One question to think about at the very start is what is your purpose for gathering feedback / testimonials? It is always useful to gather feedback to constantly improve your services, but it’s important not to ask for feedback when what you are really looking for are testimonials for marketing purposes. Transparency is essential.
In a trust-based service such as mediation, testimonials from people who have worked with you are useful in demonstrating your value to prospective clients. However, there are potential ethical minefields when you seek and use testimonials. It is crucial to balance the need to promote your practice with maintaining confidentiality and professionalism.
Some professions (such as psychologists and other health services) are prohibited from using testimonials in advertising. While conflict resolution practitioners do not fall within this group, it is important to consider why these professions do not use testimonials, as many of the justifications for this prohibition could be applied to our field.
Regulated Health Services in Australia are prohibited from using testimonials in advertising for these reasons:
They are often personal opinions and may have no objective basis for recommending a practitioner;
The outcomes experienced by one patient do not necessarily reflect the outcome, or likely outcome available to all patients;
They can be misleading as they are not usually a balanced source of information (they often include a selection of positive comments about experiences and do not tell the whole story); and/or
The public may not have expert knowledge to assess if the information is accurate.
All of these points could be made about conflict resolution practitioners. Whether or not someone found a conflict resolution service effective is a very personal opinion, that could depend on the outcome of the service, or how they felt treated during the process. It is also definitely the case that the outcomes experienced by one client do not necessarily reflect the outcomes available to all clients. For example, the fact that one client settled every aspect of their conflict and felt like the outcome was win-win and their relationship with the other person improved, is not necessarily an outcome that is available (or even the best outcome) for other clients. Also, practitioners are not likely to receive a testimonial from someone who didn’t value the service they received, and if they did, are unlikely to publish that feedback, so people who see published testimonials will only see the practitioner’s feedback through selective and rose-coloured glasses. Finally, in a field such as conflict resolution services, the public do not understand what is involved or what outcomes are possible, and so may misinterpret testimonials as indicating, for example, that the practitioner can almost certainly help them to resolve their conflict.
Ethical concerns around soliciting testimonials
Soliciting feedback from current clients can create a power imbalance in the professional relationship. Clients may feel pressured to provide positive feedback, or they might even feel like their continued support depends on it. This can be particularly challenging for vulnerable clients who might feel compelled to give testimonials, even if they don’t feel comfortable doing so.
Furthermore, soliciting reviews may create an appearance of bias. Practitioners could be seen as prioritizing self-promotion over client welfare, potentially undermining the trust that is so essential in a practitioner/client relationship. When the focus shifts from helping clients to boosting one’s online reputation, it can harm both the client and the professional standing of the practitioner.
When you are providing services through a sponsor (i.e. the person paying for the service is not one of the people directly involved, for example when an employer arranges a mediation between two staff members) you need to think carefully about whether you should ask for testimonials and if so, from whom. The employer may well be able to speak to your accessibility and professionalism in setting up the mediation process, and may have some feedback on their perception of the outcome of the mediation, but assuming the mediation was conducted on a confidential basis, the employer will not be able to say much about your skills in the room and the impact you had on the people directly involved. Similarly, it might be inappropriate to ask for those directly involved to provide a testimonial when the mediation took place within an organisation on a confidential basis.
Many clients do not want their name associated with a testimonial that reveals that they participated in a mediation. For many, the fact that they had a conflict that required a mediator or other support service can be embarrassing, even if the conflict was resolved constructively through using the service. Even if their name is not attached, if a sponsor provides feedback, they may feel that others could link the testimonial to their conflict if they saw the sponsor’s name attached to a testimonial published around the time their mediation took place.
Some mediators describe on social media mediations they have just conducted in general, de-identified terms, but it is still possible that if the clients involved saw such a social media post immediately after their mediation, they may feel that someone may connect the dots and realise that it related to their conflict.
If seeking testimonials, focus on former clients or those who have completed all services and fully understand the implications of sharing their experiences. Ensure they are comfortable and willing to share their stories without pressure. Do your best to educate the client on the risks and benefits of providing a testimonial. Never provide incentives for providing a testimonial.
Whatever your approach, make sure you prioritise client privacy and confidentiality when seeking, displaying, or sharing testimonials. Ensure they know exactly how their testimonial will be used and give them the option to decide what personal details are attached. Ask that testimonials are not specific about the matter or the other party, as well: even if one party agrees to provide a testimonial, other people continue to merit their privacy and confidentiality.
How you select and use testimonials
Practitioners are unlikely to share feedback that is less than positive. The glowing testimonials that you see on a practitioner’s website might only be a small sample of feedback they have received.
For every positive testimonial, they may have received five complaints. While I’m not suggesting here that you post complaints as well as positive feedback, you do need to be cautious about which testimonials you select and whether and how you might edit them. Selectively choosing and editing testimonials has the potential to be false, misleading or deceptive conduct under consumer protection laws.
You also should be conscious about the messages that your selected testimonials may send to prospective clients. For example, do the testimonials you share focus on outcome (e.g. Sam helped us resolve our conflict) or about the practitioner’s skills (e.g. Sam was very organised, attentive and flexible). Sharing testimonials only from clients who were fully satisfied with how their conflict was resolved, or whose testimonial focuses on the outcome rather than the practitioner’s skills, can mean you are setting unrealistic standards for prospective clients. They only see the success stories, and do not hear from those who found the process challenging or who did not obtain the results they expected or wanted. It’s important not to unintentionally indicate to prospective clients that everyone you work with finds the process easy and is fully satisfied with the outcome.
When you wish to post a testimonial about a client’s outcome, it is advisable to include a disclaimer. For example, “Please keep in mind that the outcome of a mediation depends on its unique circumstances. We cannot predict or guarantee a particular result in a future matter based on our successful results in past matters.”
You may wish to consider alternative ways to promote your practice, such as networking with other professionals, obtaining referrals from colleagues, or creating informative and accurate content for your website or social media platforms.
Would you like to know more about developing and marketing your conflict practice? Our Beyond the Table course includes more than 20 hours of content, including interviews with a broad range of conflict practitioners, and workbooks to apply your learning immediately to your own practice. Find out more and register here: https://www.conflictmanagementacademy.com/beyond-the-table-course/
QUESTION: Do you, or are you planning to seek testimonials from clients?
QUESTION: How will you explain to clients why you would like a testimonial and how it will be used?
QUESTION: How will you explain to clients the risks and benefits of providing a testimonial?
QUESTION: How will you decide which testimonials to share and where? What might be some unintended consequences of your choice on prospective clients who read them?
