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3 Quick Questions That Get The Testimonials You Need To Have

3 Quick Questions That Get The Testimonials You Need To Have

As far as lab assistant jobs went, it wasn’t the worst out there.

For example, I could have been in the primate lab cleaning cages.  Or dealing with mysterious fluids in the taste and smell lab.

Yeah, my job was far more pleasant – to stand on the main quad and collect responses for consumer research at the school of management.

Except to an introvert like myself, flagging down busy strangers and asking them to fill out a questionnaire (with no reward to them) is pretty much the worst thing ever.

Mostly as a way to get the heck out of there as fast as possible, I obsessively tested different “approach” lines to see what would get the most people to participate.  And for me, the winning words turned out to be:

“Hey, will you answer three quick questions?  It only takes about twenty seconds.”

Maybe they just pitied the desperate look on my face, but pretty much everyone was willing to take twenty seconds to answer “three quick questions.”  (Definitely no one is interested in “filling out a brief survey,” so please don’t ever say that, ever.)

I still use the “three quick questions” magic words – only now I use them to help people get good testimonials for their websites.

Have you ever gone to other websites and thought “My work is awesome too, how in the heck are these people getting such great testimonials when mine all sound like infomercial bland speak?”

There are three types of testimonials that are particularly effective.  And there are three quick questions you can ask people to nab one of each.   Let’s go over them, shall we?

But first, here’s one successful way I’ve found to approach people:

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Sure, you can grab spontaneous testimonials from emails, Facebook comments, and blog comments (The Modern Tog wrote this great article showing a good use of Facebook comments).  Just check with the author before lifting their words.

But sometimes these random collections of words don’t cover what you want them to cover, or they’re not written in the language that’s best for your website.

Sending a short survey is a reliable way to get the words you need.  You can create one now to send to all your past clients, or you can send it after you finish working with people on an ongoing basis.

However you do it, when you send it, please don’t say “can you fill out a brief survey.”  A more successful approach may be:

Hey!  I was wondering:  I know it helps potential clients feel comfortable hiring me when they see that others have had positive experiences working with me.  Would you mind answering three quick questions for me?  It’ll take about two minutes.

Don’t be afraid to ask people for this kind of help.  Most of the time they’re happy to do it, they just won’t take the time unprompted.

There’s nothing slimy or salesy about asking people what they thought.

The critical points to include in your message are 1) that they’re helping other people (because it really does make us feel safer when we see testimonials), 2) that this will be quick and painless, and 3) an estimate of how long it will take (the shorter the better).

You can include your questions in the body of the email, or use a free tool like Google Forms or SurveyMonkey to keep the responses all in one place.  You can also link them to a one-question Facebook thread so you can screenshot replies (with their permission).

Now, on to the questions that get action-inspiring testimonials:

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Question #1:  “What was your biggest fear before hiring me?  Did it come true, and if not, what happened instead?”

In a sense, it doesn’t matter how good of a service you provide if the potential client is afraid.

If they’re afraid that you won’t really deliver.  If they’re afraid it’s not the best use of their money.  If they’re afraid that their family won’t cooperate.  If they’re afraid that THEY are somehow the exception, the hopeless case.

Showing them that other potential clients had the exact same fear and that it didn’t come true is a testimonial that will sell.

If you’re antsy about asking people about their “fears,” fine.  Use “concern” or “worry” instead.

But finding out what people were afraid of, and showing potential clients (in past clients’ words) that they need not worry is one of the most powerful persuasion tools you have at your disposal.

If there’s a particular concern you’re hoping to address, don’t be shy about modifying this question to ask directly:

“Before the session, were you worried about how your kids would behave or act?  How did the session really go?”

“Did you have concerns about spending money on photography?  How do you feel about the purchase now?”

The idea is to capture a before-and-after snapshot to allow prospective clients to compare their fears with actual clients’ reality.

Question #2:  What, specifically, was your favorite part of _____, and why?”

If you’ve followed this blog for awhile, your spidey senses should see this one coming:

Concrete, tangible examples sell.  Vague, intangible words do not.

We’ve been over this in detail, but telling a client that your sessions are “fun” is not particularly motivating.  However, telling them you’ll host “a watermelon picnic with 100% pure laugh-till-your-abs-hurt family time” will give them a clear picture and let them decide for themselves whether it sounds like fun.

“Fun” is vague and somewhat untrustworthy (what you and I each think of as “fun” probably differs a great deal), but a concrete example helps them feel and see what it’ll be like for themselves.

It is the same for testimonials as it is for any writing.

If someone says “Susie is a wonderful photographer!  We had so much fun!” it is nice, but it doesn’t help the prospective client determine if Susie is a wonderful photographer for them.  

But if the testimonial gives a specific example:  “With jelly beans for the twins and bubbles in her bag, Susie made the session a blast from the minute we got out of the car.  Our kids wanted to go back and ‘play’ with her again the very next day!”

Asking someone to give a specific example instead of just saying “what did you like” helps prospective clients picture all the great things working with you will bring.

#3:  “If you were to recommend us to your best friend, what would you say?”

Liechtenstein-0543Remember how it’s important that when you write, you sound like an actual human?  Well, preferably your testimonials sound human, too.  😉

The thing is, if you ask a client for a testimonial, they usually want to do “a good job” for you.  Which often results in them morphing into corporate-speak mode faster than you can say Bueller.  They think it makes it sound more “official.”

They’ll churn out a “Joe is a friendly but reliable professional,” when really, you want them to write about you the way they would talk about you to a friend.

Not irritatingly so (Joe Photography 4eva!!) but with a regular voice (“Joe immediately became ‘one of the guys’ and for awhile we forgot he was even taking pictures…that is, until he knocked our socks off with a spectacular albumful of wall-worthy shots!”).

However you do it, give them permission to speak like they would when sitting across a coffee shop table with their friends.

Note:  The exact wording of these questions will vary depending on who your clients are.  The idea is to ask questions that will get at the following:

1)  Comparing feared outcomes to the awesomeness that REALLY happened,

2)  Pulling out concrete examples to make your prospective clients’ eyes shine, and

3)  Giving them warm permission to speak in their normal voice, not their “official” one.

Make sense?

Now, go ask your three quick questions!

P.S.  I bet you found this blog post because you’re trying to get new clients.

Testimonials are only one part of the story, though.  What if your whole site worked like a charming, star employee to persuade your favorite kind of client to hire you?

There’s a fast-working, award-winning class that helps you make the right changes, based on who YOU want to have hire you:  How To Build An Absolutely Irresistible Photography Website.

Why not go grab the free sample chapter?

 

Jenika

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44 Comments

  1. Sarah Heggen on February 6, 2014 at 4:58 am

    This article is perfectly timed. I was just fretting over the lack of testimonials on my website, and I couldn’t quite figure out how to ask for them without feeling slimy. You’ve saved the day! Thanks much. Now to get to work!

  2. Jen Trombly on February 7, 2014 at 3:03 am

    I had to laugh when I read this blog… I literally had the exact statement, “Would you mind filling out a brief survey” in my questionnaire email. Yikes!!! I had revised it and have just sent the first one out! Whew…. thanks!

  3. Megan DiPiero on February 7, 2014 at 12:00 pm

    Whoa! Just spent the last 40 minutes on this page and clicking all the great links within. Chock full of goodness! I have been thinking about surveys for the last few months. This is just the action-driven post I needed to point me in the right direction. Thank you!

  4. Danielle on February 11, 2014 at 2:59 am

    Thank you for this!! Great information I will definitely be using. And I am going to brand camp! Hope I get to meet you!

  5. Shayna Hardy on February 12, 2014 at 1:57 am

    Oh my gosh!! I literally just copied and pasted these into an email to a client and I received this amazing testimonial! I was crying when I read it… THANK YOU soooooooooo much!

    “I would say that you were really more than photographer. You went above and beyond to make sure we were pleased with the product. Not only did you photograph our family but you came into our home and recommended places to display that work. The consultation is something you don’t always see in photographers. You seem to know how to market your talent rather than just “take pictures”. “

    • Jenika on February 12, 2014 at 2:17 am

      Woohoo Shayna! So happy for you, and that’s a great testimonial to have 😀 Congratulations.

  6. April Bennett on February 16, 2014 at 8:14 pm

    This is such an amazing, site, amazing article, and the website ebook is absolutely amazing too! Thank you so much.

  7. Katie Bertoli on March 7, 2014 at 12:30 am

    This post was SO helpful. I just finished my testimonials page (and scattering them throughout my website too)! Thanks so much!
    This is good for my business but also GREAT for my self esteem as I am just getting started. If I’m having a rough day I just read my testimonials! 🙂

    Check it out for yourself:http://katiebertoliphotography.blogspot.com/p/testimonials.html

    Thanks again!
    Katie

  8. Jennifer on March 20, 2014 at 4:52 am

    thank you for the very specific suggestions!

  9. Camille on April 4, 2014 at 10:17 pm

    This was so helpful. I’m an introvert who hates self-promotion, and can never find a way to ask for feedback that results in useful information. I tweaked your script to make it a bit more formal for my corporate executive clients, created a form, emailed it out, and just got back responses from two former clients. They’re fantastic! And more than one or two sentence answers. I’ve got plenty of testimonials to spread throughout my website.

    Thanks for your help!

  10. Tonya Damron on April 12, 2014 at 5:29 pm

    love reading all the info here!

  11. Leanda on May 16, 2014 at 10:32 pm

    Thank you this is just what I needed today! xoxo

  12. Elaine Welbourn on June 9, 2014 at 7:53 pm

    This. Totally. Worked!

    I asked a client recently to write a testimonial about her experience working with me at her recent engagement photography session. I followed the format presented in this blog post carefully. although I thought it might sound too “pushy” to ask specific questions, thus limiting what she might want to say to me/about me, it was completely successful! Not only did she write a testimonial, but it was heartfelt and relaxed – exactly what I wanted! Thank you for this helpful blog!

    (…and in case you hadn’t noticed…I used the same three questions to write this testimonial for you!)

  13. Kristin Duncan on June 13, 2014 at 4:45 pm

    I love these questions! And the part about telling clients it will be quick and painless is genius. Thanks Jenika!

  14. April on December 6, 2014 at 3:01 pm

    Thanks so much for the guidance! I had been waiting a week for testimonials from a few clients I’d recently reached out to. Yesterday I fired them a reminder email with these specific questions and overnight got responses from half the bunch. It’s so much more helpful to them to write about their experience with prompts and you’re right- they wrote exactly what I needed to turn would-be clients into bookings. Now I just have to get that info up on the site. Thanks, Jenika.

  15. Aaron on April 28, 2015 at 8:04 pm

    Fantastic, thanks!!

  16. Logan Geng on June 8, 2015 at 4:20 am

    Creative, imaginative,I like the ideas about the three quick questions.Thx

  17. Crystal - Prenatal Coach on June 29, 2015 at 3:53 am

    Great tips! Thank you. Testimonials definitely ‘sell’ my services more than anything else!

  18. Elizabeth Hall (@SmartOfficeHelp) on December 11, 2015 at 2:50 pm

    This was a great article. I especially like the tip about being specific so you don’t get the canned responsive from people. I have’t been getting the testimonials that I should and your article was very comprehensive. I’m definitely going to use what I’ve read here. Thanks for the great info.

  19. Laura on January 15, 2016 at 3:18 am

    These 3 questions are perfect! I think I’ll be adding these to my customer follow-ups. Thanks!

  20. Jeff Cross on March 29, 2016 at 5:05 pm

    Let’s say you’ve been fortunate enough to be hired by a major commercial client, someone who also has a reputation to protect, and their company’s reputation… How do you ensure you have their approval to use their name and company name (or should you even try?) Do you also need to contact the company’s legal department?
    If you got hired by Coca Cola – how do you use that??

    • Jenika on March 29, 2016 at 5:16 pm

      Good question! Yes, you’d need anyone’s permission to use their name and info, be they private individuals or companies. If it’s a company I’d get the permission of whoever gave you the testimonial, and I might ask them directly (all in writing) “is there anyone else whose permission I need to post this?” If they say no, I’d probably still query the legal department to cover your bases, but asking them first might expedite the process, and the legal department might respond differently to an in-house request than an email from an outsider. Good luck!

  21. Ben on July 15, 2016 at 4:05 pm

    Nice Post! Online Reviews helped me a LOT to build trust. I used the Trustbadge reviews widget on my online shop https://www.litespot.co.uk/ to collect and show customer reviews. It’s fairly easy to use. They have many integrations in different shop systems. And it comes with 7 languages and is mobile-optimized. There’s a freemium version available at at http://www.trustbadge.com so you can try yourself if it helps 🙂

  22. Dawn on August 1, 2016 at 4:05 am

    this is going to be wonderful – I really need testimonials and now I know the exact questions to ask in order to provoke the best kind of response! Thank you once again Jenika <3

  23. ESG on December 7, 2016 at 9:57 am

    I have faced many times the same challenge – clients have “fear” to move on – whether or not to hand over their project to me – or -whether or not are they investing in the right talent.
    Once I deliver successfully they are happy.
    Their testimonial will surely help in converting new clients.

  24. Jennifer Krafchik on January 26, 2017 at 1:02 am

    Hi Jenika!

    I have a feeling this is a silly question…. For #2 above, do I leave the ______ or do I fill it in with “photo session”?

    • Jenika on January 31, 2017 at 2:50 pm

      Fill with “photo session” or whatever you are selling.

  25. Clara on January 30, 2017 at 9:39 pm

    I never post comments. But I have to say this post was excellent and real. It gave me exactly what I needed to get testimonials from those who worked for us in the past. I’m altering the questions somewhat to fit our need. But they are right on the mark. Thanks.

  26. Andrea on February 7, 2017 at 12:09 pm

    Great article! One of my favorite Jenika blog posts 😉
    I’m struggeling with asking for the permission to use the testimonial (Website, Pricelist, get the testimonials on Facebook or Google). Do you ask in the same email in which you write the questions? Or do you wait for the answer and ask further?

    • Jenika on February 7, 2017 at 4:24 pm

      I wait for the answer and then ask. Because if you tell them it’ll be published they’ll probably try to make it “sound like a testimonial” and it can come off as stilted and formal instead of natural and useful to prospective clients.

      Also, their answer might end up being off topic or not what you’re trying to communicate to new readers in a certain spot and you don’t want to hurt their feelings if you don’t use the testimonial. Additionally, this info is just good info to have and know for past clients, because it informs you moving forward. Not everything needs to turn into a testimonial, though that’s what this post focuses on – but it’s all helpful.

      In the follow up you can just say “hey! I bet other people would really love to hear this because a lot of people worry about _____. I think it’d help them to hear this, do you mind if I publish this quote:” and you show them the exact quote you want to use.

      Occasionally someone has sent me a long rambling paragraph and I have wanted to just use one line for efficiency, so I’ll pull out that line and ask if it’s ok to use it as a standalone and if they feel it is accurate that way. You of course don’t want to edit it into something they didn’t say, but sometimes one line is all prospective people need so I ask that too sometimes.

      • Andrea on February 7, 2017 at 9:17 pm

        Thank you so much for taking the time for the detailed explanation. I totally get it. It was very helpful!

        Do you personally use social media reviews? How would you ask someone to post a review on Facebook or social media? I don’t want to overwhelm my client, and you’re right – the first answer could be great for customer service evaluation but not for posting online.

        • Jenika on February 7, 2017 at 9:22 pm

          Social media has never been my main strategy, so no, but if it were I would take my cue from Etsy sellers and podcasters on iTunes – I would just say after their purchase that reviews on X forum help me reach more people and I would love it if they left me a review. I’ve done that for lots of people. The testimonials described here can be gotten at a later date, too, it doesn’t have to be immediately after. You can ask about specific things later that they did or did not mention in a social media review. It’s good to be mindful of not overwhelming people and I wouldn’t ask for both at once.

  27. Kristal on March 16, 2017 at 1:38 pm

    I actually read this blog post several days ago and wanted to come back to thank you for this good advice. I’m now asking clients for feedback after sessions, and I was pleasantly surprised to find that they are often happy to help. It’s encouraging to learn what people liked about working with me – especially when it’s things I totally didn’t expect! Thank you, thank you!

  28. Angela Huang on April 13, 2017 at 10:08 am

    I am sooo glad to have found your website and blog. I just signed up to your email list and am looking forward to my free ebook and learning more from you. I have dreaded and procrastinated asking for testimonials and this is exactly what I needed to help me feel good about the process. Thanks so much and keep up the fantastic work!

  29. Lulu on April 19, 2017 at 4:58 am

    It was a last minute project to have testimonial shooting on the next day. This info helped a lot and eased my nerves haa. Thanks!

  30. Stephanie de Montigny on July 12, 2017 at 1:35 pm

    We all *hope* for testimonials, and often feel embarrassed to ask for them (why!?). This is a great way to show that there is nothing wrong with doing so politely, and giving us the kick in the butt to actually go out and do it. Thanks Jenika!

  31. Theodore Rhoades on July 4, 2018 at 11:41 am

    Thank you for this!! Great article and the website ebook is absolutely amazing too! Thank you for sharing <a href=’https://www.clippingpathquick.com’ title=’Clipping Path’>clipping path</a>

  32. Diana Chappell on January 6, 2019 at 2:55 pm

    I noticed this article was published in 2014, just about the time i started my business;
    and yet I’ve just gotten to this place. considering how to use a questionnaire to understand
    new customer needs; and feedback from former customers. Your post has remained active
    and beneficial each year since it was written, so in January 2018 let me join others in commending
    you for this valuable resource.

    Diana

  33. Cattie on March 21, 2019 at 11:30 pm

    This is Gold Jerry, Gold! 🙂 I’ve read your blog for years and FINALLY took this advice to heart. I always ask for testimonials but hardly ever get them, it’s like pulling teeth. Yesterday I for some reason all of a sudden got inspired and sent out these questions (modified a little bit, I’m a fine art photographer, don’t do portrait work) to a few recent customers, and today, I got the most wonderful response from one of them. I have asked them for testimonials at least twice before, and got nothing, but this time, they replied to the questions and it is so sweet and fantastic info that’s going to be super helpful to post, since the thing they worried about is what I get questions about all the time. It almost made me cry! THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU for this awesome advice!!!

    • Jenika on March 24, 2019 at 4:12 am

      Your comment made me so happy to read! I’m so happy for you, particularly because you got to hear from people what an impact you made for them. Hooray! Hooray! Well deserved!

  34. Deirdre A Ryan on March 23, 2019 at 9:04 pm

    Thanks once again! Is there a tactful way of having people leave Google reviews? I had a boss who has tons and his phone kept ringing.

    • Jenika on March 24, 2019 at 4:17 am

      Great question! The best answer is to ask yourself – “How would I react if someone asked me?” For me, if someone just said this honestly:

      “Thank you so much for being my customer and supporting my work. If you want to make an impact and help your fellow moms/brides/etc, would you consider leaving an honest Google review, right here? (link) People rely heavily on reviews in making decisions, and hearing from you would give them confidence to make their choice. As I’m sure you have experienced yourself, the most helpful reviews tend to include what the person thought about while making their own decision, and how the person/product resolved their needs and concerns! Thanks in advance, and let me know if you have any questions, or if I can do anything else for you.”

      – I would be totally fine with that. A direct link making it easy would be most helpful.

  35. Lenee on April 24, 2020 at 7:34 pm

    I keep coming back to this post to find ways to incorporate these things in my social media posts.

  36. Madi on September 8, 2020 at 2:43 am

    Wow – thank you so much, this is just what I was after!

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