Get Your Clients To Tell A Testimonial Story

Image by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash.

A reader asks, “How can I get people to open up about their experiences? I want some good testimonials!”

Most of us can relate to this challenge. Service businesses rely heavily on testimonials.

[***I explore this further in a free podcast. Listen on your favorite platform by clicking here.***]

Some services have public attendance instead of testimonials. You can look into a restaurant and count heads. Most people get nervous about entering an empty restaurant space.

If you’re a solopreneur, you’ve probably realized a bitter truth: people don’t believe you can help them if you’re not part of a bigger firm. When they’re considering whether to hire you, they look closely at testimonials. They also look closely at what you write in your blog or sales letter for evidence of credibility.

But here’s the catch. It’s not a testimonial about YOU. Ideally, your client doesn’t say, “John was amazing.” Effective testimonials certainly don’t say, “I enjoyed working with John.”

And there’s another problem. Clients often don’t know how to write testimonials. It’s not something they learn in school, like a 3 paragraph essay.

So how do you get clients to open up and share their real story? Here are three tips to make it work.