How Can Event Businesses Collect Client Testimonials?

For event staffing and management businesses, client testimonials can come from several sources. These include client feedback surveys, recorded video testimonials, one-on-one interviews, and social media posts or reviews published on third-party platforms. 

How Event Businesses Can Collect Meaningful Client Testimonials

Research shows that 72% of consumers say positive reviews make them trust a local business more. That's why testimonials are an important marketing tool for businesses, including event staffing and management companies. The challenge, however, is getting clients to share their experiences. Keep reading to learn four ways to make collecting client testimonials easier.

1. Conduct Feedback Surveys

An event feedback survey is a set of questions that helps event researchers or businesses understand what clients, staff, and other relevant stakeholders think or have experienced about their products, services, and overall experience. 

Surveys are a great way of getting feedback from a number of clients without having to go round and meet each one individually. The clients can complete them at their own pace so they can remember the particular experience, note what you've done well and make suggestions for improvement. The drawback is that some clients may miss the survey more easily. Others may also give just a very brief or very general answer, which may not be enough for a credible testimonial.

To collect useful testimonials from your surveys, make your questions relevant to the services you provided. For example, an event staffing agency can ask clients about staff reliability, professionalism, scheduling, communication, and event-day performance. These questions help identify specific strengths that potential clients may consider when choosing a staffing provider. Timing also matters. Send the survey shortly after the event, when clients can still remember their experience. Furthermore, use open-ended questions to encourage detailed answers. Asking clients to explain their answers gives you more useful material for testimonials, case studies, and other marketing content.

Client feedback matters, but so does staff feedback. Their insights help improve team coordination, event operations, and future event experiences. Click here to learn five steps to collect meaningful staff feedback after an event.

2. Film Video Testimonials

In case you missed it, viewers retain up to 95% of a message presented in a video, compared with 10% when reading the same message in text. That's one reason video testimonials deserve a place in your client feedback strategy.

A video testimonial is a short recording of a customer, client, employee, or industry expert sharing their experience with your business. Video testimonials bring the feedback to life with real stories, real experiences and actual footage of the event. They can also be reused in a number of ways across your site, your social media channels and your presentations. The flip side is that video production is more time-consuming and resource-intensive than simply gathering written reviews. You have to get people to record at a time that works for you and them, prepare the questions, and edit the video. You may need to employ professional videographers, too, which will add to the cost. Additionally, some clients may not be comfortable with being filmed.

Video testimonials can be as simple or as sophisticated as your budget will allow. You can go all out with a full-blown video production, or you can simply record a video on your smartphone. Keep the videos short, from 30 to 90 seconds, and have a few questions ready to ask. Questions you might ask could be what they liked about working with your team, how your service helped with their event, and what they would say to someone thinking of working with you. You can also include some clips of the actual event to really bring their story to life and show what you actually deliver.

3. Interview Your Clients

Interviewing a client can be more effort than just sending out a survey, but it is one of the most effective ways of getting detailed testimonials. One major benefit of interviews is being able to gather information beyond a client's initial response. You can follow up with people to find out what made your service so valuable to them, what features they liked and how your business actually solved their problems. However, the downside is that interviews take a lot more time than surveys. You have to arrange the time, do the interview, and then go through the responses to turn them into something that can be published as a testimonial.

To get effective client interviews, you need to arrange a short phone call, a video meeting or an in-person meeting. You also need to have a set of open-ended questions that will get the client to give you specific examples of their own experience. 

4. Check Social Media Posts and Third-Party Review Platforms

Here's something worth paying attention to: Nearly half (49%) of consumers who have had a positive customer experience express they would share it on social media or publish a positive review online. In other words, satisfied clients may already be promoting your business, and their posts and recommendations can become valuable client testimonials.

Unlike written feedback, video testimonials, and interviews, social media posts allow clients to share their experiences more casually, tagging your business, posting photos from an event, sharing highlights, or simply recommending your services to their network. It's a very organic form of feedback which gives you real insight into what your clients like about your business. Third-party review sites like Google Reviews and Yelp are the other main source of honest feedback. On these sites, you can get a more direct assessment of your business from the client. They can rate you and write a review about the whole experience, from the way you communicated through to the quality of the service you actually provided.

Don't miss the positive feedback that could easily become a great client testimonial. Keep an eye on your business name, tagged posts, and review profiles. If you come across something that you think is worth highlighting, ask the person who posted it for permission and use it exactly as they have it in your marketing.

Social media marketing is another effective way to promote your event business. Discover how social media marketing can help expand your reach and attract more clients.

FAQs

1. What Are Client Testimonials?

Client testimonials are customer statements about their experiences with your business. They describe what clients liked about your services, the problems you solved, and the results you delivered.

2. Do I Need to Ask for Approval to Publicize Client Testimonials?

Yes. Always ask clients for permission before sharing their testimonials. Confirm which details they allow you to publish, including their name, position, and company name. If you edit or shorten their original comments, let them review and approve the final version. 

Make Collecting Client Testimonials Easier With StaffConnect 

Creating event surveys doesn't have to be a slow or complicated process. With StaffConnect, designing and managing surveys is simple, efficient, and straightforward.

To create a survey, navigate to Reports & Uploads in the left-hand menu and select Surveys. Click the blue plus sign to open the Survey Creation Menu, where you can enter a survey title and an optional description. Select Create to access the Survey Designer Menu. Here, you can add, rearrange, and customize your questions to suit your needs. Want to check your work before publishing? Use Test Survey to preview your survey. Once everything looks right, click Save Survey to preserve your questions and layout. Your survey is ready!

Beyond surveys, StaffConnect offers a comprehensive suite of event management tools, including staff onboarding, live chat, a communications hub, a centralized talent database, GPS check-in and check-out, and a customizable app. Sign up for a free demo to learn more!