CLEVELAND – If you have a cell phone you have a video camera. And while PMPs are using video for a variety of tasks (e.g., training, social media, etc.), the use of customer video testimonials has been slow. Only 17 percent of those who responded to PCT’s most recent poll said they are using taped customer testimonials, while 83 percent responded that they are not.
One company that is using taped customer testimonials is Hawx, which shares videos organically across social media channels, and occasionally as paid social media ads. Melaina Brown, paid media manager, Hawx, said the company likes video customer testimonials because “Word of mouth is still the best way to generate new customers, especially in the home service industry. Most people would be likelier to use a company recommended by their friends, neighbors, and family members over a simple ad they saw on TV or online.”
Brown added that Hawx partners with a company that generates customer testimonials and videos. Examples of Hawx videotaped testimonials include include Why Gary Likes Hawx and Daniel's Review of Hawx.
Another company that uses customer video testimonials is GrassRoots Tree & Turf Care, Acworth, Ga., which also provides pest control services (testimonial examples include Techs are Awesome and UGA quarterback).
Pete LaQuaglia, who now owns marketing firm Koonook, and GrassRoots CEO Josh Wish, have been recording customer video testimonials for GrassRoots the last 6-7 years. LaQuaglia said the value in video is “it’s their picture and their voice, instead of the possibility that it’s a fake review.”
LaQuaglia said GrassRoots service technicians are incentivized (with prizes like grills and fire pits) to ask customers if they wouldn’t mind shooting a quick video — and that most customers are receptive. And customer testimonials are important for a company like GrassRoots, whose pest and lawn services are mostly outdoors.
“We want to be like Chick-Fil-A or Apple who are all about the experience. How do you do that when your services are primarily exterior and the customer rarely sees us? Then they start to ask ‘Well what am I paying for?’ We wanted to connect more with our clients in a way that was less mechanical.”
Why don't more PCOs create customer video testimonials? LaQuaglia thinks is a combination of PCOs not wanting to ask technicians to do this, and not wanting to invest in training them. "But once you get those first few staff members to do it and they start enjoying it," then others will follow suit, he said.
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