I love actor Roy Scheider’s line in the movie Jaws, “We’re gonna need a bigger boat!” His character threw large chunks of bait into the water to lure the great white. His eyes went round when he saw what his efforts had produced. Reel customers in to your business with an equally effective bait: Testimonials. When used right, testimonials can be a key factor in reeling in a boatload of new customers.

Getting and using testimonials is one of the best ways to share the message about how great your product or service is. In fact, marketing guru Dan Kennedy says (I’ll paraphrase) that a poorly written but honest testimonial about your company will produce sales infinitely better than the most perfectly crafted sales letter from your marketing department. The latter is you talking about how great you are; the testimonials come from real customers.

Customers relate to like-minded people who promote your company. So how do you get testimonials? You ask.

Some folks are a bit shy about asking for testimonials. If you fall into that category, let me give you my blunt response: Get over it. You’re in business, and testimonials are one of the greatest ways to grow your sales and profits. Asking for a testimonial during the “honeymoon” phase in a customer relationship is almost always a sure bet that you’ll get one.

The best time to ask is after an initial positive transaction, or after you’ve successfully solved your customer’s problem and alleviated his or her pain. Acquiring testimonials happens at many different levels. It can appear in your e-mail signature lines, or on every single item you send to your clients. A sentence as simple as “A customer referral is our greatest compliment” works. Or “We love testimonials; tell us how we’re doing.”

Customer-service-based testimonials are extremely effective at helping to increase prospective customers’ comfort level when considering doing business with your company.