Testimonials – To Post or To Toast?

I was asked to put a couple words together about testimonials for TutorZ.com. So I
started to read through some of the past testimonials from Math tutors, Music tutors,
English tutors, Tutors tutors, and of course students. I could see that all the comments
were positive in nature and students and tutors alike had good things to say. However,
I was not feeling particularly inspired. Maybe it’s all the over the top commercials on
television that are pounded into our brain every day. You know like the one where you
put a huge bow on top of a new Lexus and give it to your wife on Christmas morning.
Oh well. Maybe next year.

I’m not really sure why, but TutorZ stopped harvesting testimonials for the website a year ago. You know, the “We had such a great experience using this site that we named our next child after them!” What made me think of this now, as our busy time of year starts, the time when the leaves are brown and the students are green? I guess what started me on this was coming across a couple of sites while searching for a plumbing product and these sites were just full of testimonials. As I was doing this I was working the customer service lines for tutorz.com. Taking my turn, as we all do at TutorZ, so don’t tell my boss I was shopping too!

So, as I’m talking parents through the basic details of selecting tutors for their children,
I kept hearing over and over again how this service is just such a great thing and
someone is actually there to help when we call. Even tutors, who call, with all their
suspicions, are pretty blown away when they get into the process. In fact, I had one
new tutor last month that must have called me 6 times before he completed his profile
and got into the action. A short time later he called to tell me about his first job, he was
really excited.

I don’t think college or high school students have a problem doing business online but
many people my age and up are just suspicious of online business. Especially a service
that’s free. I mean, “Come on, what’s the catch?” If I’m putting even just my name into
some online service I think of the possibility that my whole financial reputation could
be destroyed. Not at TutorZ, because of the latest security software used by the largest
banking operations in the world and by TutorZ.com.

So when I pick up a call from a nervous, suspicious, and stressed out parent I don’t
have to do a sales pitch and besides those who are desperate enough to be calling us
are willing to take the risk. The beauty here is after it works, the first thing they
experience is relief that they’re not getting ripped off. Next is the relief that their kid
is set up for the help they need to succeed. That’s the testimonials that I hear day
after day. So, testimonials, these testimonials? Oh well, maybe next year.