Testimonials are an important part of your brand, because they inspire potential clients to choose to work with you. Think about your own buying decisions... I bet you're more likely to purchase a product or service with lots of great testimonials to back it up, as opposed to a product or service with no social proof – right? 

What Makes a Great Testimonial?

A great testimonial tells the story of where the person was before they started working with you, and the results they experienced once the work was complete. A great testimonial paints a picture by being as specific as possible so that potential clients reading the testimonial can identify themselves in the writer’s story. 

The problem with most testimonials is that they fall flat by being too vague or generic. If your testimonials have been falling flat, perhaps you need to offer your clients a little more guidance for how to write you a powerful testimonial.

3 Ways to Make Writing a Testimonial Easy for Your Clients

You can't expect your clients to automatically know how to write a great testimonial that will inspire new clients to work with you. Although most of them truly want to write you an awesome testimonial, they just don't know how, or they feel overwhelmed by what to say, so it's your job to guide them. 

Here are 3 ways to make writing you a testimonial easy on your clients ...

Send Your Request in an Email

Sending them an email with the prompts (copy and paste prompts provided below!) to answer is a great idea, because it allows them easy access to your guidance and the space to write it on their own time. 

So they don’t feel overwhelmed, it’s also a good idea to let them know that they don’t need to answer every prompt - just the ones they resonate with - and they don’t have to worry about making it sound perfect because you’ll put their responses together into a testimonial that flows and send it to them for approval before publishing.  

Have a Conversation Over Zoom

Having a conversation over Zoom that you then record and transcribe into a testimonial may be easier for some clients. During the conversation, you can ask them your questions (and/or the 7 questions below), then write the testimonial yourself after the conversation, based on the recording. Again, it’s important to send them the testimonial to approve before you publish it. 

Write it Yourself 

If your client is simply too busy to write you a testimonial or have a conversation with you on Zoom, as a last resort, you could offer to write the testimonial yourself and send it to them to edit. 

While this is ok to keep as a last resort, if you do this too often, all of your testimonials can end up sounding the same, when what you want is for them to be spoken from your client’s heart. 

If you go this route, be sure to keep track of your client wins when working together (this is a great idea regardless!), so you can put these together into a testimonial later if needed. 

7 Questions to Guarantee Client-Attracting Testimonials

Providing your clients the right questions can help guide them to writing a testimonial that will be genuinely impactful for your brand. Not only that, but your clients will appreciate this guidance – they're busy people, and guiding them makes writing their testimonial easier. Plus, you’ll be thrilled because your testimonials will actually start getting you results!

Here are the questions to ask (feel free to use them as is, or modify them for your unique business):

1. What specific problems were you facing before you worked with me?
2. How were you feeling (emotionally, physically, mentally, spiritually) before you worked with me?
3. What specific concerns almost prevented you from choosing to work with me? Why are you glad that you did? (e.g. were you concerned you wouldn't be able to recoup your investment or that working with me wouldn't solve your problem?)
4. What specific results (financial, emotional, physical, mental, spiritual, relationships, health, etc.) have you experienced by working with me? Be as specific as possible.
5. How has working with me increased your level of joy, confidence or belief in yourself, etc?
6. What did you enjoy about my coaching style?
7. What is the single most important thing people should know about working with me? 

What to Include in Your Published Testimonials

Aside from the actual testimonial, it’s important to include a name and photo with each testimonial to help personalize the impact and put a face to the testimonial. This allows potential clients to decide if your current clients are in a similar position as them. 

In some cases, for example, if you’re a business coach, then including your client’s title, along with their name and photo will be important to showcase what types of businesses you’ve successfully worked with. 

There are instances when your clients may want to stay anonymous, like if you’re a therapist or divorce coach. In these cases, ask your clients how much they’re willing to share - maybe they’re ok with just their first name and no photo, or maybe only their initials. Be sure to get their approval before publicly sharing their identity!

What if Your Clients Don’t Answer…? 

It happens. Anyone who’s been in business for a while will tell you that they’ve had at least a few clients who never provided a testimonial, even after saying they would. If you find yourself in this situation… there are a few key things to do. 

First off, don’t take it personally. 

It’s easy to let your mind convince you that because your client didn’t send a testimonial, they either didn’t like working with you, didn’t get any results, or don’t like you as a person. 99 times out of 100, that’s NOT the case. Your clients are busy people and it’s not always about you if they don’t do something you asked of them. 

Second, it’s important to follow up. If you’ve only asked once and they haven’t sent back their response yet, it’s likely that they either forgot or just got busy and distracted by something else! It’s also okay to follow up a few times – especially over time if you haven’t heard back from them. 

If you’ve followed up a few times and still haven’t heard back, there does come a time when all you can do is just wait. I would recommend that if you’ve gone a month or more and haven’t heard back yet, then the best thing to do is send one final email reminder stating that: this is the last email you’re going to send asking about it, restating the prompts you’d like them to answer, and giving a deadline that you’d like to have it by. 

If you want more specific guidance answering your important business questions, join me in the Impact Tribe! The Impact Tribe is the only place you’ll get access to a complete library of biz-booming courses, Laser Coaching Sessions focused specifically on your questions and needs, Mastermind Meetings where you’re free to ask me and the group about a specific problem you’re facing in your biz, a private community of supportive, uplifting women on a similar path as you, and SO much more. If you’re serious about growing your business, this is the place for you.