How to ask for Testimonials

Are You Asking Your Happy Clients for Testimonials?

When a client is excited about working with you, you need to make sure you know how to ask for testimonials the right way. I get excited when a client is so impressed with my work that they say in surprised wonder, “Wow!” It makes me feel like a magician who just pulled a rabbit out of my hat.

I started freelance writing six years ago, and I didn’t know how to ask for testimonials. Getting a big “thank you” was enough for me and left me with a smile and a cozy feeling of gratification. After I started copywriting three years ago, I learned fast that testimonials are the bread and butter to your website dinner.

Why are testimonials important?

How many times have you Googled a product or service review before buying? I always research reviews before I buy anything. I have made the mistake of getting enthusiastic about an ad pitch and purchased a product before researching it. When you get ripped off by an unethical business and read the reviews later, you will learn that many other consumers all complained about the same problem.

90% of buyers stated that reading online reviews influenced their buying decisions. 88% of people trust online reviews written by other consumers as much as they trust personal recommendations (digitalmarketing.org).

When to ask for a testimonial?

When a client shows a high level of enthusiasm for your work, that is the best time to get a testimonial. Even if you have an inbox of testimonials, it’s always a good idea to ask a happy client for testimonials.

How not to ask for a testimonial?

When you ask a client for a testimonial, it’s always important to guide their response so that you can get a good testimonial that is informative, specific, and promotional for your business or service. I found it ineffective to ask for a testimonial without asking specific questions.

Ineffective testimonials are vague and full of superficial compliments. Below are examples of testimonials that are ineffective

I love working with Alethea! She was so nice!
Alethea did a great job helping me with my website!

How to ask for a testimonial?

While these testimonials are enthusiastic and friendly, they don’t tell the reader anything other than it was nice working with me. Consumers don’t buy nice, they buy results.

Instead of just asking for a testimonial, you should have your clients answer specific questions to guide the information they will be sharing. Ask three to five questions. Some of the questions I ask for my testimonials are

What problems were you having before you worked with me?
What problem were you trying to solve with my product/service?
How did you find me?
What impressed you the most about working with me?
What was I able to do for you?
Would you recommend my service to other businesses, and why?

This guided questionnaire will allow you to use a thorough testimonial that is formatted like sales copy. An example of an effective testimonial that uses this guideline would be

Before I worked with Alethea, I was unhappy with my website. I felt like it didn’t really present my services the right way to bring in clients. A colleague who was a former client of hers referred me to Alethea.

I was impressed with her knowledge of the industry and SEO copywriting. Alethea rewrote my website so well that I wanted to buy my own products! If you need website copywriting that sells while sounding human, you need to hire Alethea!

Testimonials Convert Leads into Buyers

When I write copy for my clients, I always ask them to send me any testimonials they want to use on their sales page, ad, or website. I also refer them to my educational copywriting blogs to help them understand the format of copywriting and share my methods for creating a lead-converting landing page.