One of the biggest challenges, especially as you are growing your business, is quickly gaining trust with potential clients. One of the most powerful forms of social proof is a well placed testimonial from a previous client to validate your expertise. Then comes the slightly tricky part, how to ask for a testimonial that highlights your expertise in just the right way.
When to ask
The best time to ask for feedback is roughly 1-2 weeks after all the deliverables have been provided and the project/service is complete. This is ideal timing because the experience is fresh in your client's mind.
What if you didn't ask at the end of the project and some time has passed? You can definitely still ask for a testimonial within about 6 months of the project. After that, the details have faded, but there are still ways to work around this if needed.
The best format
Sending an email with a 'can you provide a testimonial' message is way too open ended and puts too much mental effort onto your client. The best way to solicit feedback and gain a glowing testimonial is by providing a link to a feedback form that guides the client with thoughtful questions. A few questions will get them warmed up before they need to articulate their experience.
I've created a free Tally form to help you guide your clients on providing constructive feedback and a testimonial, which you can access here.
This form only takes a few minutes to complete, which will increase the chances your client will follow through. Remember, they are busy and need this process to be quick and frictionless.
The option to write a testimonial is right in the form. Tally does a great job with conditional formatting, so once they select 'yes' agreeing to provide a testimonial, the follow-up appears automatically, providing space to write their testimonial.
What if they don't fill out the form?
If they haven't responded, it likely fell off their radar. A follow up could nudge this request back to the top of their mind. If you're following up, include the form link but give the option for providing a testimonial right in the message.
Here is an example message to get you started:
Hello ____,
Just checking back in because your feedback is important to us. If you've got a few minutes, here is a link to a feedback questionnaire. Your answers will help us improve and ensure we're providing the best possible service and experience.
If we completely knocked it out of the park and you don't have specific feedback, we'd love to have your testimonial. Just 2-3 sentences describing your experience working with us and/or the results for your business would help us share that with potential clients.
Thank you for supporting our small business!
A few tips
Keep the form brief - About a dozen questions is the sweet spot and should only take a few minutes to fill out.
Lead with a thank you - Include a link to your feedback form in a thank you message about 1-2 weeks after hand-off.
Make it personal - Make sure to edit the template to fit your business and personalize the follow up message based on the project or work you did.
Timing guides the ask - If it's been more than a month since you completed the project, skip the feedback form and head straight for asking for the testimonial.
Asking for client feedback and testimonials might feel a bit uncomfortable at first but it serves two important functions for growing your business. Constructive feedback provides essential data points for making your business better while well written testimonials provide the social proof essential to building trust with new leads.