The Value of Testimonials

Testimonials are a very powerful and effective advertising tool. They are used by many businesses, both large and small, to demonstrate a company’s quality and credibility, with the aim of converting more prospects into clients and end users. They are effective because the message stems from the voice of an experienced user rather than an extension of a sales pitch from the company in question. The message therefore comes across in an unbiased voice which helps to establish trust and build the brand’s reputation.

The use of testimonials and company reviews are increasing; not only through the number of review sites e.g. Glassdoor, Trustpilot and JudgeService, that now offer users the facility to leave testimonials, but also through the variety of companies who have decided to actively encourage existing users to review their product or service. Typically, the hospitality industry is the most well-known industry for using customer reviews and testimonials.

‘Have you ever searched for a hotel on TripAdvisor before committing to making a booking?’

‘Or looked on a company Facebook page at their reviews before deciding whether to use their service?’

With these reviews so readily available, it seems sensible to use these to your advantage, hence why the popularity for such review sites is increasing rapidly. One should question then why such sites are not used more commonly by other industries?

Businesses within the professional services industry could really benefit from using testimonials to their advantage. It is a brilliant way to help show potential clients the service a company has to offer, with no cost to the business. It will differentiate a company from their competitors and help portray the full value of their service offering, therefore allowing clients to make an informed decision about which company may be best to use.

It is important to consider that reviews on the internet are easily accessible meaning businesses are open to both potential praise and potential criticism, 24 hours a day. Despite this, they need to be seen as an opportunity, rather than a burden; after all, if a business is confident in the quality of the service they are providing, they shouldn’t have to worry. There may be occasions where a less positive review is posted but these should be taken with a pinch of salt as not everyone’s expectations will match those set out by the business. Additionally, testimonials become an incredibly useful tool in terms of differentiation when a business advertises their service as ‘top quality’, when in reality this may not be the case. Reviews and testimonials are therefore an excellent way for potential prospects to detect this and thus eliminate certain companies as a potential option when deciding which company they should use.

Focusing solely on recruitment consultancies, testimonials can be a valuable tool to distinguish those agencies who focus only on the fee and fail to take into consideration the impact their actions may have on a candidate’s quality of life, or on their client’s business. Whilst businesses exist to generate income and provide a livelihood for their employees, it is important to ensure that a recruitment consultancy is ran with ethical standards and guidelines in mind.

If you are a client or candidate considering working with a recruitment agency, you should consider the following:

Does the agency have a set of guidelines that they follow and are these clearly outlined?

Are the consultants qualified and have they undergone extensive training by an industry professional?

Are their terms fair and in line with the competition?

At Marmion, all of our consultants are active members of the British Institute of Recruiters and are actively studying towards a Recruitment Consultant Diploma. We also ensure we follow a set of rigorous standards that have been written by our Managing Director, Janet McGlaughlin. Most importantly, we ensure we meet all of our clients face to face to ensure we really get to know their requirements, working environment, current employees and values. Similarly, we meet all of our candidates face to face to ensure we gain a full and thorough understanding of what they are searching for, their ideal working environment, company culture, career goals and their own personal values.

As a company we are very proud of the service we provide and we really enjoy receiving testimonials from both our clients and our candidates, as they support our message that we do things the way they should be done.

Don’t just take our word for it. Here are a few examples of what our clients and candidates have to say about us...

“Janet and Matt at Marmion have been great in helping me secure my new position at WMG.They took time to understand not only my skills; but my values and motivations. And matched me with an organisation with an inspiring vision and a complementary culture.I’m really excited to be here. Thank you”.

“Not only have Marmion Recruitment been incredibly helpful and kind to me, but they have been vital to my own personal career progression! Giving me advice and help that no other agency ever has, recommending me how to personally improve and progress in the future. I couldn’t thank them enough!”

“I have been delighted with the personal approach Marmion has taken with our recruitment. Janet went above and beyond to send us some really good candidates and had a brilliant understanding of what sort of person we were looking for. She spent a long time with each candidate getting to know them before sending them to us and sent very thorough notes. I have had the pleasure of meeting the rest of the Marmion team in Leeds and they all seem so lovely. We will certainly be working with them again!”

You can view more of our testimonials on our website:www.wearemarmion.com/testimonials, or our Facebook page:www.facebook.com/marmionrecruitment/reviews.