Testimonials are a fantastic way to appeal to new clients, with the reassurance provided to potential customers by seeing a previous client’s feedback often proving invaluable. In this blog, we’ll take a look at the rules surrounding reviews and testimonials and good practices for securing them…
If you’re a function act looking to get established or to expand your business, reviews will be really helpful.
Hopefully, you can then build up a library of positive quotes and select your favourites for use on your website and other promotional links.
A recent review of Replay Acoustic Band
How to get good feedback from clients
It’s good to get into the habit of emailing a client after the event, saying thank you for the booking, sending over any pictures you have, and asking if they wouldn’t mind providing you with a short quote about how the event went.
You can also ask them to submit feedback via a form on your website or via your Last Minute Musicians profile.
After a particularly good gig, it’s worth mentioning on the night that you’ll be reaching out for some feedback.
Many entertainment agencies seek to secure reviews and testimonials on the act’s behalf as part of their service.
As a rule, try and secure at least one testimonial from each type of event you do – corporate, birthday parties, weddings, etc… You can even ask to include corporate logos on your website.
Government guidelines on reviews and testimonials
The government has some guidelines for online websites that accept and publish reviews and testimonials.
Whether the website is offering a product or service – or is reviewing third-party services – there are standards to be adhered to.
A lot of the advice that they offer comes down to the fact that there needs to be a clear distinction made between a *review* and a *testimonial*.
Reviews tend to be impartial experiences of a service that can be left by anybody. Testimonials will be handpicked quotes that only reflect a positive view. The distinction between the two should be clear on the website.
The Gov.UK website lists several do’s and don’ts for online review sites:
Do:
- Explain to site users the difference between leaving a review intended for publication and making a complaint to you
- Avoid unreasonable delays in publishing reviews once submitted
- Subject both negative and positive reviews to checks of the appropriate rigour, and have procedures in place to remove fake reviews
- Make it clear to site users how reviews have been collected and checked, what they need to do to get their review published, and why their review might not be published
- Clearly and prominently disclose any commercial relationships you have with the businesses listed
Don’t:
- Collect reviews only from customers you know are satisfied (unless these are clearly labelled as testimonials), or offer incentives for positive reviews
- Try to dissuade customers from leaving a review on their experience – even if their initial problem has been resolved
- Give businesses the right to block reviews they do not like
- Try to persuade customers to submit a complaint to you, rather than a review for publishing
- Treat a negative review intended for publication as a complaint and not publish it
If you’re looking for further reading on the rules surrounding review sites, you can view the consumer protection regulations which govern the representation of goods and services.
Last Minute Musicians’ reviews policy
Lastminutemusicians.com’s review policy can be found under item 17 in our terms of service and reads as follows:
Members’ listings review policy
- Directory members’ reviews are moderated by our automated systems and our employees.
- We reserve the right to withhold publications of a review if it is not compliant with our content standards set out in our Acceptable Use Policy.
- Members are notified by email when a new review has been approved by us and is live on their listing. We aim to process reviews within 7 working days. If negative reviews are left with a rating of under 6/10 the reviewer must verify it by providing proof of identity (valid photo ID) and that the review is based on a genuine booking made via www.lastminutemusicians.com (by providing written evidence, such as a signed booking contract).
To verify a negative review please send an email including the above evidence to admin@lastminutemusicians.com with the subject “Rating Verification”. If a negative review is not verified by the reviewer within 7 days of the original date the review was submitted it will be deleted. - Members must only publish genuine reviews on their listings. If a review is found to be a fake or malicious review we have a right to terminate this Contract in accordance with clause 15.
How the government guidelines apply to LastMinuteMusicians.com
When someone uses your profile to submit feedback, it is a review NOT a testimonial.
People can submit both positive and negative reviews that allow clients to get a complete and honest impression of the act listed.
However, any reviews that are left will be subject to a screening process to make sure they are genuine and conform to our policy regarding bad language, abuse etc.
This is done as promptly as possible and represents very little delay to the process of submitting reviews.
In the extremely rare case that the review is less than 6/10, the reviewer will be required to verify their identity – this protects acts against dishonest reviews and unjustified negative feedback.
Any complaints regarding LastMinuteMusicians.com are to be submitted directly via email (admin@lastminutemusicians.com) and strictly NOT to be submitted through the profile reviews.
We believe our review policy falls in line with the guidelines set out by the government.
If anyone has any questions, comments or suggestions regarding our reviews policy, please email admin@lastminutemusicians.com, and we’ll get back to you as soon as possible.
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