Great client testimonials are an essential part of business.
Testimonials (or reviews) provide the social proof that gives new customers the confidence to buy from you.
[mashtweet tweet=”Businesses with the best and most reviews usually win the sale!” text=”” username=”katiedejong3rd”]
But have you noticed how hard it can be to get reviews from clients? There’s something challenging about having to make the time to sit down and think about writing a coherent review for someone. We wonder, what should I write? How do I write it? And because it doesn’t come easily, we procrastinate on it.
And I have to admit, I’m often guilty of procrastinating about writing reviews for people too. When we’re busy, it just keeps falling off the critical to-do list. It can take me weeks, sometimes months to finally get around to writing a review for someone, even when I’ve loved their service!
Surveys – on the other hand – seem to be less problematic, especially when we’re told it will take less than three minutes of our time. When you’re asked a specific, direct question, it’s not hard to write down some short thoughts on the topic.
Over the years, I’ve found that the easiest and fastest way to get great testimonials from clients is to get them to complete a short (less than three minute) survey in which you ask great questions.
[mashtweet tweet=”Over the years, I’ve found that the easiest and fastest way to get great testimonials from clients is to get them to complete a short (less than three minute) survey in which you ask great questions.” text=”” username=”katiedejong3rd”]
You then use their answers to compile a testimonial. Once you’ve created the testimonial from their answers, you send it to them and ask if they’re happy for you to use what they’ve written as a testimonial on your website and other marketing materials (in the eight years I’ve been doing this I’ve never had anyone say no!).
Also ask them if they could take a moment to copy and paste it to your Google Reviews, Facebook Reviews and anywhere else you’re collecting reviews. People don’t mind copying and pasting because it’s easy – there’s no brain power required!
Here’s the process in a nutshell.
How to easily get great testimonials from easy clients.
- Create a short survey (10 questions) requesting specific feedback. I’ve provided the questions we’ve been using for years now below (my favourite free app for creating surveys is Typeform).
- Take what they’ve written and turn it into a paragraph that serves as a testimonial.
- Send it to them and ask if they’re happy for you to use it on your website and other marketing materials.
- Ask them if they can copy and past it onto your Google and Facebook reviews (and anywhere else you’re collecting reviews).
However, it’s important to note that not all questions are equal!
The quality of the answers you receive will depend on how you ask the question.
The question you ask should prompt a specific or detailed response that you can use as a testimonial. If you ask them yes/no (closed) questions, you won’t get anything useful from your client.
Below are the 10 questions that I’ve used consistently over the past eight-plus years to build up my reviews and testimonials. Please feel free to use them yourself and let me know how you go!
The great thing about these questions is that they will actually provide you with very helpful, insightly feedback about your product or service that will allow you to continuously fine-tune and improve – which is what we should all be doing in business!
You can also use these questions to conduct market research, so that you understand how your product or service is being perceived by your customers.
These are the three powerful things you can do with these questions:
- Get great client testimonials.
- Get great market research data.
- Get important, constructive feedback about your product or service so you can continuously improve.
Keep reading to discover my 10 powerful questions!
Our Top 10 Questions to Help You Get Great Client Testimonials
- On a scale of 1 – 10, with 10 being the highest, how would you rate your overall experience with [program / event / service / product]?
- How would you describe how you feel now after [finishing the program / attending the event / using the service / using the product], and how did you feel before [program / event / service / product]?
- The promise of the [program / event / service / product] was to help you [ … ]. To what extent do you feel the [program / event / service / product] enabled you to achieve this? (On a scale of 1 – 10 with 10 being the highest).
- The [program / product] contained [ … ] different [modules / segments / areas / benefits] to help you [ … ]. Which was your favourite [module / segment / area / benefit] – and why?
- How satisfied were with with [program coordinator / event organiser / service provider / product provider]‘s level of expertise? (On a scale of 1 – 10 with 10 being the highest).
- Do you have any specific feedback on [program coordinator / event organiser / service provider / product provider]‘s style / method / techniques?
- Do you feel you received the right amount of value for the amount of money you paid? If not, how much would you be willing to pay for this [program / event / service / product]?
- How likely are you to recommend this [program / event / service / product] to others? (On a scale of 1 – 10 with 10 being the highest).
- Do you have any suggestions for improvements to the [program / event / service / product]?
- hat was the thing you most enjoyed about this [program / event / service / product]? And least enjoyed?
I hope you get great results using these questions! If you do, please reach out and let me know! Send me a message to [email protected]. I love hearing from you!
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How to Become a Profit Queen (Part 2): Growth Strategies to Take Your Business to the Next Level.
How to Start Your Own Business: 3 Things You Need to Know.
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In service to your success,
Kate De Jong, Ph.D
Fempire Coach for Thriving Female Entrepreneurs
[email protected]
+61 424 176 658
www.katedejong.com
Kate De Jong is a business and marketing strategist for start-ups and small business owners who want to grow their business with ease. Kate is a bestselling author and a Chief Executive Women award-winner for women in leadership. Formerly a consulting engineer for more than fifteen years, Kate left her engineering career in 2012 to pursue her passion and zone of genius—entrepreneurship and marketing — and has never looked back!