Testimonials are the social proof of what people have to say.

How many glowing testimonials do you have? What is your biggest struggle in getting testimonials?

In this post we will go over

Client Experience

Educate

Set expectations

Condition

Client bribe

Client Experience

Set from the get-go. Establish that you will be providing an amazing client experience from beginning to end.

Onboarding. Gain your clients trust from the moment they visit your website or social media.

Gifting. Make clients feel VIP with surprise gifts.

Build Trust. Taking the time to make sure the client knows they are in good hands, the trust will develop naturally. It creates a relationship where asking for a testimonial will be easy and smooth.

Educate

Creative process

Share with your clients the importance of testimonials. Show new clients recent testimonials and share the positive reviews. Explain how important this is to your business and how it makes you proud to have so many great ones.

Do occasional check-in’s with the clients to let them know you care. This is critical because you are making yourself available to chat.

Provide a checklist of resources and how your process works.

Set Expectations

Share the creative process so the clients feel like they are getting that one on one attention.

Be candid and open about your process. It does not have to be a secret how you operate.

What is your role? Explain what you are responsible for throughout the process.

“Think of your client as someone who has not done anything you’ve done before. Educate them.”

— Cristina Barragan

What is their role? Relieve them of any pressure they may feel to buy things or help in certain ways. Allow them to relax and continue to build their trust in your work.

Set testimonial expectations. Let them know you hope to receive their testimonial at whatever date you choose.

Automated customer relationship management tools will make this process so much easier. If you do not have that, have saved responses and templates in your email. Then schedule tasks and reminders in a calendar to send these emails out.

Condition

Ask the right questions so you get the right kind of testimonial.

Example: How did our services make you feel? What was your favorite part of the process?

Consider sending an additional questionnaire, that is different than a testimonial meant to be posted. This is to collect feedback and constructive criticism in order to improve.

Create templates for different occasions so that they are ready to go whenever they are needed.

Client Bribe

Give clients at least a week to have their honeymoon and catch up on sleep, then reach out to ask. Some clients may automatically write a review. If they do not respond to the initial ask, offer to send a gift card in exchange for a review. A coupon or sales promotion for your services is another option.

Things do not always go as planned, so if you believe a client may not leave a great review, do not ask them!