How to get customer testimonials | Use my example wording as a template
One of the best pieces of collateral to have in your marketing suite is a case study or testimonial from a happy customer. The more case studies you can write that cover the full range of what you do for your clients, the better placed you will be to convert leads into paying customers.
This of course takes some time and effort to do but the reward is worth it.
I’ve written and proofread many customer case studies and I’m busy writing my own for my website. I’m sharing my knowledge here to give you the confidence to get out there and ask your customers to vouch for you via a case study or short testimonial.
Keep an eye out for the ACTION points in this blog which will help you to get going quickly with the task of planning and writing your case studies. It’s time to stop pushing it down the to-do list.
Don’t put off asking customers for case studies and testimonials – here’s how to get started
You should ask every satisfied customer to at least give you a paragraph or two about how they found working with you. Don’t be afraid to ask – if you are worried that the customer had a less-than-perfect experience with you, this is your opportunity to get some constructive feedback on what you could do better next time.
Chances are that they were probably very pleased with the work you did – so there’s no need to put off asking them.
Include asking for a testimonial as part of your project completion process
You no doubt have a process for invoicing your clients as the end of every job and asking for a testimonial should carry the same level of importance on your to-do list.
ACTION: Set yourself a task or reminder in whatever task management system you use to make sure you don’t forget to ask for a quote or permission to write a case study. You could even set up a template piece of text that you use to ask each time.
Don’t be shy! Think about the positive boost you will get when the testimonial comes in.
Case studies are a great way to share success back to the client
When you’ve done a good job for your client, it doesn’t hurt to reiterate back to them what you’ve achieved. Your customers are investing their money in working with you to help meet their goals and you should never just presume that they have recognised the full value of what you have done for them.
ACTION: Look back over your most recently completed piece of client work. If you were to pick one headline as a piece of success worth sharing, what would it be? Write it down with a view to getting agreement from the client for a case study.
Customer testimonials are especially important for new businesses
If you’re just starting out running your own business, it’s important to get a short testimonial or produce a longer case study as soon as you can to start building the credibility that will help you to win new clients and ensure that your business is a success.
In my own experience, I actually started out freelancing as a marketing consultant whilst working part-time in my day job as a marketing manager. I didn’t have a website for the first few months – all my clients came through word of mouth.
Whilst I was steadily growing my client base, I was busy building my website ready to launch to the wider world and I knew that I’d need some proof that I could do what I said I could by adding some testimonials.
How I got my first customer testimonial - The exact wording I used for my request
One of my first projects was a short run of Instagram adverts for a client and although they only had enough budget to work with me for three months, they were really happy with the results.
As soon as the campaign had finished, I reached out to the company director and asked if she would provide a sentence or two about how it was to work with me.
Here’s the exact wording I used to get my first client testimonial
Hi Vidya
I hope you are well?
I’m emailing to ask a favour please. I’m currently building my website and I’d like to add some client testimonials. Would you be happy to provide a sentence or two about the support I provided on paid Instagram campaigns for Frog Lotus Yoga?
Kind regards
Kelly
I was so nervous! I’d done a good job for them, but I was of course disappointed that they didn’t have the budget to continue (there’s another lesson here in sticking to your guns when it comes to pricing that I will blog about in the future). The director replied same day with this lovely recommendation:
“Kelly Cookson helped us with Instagram campaigns for our yoga business. She is very thorough, professional and responds quickly to emails. We are very happy with Kelly's work and highly recommend her”. Vidya Heisel, Director of Frog Lotus Yoga International.
What a boost! Frog Lotus Yoga were my first “stranger client” i.e. someone that I didn’t know already, and to get positive feedback so early on in my freelance career gave me a massive boost in confidence.
All it took was a quick email to get this testimonial which could sit on my web page advertising my social media campaign services.
ACTION: Send an email or pick up the phone today asking one of your clients for a short statement about how they found working with you on this project.
Short client testimonials vs longer case studies
Short testimonials are great to have (and are perfect to place around your website) but for larger projects, it is a good idea to document the results you generated for your client in the form of a longer, written case study.
How long does a case study need to be?
If you think about the final version with a few images included, it shouldn’t be any longer than two sides of A4 paper (or Letter if you’re in the US).
You’ll want to keep the word count under 1000 words else you risk putting people off reading it. It’s important to pull out key facts and headlines with bold text to really shout about the benefits of working with you on a project like this.
How to structure a customer case study
My tried and tested formula for laying out a case study is as follows:
Background
Problem
Solution
Impact
Key facts
Here’s what you need to include for each section of the case study
Case study background:
What is the client’s business about? If they have a broad offering, describe the part of the business that you were tasked with supporting. Give a short overview of the company’s expertise, customer base and position in the market.
The client’s problem
What problem were you brought in to solve? Maybe the client didn’t see it as a problem or describe it to you in that way, but you were there to provide a service to help them achieve something so explain here why they couldn’t achieve it without you.
The solution you came up with for the client
What did you do to help solve the client’s problem or meet their need? Describe the specific skills and experience that you have that you utilised on this project. Perhaps your client thought they had a particular problem they wanted you to solve but you were able to help them see that the problem was in fact different – enabling you to provide a better, more relevant service for them.
Impact of working with you
This section is key and most readers will probably jump straight here so make it count! What did you help your client to achieve? You can talk in terms of ROI here but also consider wider benefits like time saved or steering them on a better path.
Key facts
This is where you pull out facts and figures in the form of bullets so that the reader can scan and quickly see what you achieved for your client. Perhaps these bullets go like this:
20 marketing qualified leads
10,000 landing page visits
80% response rate in just 5 weeks
500 customers surveyed in just 8 weeks
Try to include a number and a time frame if possible.
You’ll need to plan these case studies before you sit down to write them or call up your main stakeholder for an interview.
Not convinced yet?
Here’s a summary of the reasons to write customer case studies:
It gives your customer a nice overview of what you did for them and what you achieved. This may be instrumental in them coming back to you for more work in the future.
Reflecting on the work you did with your client will give you an idea of what went well and importantly, what you might do differently next time.
Successfully completing the project and getting approval for a case study from your client will be a big confidence boost for you.
Where should you share customer case studies and testimonials?
When thinking about your website, it is a good idea to have some reference to a happy customer on every page that details the product or service you are offering. Don’t forget about including these on your About page too – that’s often the page that potential customers will visit to find out if you will be a good fit for them and so it makes sense to further reiterate that you have a track record of satisfied customers.
Why should you put customer case studies on your website?
It’s not just a case of showing off what you can do to people visiting your website. There are more benefits behind showcasing your work to the world that you might have considered:
They will give prospective customers landing on your website some confidence that you are who you say you are and can deliver what you promise.
They are good for SEO. Every time you add a new case study you are updating your website. This shows both Google and your customers that your website is up-to-date, and your business is well cared for.
Your client will be happy that you are promoting their business online – don’t forget to link back to their website from the case study and tell them you are doing so. They will thank you!
Are there any other benefits to writing customer case studies that you’ve found that I haven’t mentioned here? Leave them in the comments!
Further reading: Planning a client case study | Use this template of interview questions.
