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"You need more testimonials! Buyers want to see social proof. They want to see glowing reviews."
Sep 18, 2026 — John Way
"You need more testimonials! Buyers want to see social proof. They want to see glowing reviews."
I'm sure you've all heard that before, right?
And yes, social proof is important. But the key question is HOW important?
Because we're all busy.
And out of all the things that you could do to improve your website to land more meetings, are testimonials THE #1 thing you need to focus on right now?
This is why Katie Lantukh, Lisa McGuire, Ed.S., Darrell Noe, and I did a study in Atlanta to find out.
We asked 100+ Atlanta B2B buyers ($5K-$250K+ in B2B services in the last 9 months) what they wanted to see.
Here's what they told us.
For First-Time Buyers (never researched or bought the service before):
58% Price
53% Comparisons with Competitors
51% Level of Effort to Start
42% Industry Expertise
38% Delivery Milestones
29% Testimonials & Case Studies → !!
28% Cost of Inaction
Testimonials & case studies didn't make the top 5.
There are other things that are way more important to buyers and if you focus on testimonials before the top 5, you're putting the cart before the horse.
Now remember, First-Time Buyers only make up 41% of the Atlanta market.
So what about Experienced Buyers, the other 59% of the market?
73% Price
38% Comparisons with Competitors
30% Industry Expertise
28% Level of Effort to Start
26% Delivery Milestones
25% Testimonials & Case Studies → !!
24% Cost of Inaction
Experienced Buyers overwhelmingly care about 1 thing: Price.
Testimonials & case studies didn't crack the top 5 for them either.
Now you might be thinking, I'm in professional services. Most of our clients come from referrals and everything we do is custom. How can I talk about the top 5 without a SOW? That's what a discovery call is for, not something to put on a website.
I get you. But, here's the buyer's perspective: they're not looking for penny-accurate estimates.
What they want is a general ballpark to see if you can deliver a solution within the range of their budget, timeframe, and current capabilities. Because even if you come highly recommended, it doesn't change their constraints.
Their frustration: “I don't want to have to talk to you just to find out you can't help me.”
But if you can make it obvious that you can work *within* their constraints, then you'll go on their shortlist. It's that simple.
