We all like to buy from people we know, like and trust … part of building trust quickly is to write testimonials that share real stories of how we have helped others. Testimonials are powerful selling tools that are often overlooked on the path to growing your business. If you want to build credibility, really engage your customers and show them what’s like to work with you then write testimonials that showcase the success you create for others.
Different Types of Testimonials
There are many different types of testimonials, ranging from written testimonials that you can use on your website and in your marketing through to Facebook Reviews, Google Reviews and Linked In reviews or product reviews on your own website or on Amazon. All of these are important however this post focuses on how to gather and write high quality written testimonials that tell how you solved a problem for someone. Like a mini-case study, writing testimonials like these are the most amazing tools to boost your business growth.
When to Get Testimonials
The best time to get testimonials is straight after you have delivered successfully for your customers. If you wait even a few days they may have become busy, or forgotten the real, tangible benefits of what you delivered. Life does get in the way, so think carefully and plan to gather your testimonial as part of your final delivery process.
How do you do that?
If you’re working face-to-face with someone have your questions prepared and be ready to ask them at your final meeting. Another option is to ask if it’s ok to email a survey to them and if they would be prepared to write a testimonial for you.
If you’re working online make sure you have a final closing survey with your questions ready to go as part of the delivery of your service or product.
The good news is that you don’t have to ask too many questions to get a great testimonial.
Questions to Ask
There are many different types of questions you could ask – the important thing is to keep your questions as clear and as straightforward as possible for your audience. Here seven questions to ask every time you ask for a testimonial:
What was the biggest issue or fear you were facing before you bought my/our service/product?
How did my [insert service] help you with your [insert the audience’s problem]?
What results did you get?
What was your favourite part of the process/service/product and why?
What were three other benefits of working with me/us?
If you were to recommend me/us to a close friend, what would you say?
Is there anything else you’d like to add?
How to Write a Testimonial
Once you have the responses to your audience’s questions you can then prepare a short testimonial – just a couple of paragraphs that capture the essence of your is best. This can be written as a quote from your customer or as a case study about how you have helped them.
Either way, the testimonial should showcase the problem they had and how you solved it for them. Remember stories build trust and help sell.
Here’s an example of a written testimonial straight from one of my clients:
“After working for two years to make money online I started working with Jen. She helped me crack the code to creating an irresistible offer for my audience. I implemented Jen’s system with the launch of my Monetise Social Media Training Program. I made $15,000 at my first live workshop. Since then I’ve achieved my revenue targets and built a business that has allowed me to fulfil a long-held dream of bringing my wife home from outside work so she can spend more time with our kids.”
– Josh Oakey | Creator, Monetise Social Media Program and Founder, The Customer Service Movement
Here’s an example of that same testimonial written as a briefcase study:
After two years of working online to make money, one of my clients, Josh Oakey, made $15,000 at his first 3-hour workshop using my strategy to create a targeted marketing offer. Fourteen months later he’s hit his revenue targets and is taking his offering nationally. He’s also achieved his lifestyle goal of bringing his wife home to work with him in his business – allowing her to spend more time with their growing children.
Once you have written the testimonial or case study always send it back to your customer for their approval.
If you prefer to use exactly what your customer has sent you to fix any typos or spelling errors as those as they can be distracting to your readers and also reduce their perceptions of your quality.
How to Build Further Credibility With Your Testimonials
The more details you can provide about the client the better. For example, it’s much more powerful to provide a photo of the person, their name, and business, as opposed to Sally, Palm Beach, Sydney. Having said this I do understand that for some businesses in the health field it’s important to maintain client confidentiality so a first name may be all you can provide.
Video testimonials, done well, will also build your credibility quickly as your audience can see and feel how you have helped real people with real problems. So if you are in a position to gather some video testimonials from your clients please do so. My only caveat here is to make sure the video testimonial covers the questions we’ve asked above and are of a visual and audio quality that is in line with your business. A bad quality video won’t support your brand or resonate with prospective customers.
Where to Put Your Testimonials
Once you have your testimonials put them everywhere that you can. They are such an amazing tool to help you build trust quickly – you’d be well served to put them as many places as possible. The super important places that you need to place them are the:
This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.
Strictly Necessary Cookies
Strictly Necessary Cookie should be enabled at all times so that we can save your preferences for cookie settings.
If you disable this cookie, we will not be able to save your preferences. This means that every time you visit this website you will need to enable or disable cookies again.
