You recently finished a project with a client who saw amazing results. Their testimonial would be perfect to highlight in a case study, on your website, or even on social media.
You email your client to ask for a testimonial. A week goes by and nothing. You send a follow-up email. A few days later, you get a reply in your inbox. Yay!! Excited, you open the email and see: “Leanne was great. I loved working with her“.
What.The.Eff?! That’s it?! That’s all they had to say??
You know they had great results, but that testimonial was as generic as you could get. It could apply to anyone who shares the same name as you and doesn’t help you at all. It didn’t talk about any of the great results they saw after working together.
The Disappointment of Vague Feedback
This reminds me of a masterclass I attended a few weeks ago on a subject I was interested in. They asked us to submit our articles to be reviewed during the call to walk us through their process.
I quickly jumped on the opportunity and submitted my article.
The day of the masterclass arrived, and I saw my article on their list. I couldn’t wait to see how they worked through their process using content that I had written.
The masterclass started, and time ticked by while they worked through the first article. After almost 45 minutes of the hour-long masterclass, we were still on that same first article, and their process wasn’t super clear. It was a lot of jumping around, back and forth watching as they copied and pasted things. Ugh.
As the class wrapped up, they never went beyond that first article. I left that masterclass feeling really let down. I had high hopes, and they were dashed.
The Importance of Detailed and Effective Testimonials
This is the same experience people go through when asking for testimonials. They imagine an incredibly insightful, glowing review and what they get back from their client is not at all what they pictured.
When you make a general request, ask at the wrong time, or don’t provide prompts to help guide the testimonial in the direction you’re looking for you’re doing yourself a disservice. Half the time you won’t get a response back because your client doesn’t know what you’re looking for, if you do get something back, it ends up being generic, unhelpful, and unusable.
Getting high-quality testimonials requires planning and thoughtful execution. Just like you wouldn’t dive into a project without a clear strategy, asking for testimonials should involve a well-defined approach.
Why Testimonials Matter: Building Trust and Credibility
The importance of testimonials goes beyond just filling space on your website or making you feel good. They are a vital component of building trust and credibility with potential clients. When someone sees a detailed, heartfelt testimonial, it speaks volumes about your work ethic, expertise, and the results you can deliver.
This can be the deciding factor for a prospective client who is on the fence about working with you.
Using Prompts for Great Testimonials
When asking for a testimonial, provide prompts to help your happy clients tell the right story while also including all the relevant information you need to help future buyers self-identify that you’re the right fit for them.
Your testimonial request should include:
- A prompt to address a before state or struggle they were having before seeking you out
- A prompt to identify concerns or objections they had prior to working with you
- A prompt about the experience they had working with you
- A prompt about the results or greater impact they had after working with you
- A prompt to offer reassurance if someone is on the fence about hiring you
Prompts Help Future Buyers See Themselves
Detailed testimonials that feature specific challenges and tangible results can act as powerful social proof, showcasing your ability to deliver results and reassuring potential clients that their investment will be worthwhile.
Testimonials that speak directly to the pain points and benefits relevant to your target audience will significantly enhance your credibility and help you build trust with prospective customers.
They’re able to relate to the similarities between their current situation and what their desired results are.
A great testimonial helps them confirm that you’re exactly who they need to help them.
Prompts Align with Your Goals
By tailoring your prompts to align with your business goals, you can strategically gather testimonials that not only highlight your strengths but also address common concerns or questions that potential clients might have.
For instance, if your goal is to emphasize your expertise in a particular area, such as project management, your prompts should encourage clients to speak specifically about how your skills in that area benefited their project.
By thoughtfully crafting your testimonial requests, you can transform basic client feedback into powerful stories that resonate with your target audience.
Prompts Remove the Pressure of Writing
Think back to the last time a company asked you to provide a testimonial. Did you know what to say? Did you put it off? Did you write something quickly just to get it off your plate so you didn’t feel guilty about not replying?
Clients often don’t know what to include in a testimonial, which is why the responses can be generic. By providing clear guidelines or prompts, you can help them focus on specific aspects that you want to highlight in your marketing materials.
Get Great Testimonials by Making It Easy
Make the process of providing a testimonial as easy as possible for your clients. Consider creating a simple form they can fill out, or offer to draft a testimonial based on their feedback that they can then tweak and approve. The easier you make the process, the more likely they are to provide a detailed and useful testimonial.
By paying attention to these principles, you can turn your client’s feedback into powerful testimonials that not only tell your story effectively but also build trust with potential clients.
Next time you ask for a testimonial, be sure to use prompts and see the difference it makes.
