Why You Need A Testimonials Page On Your Recruitment Agency Website

I’m a huge fan of using testimonials as a tool to sell your recruitment services. There’s nothing more attractive than pitching a prospective client and being able to present them with a testimonial from a direct competitor of theirs. It’s not just you showing you understand the industry, it's showing you're one of the best in the industry.

Going off tangent slightly but I would recommend having two pages on your website that cater to this subject, one of course is a testimonials page and the other is a case studies page. We’ll write another blog post about case studies pages at a later date but they're well worth considering for your agency website. 

Testimonial Format

Now you have two / three main routes here. Firstly you have the traditional written testimonial, which can be garnered via a Google Review or Trustpilot link. You can then take this written testimonial and add it to your website or marketing material. Secondly, which I rarely see is video testimonials. A lot of people aren’t that comfortable on camera but they’re the best option in my opinion. You can use video content on your website, upload it to your social channels and use the transcription for written testimonials on your testimonial page. Also you could splice a bunch of video testimonials together and make a great piece of pitching content. Video testimonials can also be great for creating targeted video ads across social channels. Thirdly, which is slightly more unusual is the voice note. It’s an avenue if someone isn’t comfortable on camera and they’re easily transcribed these days to save you time. 

Your testimonials should be 2-3 sentences long, typically written by your client or candidate. Ideally you should include the person’s name, their title, company and of course what they said. If possible I’d recommend adding a photo too - you can normally just grab this from their LinkedIn profile. I find that testimonials without their photo and the person’s name and company name feel a little less legitimate. It’s like there’s a chance you could have just made them up. People are naturally sceptical these days. I want to be able to verify that these are real people and real testimonials. 

For example, I was snooping through a “competitors” website recently. They build a slightly different product, drag and drop template websites but we’re essentially still competing for the same clients. Anyway I was looking at some of their testimonials and I recognised one of the profile photos in their testimonials. It was a stock image from a free to use photo library. They’d just pulled some random image off the internet, which then made me question if the testimonial was real at all! 

Who To Ask For Testimonials? 

It’s great to see a mix of testimonials on your website from both clients & candidates. Clients will want to see recommendations from your clients so they can be sure you know the market and you’re a proven asset but also from candidates to see that you value the candidate experience and manage it well through the process. The same is true for candidates, it’s great to see a long list of big name companies singing your praises but as a candidate I also want to see you’re going to look after me too, that you’ll return my calls and emails, you’ll give me advice and help to get the best possible salary for me. 

Of course, you should have a page dedicated to testimonials but I’d recommend also including “testimonial carousels”, which act as a call to action to the testimonial page. Pepper these “testimonial carousels” in relevant locations, such as your homepage, candidate page and client page. 

When To Ask For Testimonials? 

The best time to ask for testimonials is as soon as you’ve done something amazing for someone. When they still have that euphoria. Maybe you’ve just filled a position with a hiring manager - ask them for a testimonial. Maybe you just placed someone in a great role - ask them for a testimonial! Time the ask well though, don’t ask at 5pm on a Friday as they’ll likely forget over the weekend then it’s a little awkward chasing for a testimonial the following week. 

How To Ask For Testimonials? 

I’m a big fan of using the telephone. I use it for everything, whether it’s pitching new clients, speaking with partners or catching up with existing clients. Just call them up and ask for a testimonial and let them know you’ll send over a link to your business’ Google Reviews profile or your Trustpilot page. 

What Should The Testimonials Say? 

People will typically ask what they should say and of course just tell them to be honest but you can guide them by giving them a few prompts too. A few key areas that they could highlight would be the quality of the shortlist, how you challenged the brief in a good way, provided candidates they hadn’t considered, how you managed the process, the speed of the process, your service compared to competitors, your account management and service levels, your knowledge of the market, etc. 

If you’re looking for help putting together a testimonials page for your recruitment agency website then just get in touch and we’d be happy to help.