buy faster and more confidently.
And now, I have a few purchases to make…
What was the last significant purchase you made, and how influential was real customer feedback?
Next week: The differences between review sites and vendor-produced case studies and success stories.
Order from this site and get TWO bonuses!
Companion ebooks to Stories that Sell!
Get the most out of Stories that Sell with The Marketer's Toolkit AND The Writer's Toolkit. These additional resources provide proven tips to help you succeed with success stories.
Recent Comments