Five Examples of WinWin Customer Testimonials
A common folly of advertising efforts (and in greater context, stories) is getting locked into concepts. We think if we can do something creative enough, novel, or witty, that you will reap benefits. Everybody wants to be the “idea guy”, but the reality is in the creative sector EVERYBODY is an idea guy. Ideas are cheap and often derivative. Creatives tend to get caught in the conceptual trap. We lose track of what stories are actually about by the allure of a new idea.
The truth is that stories are about people, their relationships, and how they grow through the struggles and tribulations they face. This is the heart of the value proposition and the art of the ad’s position.
Now you could write a story, give it a 3 act structure, hire talented actors, and create a moving story, but at the end of the day it’s fiction. Artificial. Dare I say prideful. What it does is give the audience the opportunity to distrust you.
Now don’t get me wrong, a piece of fiction can be influential. Yet it will never be as influential as an honest to God real life story.
This is the power of the customer success story. A real person, who had a real problem, and found a real solution. A testimony.
Tes·ta·ment
1.) something that serves as a sign or evidence of a specified fact, event, or quality.
Below we will watch and explore 5 examples of testimonial video productions, and why they are in fact, so effective.
AutoLeap Customer Success Story from OK Tire
In this case study, OK Tire was struggling with outdated software that wasn’t comprehensively handling their day to day customers. Their employees struggled with the functionality of their previous software, but by switching to AutoLeap they were able to overcome these objectives. Through the ease of AutoLeap’s UI, and start to finish functionality, OK Tire was able to solve crucial pain points in their business.
What made it a win-win is that OK tire received a recruiting video for their effort.
AkzoNobel Customer Success Story from Cascade Collision
Painting a car is not as simple as painting your new nursery. It’s exposed to the weather, it takes hits, it moves 50+mph. Car paint is tricky. It can require a lot of training to prepare a new employee to execute the task successfully. Cascade Collision was spending lots of money on training time and found themselves wishing for a simpler applicator and paint to streamline their service. They found those solutions and many others by doing business with Sikkens from AkzoNobel.
What made it a win-win is that Cascade Collision received an overview video for their effort.
Origence Customer Success Story from Phil Fitts Ford
Phil Fitts Ford sells cars. Selling a new car is something a salesman knows. But financing? Credit unions? That’s a whole other field. They could spend many working hours trying to contact a prospective customer’s credit union, but Origence (CUDL) was able to simplify that process by being directly connected with their prospect’s credit unions. This allowed them to allocate more time to simply making a deal that benefits both parties.
What made it a win-win is that Phil Fitts Ford received a customer success story video for their effort.
PureCars Autominer Customer Success Story from Pettus Automotive
Pettus Automotive strives to offer their customers the best possible service they can as a dealership. Keeping track of every customer’s car’s suggested service? That becomes incredibly messy and convoluted quickly. This is where PureCar’s Autominer service comes in. By utilizing Autominer’s customer data platform, they are able to better serve each of their customer’s specific needs in one singular dashboard. This has allowed them to better target their existing customers and provide a more valuable service than they would have been able to otherwise.
What made it a win-win is that Pettus Automotive received an overview video for their effort.
asTech Success Story from Car Crafters Montano
Car Crafters Montano was facing a series of pain points. They were doing more business than they could keep up with, they needed to be able to do dynamic calibrations on the road, they didn’t feel secure from a liability perspective. All of these objections were overcome by implementing asTech’s proprietary software and hardware.
What made it a win-win is that Car Crafters Montano received a recruiting video for their effort.
All of these testimonial examples do one thing a fictionalized ad cannot: tell a true story. These are your customer’s pain points. These are the stories of how your service helped them overcome those challenges. This is peer to peer, community friendly, and good neighbor recommendations.
Consumers struggle to trust a brand that is overtly trying to sell them something. Of course you as a business are going to tell the market that your service will help, but it will never be as believable as seeing it explained by someone like themself. The power of a testimonial video cannot be understated. When considering how to tell your story, we suggest you reward customers to do so.
The above examples all include a video for your customer in exchange for yours. The exchange is truly win-win videos and we like to call it DID marketing.
First, Delight your existing customer. Let them know they are important. That their story is worth telling. You build a great relationship, water it, and encourage it to grow.
Second, Influence your prospects. Customers persuade their peers and far more effectively than doing so yourself.
Third, and something new for 2025, is to Demonstrate your social responsibility.
We actually add to all of our productions, a video our client’s customer supports at no additional charge. Our mission is to become the “Tom’s Shoes” of video production.
Check out some samples:
