Adams has found client video testimonials help generate leads.
Brian Adams of Costa Mesa, Calif.-based Only Wood Floors made gathering referral letters a priority when he started out in 1984. But in 1999 he ditched the letters for a camera to take video testimonials, and he never looked back. For people who find his company online, the videos add another level of credibility and trustworthiness, all while building a rapport with clients, Adams says. In the beginning, about four out of 10 clients would agree to a video. "But after we got 10, 15, 20 videos on the website, clients started seeing them before they even contacted us … Now, if we don't ask them to do one, they feel a little bit like, 'Hey, what's wrong with us?'" Adams says. He typically mentions the company's video testimonials while doing estimates: "I say, 'At the end of the job, if we do everything we say we're going to do and you're as happy as we think you're going to be, we'd like to get you to do a video testimonial.'" The only time he gets a definite "no" is when he works on celebrity homes in nearby Hollywood. "But most people are into it, especially nowadays when they're all at Disneyland filming each other anyway," he says. "It's almost second nature."
