4 Ways to Get Client Testimonials in Your Online Business
Client testimonials sell your offering for you. If you’re an entrepreneur, you know how important client testimonials are for your business. But if you’re not asking for these client testimonials strategically, you’re about to learn how to improve your marketing today.
1- The Mindset for Getting Client Testimonials
In business, you give what you get. Just like anything else in life!
Client testimonials are no different. I believe that one of the reasons we have so many and such strong testimonials is because I am proactive and generous about giving client testimonials to others. When I’m asked for a testimonial, I make sure to respond within 24 hours. I try to volunteer to give client testimonials before I’m asked.
If you want client testimonials, make sure you also give client testimonials. Giving credit where credit is due is so important for entrepreneurs.
2- How to Ask for Powerful, Magnetic Client Testimonials
Asking for client testimonials can seem obvious. You email a client and ask them for a testimonial. Easy enough, right?
Even if you’re getting responses from this ask, it’s still a weak strategy for client testimonials. Here’s why:
It’s not making it easy for your client
Asking for client testimonials is asking someone to give up their time to help you without any benefit for them. While many people will want to help you, they’re only human and they’re likely busy. Their own jobs, families, and personal priorities will be more important to them than replying to your request for a testimonial.
To make this as easy as possible for them, ask them targeted questions that you want to include in your testimonial. This allows them to simply respond to the questions quickly and easily. It can take them five minutes, whereas a testimonial they are coming up with completely from scratch can be put on the back burner for days or even weeks.
It’ll invoke a vague response
Asking for a testimonial is a vague request. As such, you’ll get a vague response. Consider these examples:
Example A: you ask for a testimonial
“I loved working with Leah. It was so much fun. She’s got such a great heart and I loved our calls together. I’m so glad I made this investment in myself.”
This isn’t a bad testimonial, but it’s not going to convert people who are on the fence about buying. People don’t decide to buy because someone is nice. They buy because they want a result. Nowhere in this testimonial is that made clear.
Example B: you ask for a testimonial that is results-based
“Before working with Leah I had spent months trying to figure out sales on my own, wondering why nothing was working. I was exhausted, discouraged, and embarrassed at my bank account (or lack thereof). After working with Leah, I not only felt more confident in my sales strategies, my bank account multiplied. I’m so much more confident in my sales moving forward thanks to the work I did with Leah. I recommend any entrepreneur work with her.”
It’s pretty clear how much more powerful that second testimonial is. There’s nothing vague about it.
It’s a missed marketing opportunity
A testimonial similar to Example B above is an excellent tool to use in your marketing. It will help potential clients see themselves in the testimonial and give them reason to believe you can help them achieve the result they want.
So how do you get client testimonials like that? Here are some direct questions to ask your clients when asking for your client testimonials:
- Please share three adjectives that describe your situation about {your niche} before we started working together.
- Please share what the deciding factor was that made you move forward.
- Please share three adjectives that describe your situation about {your niche} AFTER we worked together.
- What would you tell someone who is on the fence about this program?
- What would you tell your past self before joining this?
These questions will speak to potential clients hovering over the “purchase” button and help them get a different view about whether working with you is right for them.
3- Using Client Testimonials in Your Marketing
It’s no secret that client testimonials are great for marketing. Having proof that your product or service is effective is the key justification people are looking for when purchasing from you.
To maximize this effect, it’s key to use testimonials in your marketing the same way your audience is used to consuming your content.
For instance, if you’re a TikTok or Instagram influencer, slapping a paragraph of a testimonial is going to be glossed over by your audience. Yes, even if they’re glowing reviews. What a waste!
In that situation, you’d want to make videos and/or visualize that mimic your typical content. This way, you know your audience is accustomed to consuming it and won’t skip over it.
If you’re an ecommerce site, create graphics that involve your product with snippets of testimonials. If you’re a blogger, have written client testimonials. You get the picture.
As a rule of thumb, remember that writing made for digital marketing should meet the consumer where they’re at. Think quick, bullets, and easy to read. Most texts online are scanned over. So make your testimonial very easy to digest by keeping it short and highlighting the most valuable information in them.
4- The Most Important Testimonial in your Business
If you’re just starting out, you may have read over this with a heavy heart knowing that you don’t yet have client testimonials. It’s intimidating to sell something when others in your niche have hundreds of glowing reviews. I get it. And guess what? So does everyone else!
In fact, every single entrepreneur, including you, only starts with a single testimonial.
Your own.
The majority of entrepreneurs start a business to solve a problem that they themselves had. Oftentimes, they were, at one point, their own ideal client. This makes marketing quite easy because they’re usually marketing to themselves, or who they once were.
When you’ve solved the problem you had, you are the testimonial that you can solve that problem. Your story is your best testimonial. And, I can honestly say that even with countless client testimonials we now have, my own story is STILL my strongest testimonial.
(Here’s an example of how famous real estate agent Venus Morris Griffin ties her story into her work as a realtor, making her stand out from all other real estate agents.
This is because storytelling is critical to a strong brand and marketing that converts. It’s how the customers and clients connect with you, as the face of the brand, and the product. It’s how they can see themselves in the before and after you create.
For in depth work on how to involve your own story (even if you think no one will care) to your brand, and use it effectively in your marketing, enroll in our Sales Program.
Final Thoughts on Client Testimonials
Having client testimonials is one of the most powerful marketing tools any business can have. We hope that with these simple yet underestimated tips, you see how you can get more testimonials, make more of them, and increase your sales.
For more ways to increase your sales, you’ll love our Sales Program.