How do you ask for testimonials from your customers in a way that encourages honest and specific feedback?

1 Choose the right customers

The first step is to identify the customers who are most likely to give you positive and useful testimonials. These are the ones who have experienced the benefits of your products or services, who have a good relationship with you, and who are willing to share their stories. You can use various criteria to select them, such as their purchase history, loyalty, satisfaction, referrals, or feedback. You can also segment them by their goals, challenges, or demographics, depending on what you want to highlight in your testimonials.

2 Ask at the right time

The next step is to ask for testimonials at the right time, when your customers are most satisfied and engaged with your offer. This could be right after they make a purchase, complete a project, achieve a result, or solve a problem. You can also follow up with them after a certain period of time, to check how they are doing and remind them of the value they received. The best way to ask for testimonials is to use multiple channels, such as email, phone, text, or social media, and to personalize your message according to each customer.

3 Provide guidance and incentives

The third step is to provide guidance and incentives to your customers to make it easy and rewarding for them to provide you with testimonials. You can do this by offering them some questions or prompts such as what their main challenge or pain point was before using your product or service, how your product or service helped them overcome it, the results they achieved after using it, and how they would describe their experience working with you. Additionally, you can offer incentives such as discounts, freebies, referrals, or recognition to show your appreciation and encourage them to participate.

4 Collect and edit

The fourth step is to collect and edit the testimonials you receive from your customers. You can use various tools and platforms, such as Google Forms, SurveyMonkey, Testimonial Monkey, or Trustpilot, to gather and store them. Additionally, you can ask your customers to send their testimonials via email, video, audio, or social media. Once you have the testimonials, it is necessary to edit them for clarity, accuracy, and impact by removing irrelevant or redundant information; highlighting the most important or compelling points; adding or correcting punctuation, grammar, or spelling; adding or changing the format such as quotes, bold, or italic; and adding or changing the attribution such as name, title, or photo. Nonetheless, you should always respect the original voice and message of your customers and never change or exaggerate anything that they did not say or imply.

5 Use and optimize

The final step is to use and optimize the testimonials you have collected and edited. You can display them on your website, share them on social media, incorporate them into a sales pitch, repurpose them into different formats, test and measure their performance, and update them regularly. By doing so, you can increase your trust, authority, and influence in your direct sales niche.

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?