Get Client Testimonials That Grow Your Business

Wondering how to get client testimonials that grow your business? Getting great testimonials is a powerful way to help your clients confidently decide that you are the guide for them. Let’s talk about how to get great testimonials that can help fill your online courses and coaching programs.

Social proof factors into buying decisions. As Robert Cialdini shares in Influence, The Psychology of Persuasion, “The principle of social proof says so: The greater the number of people who find any idea correct, the more the idea will be correct.” This is why we check out Yelp reviews before trying out the new pizza place in town.

The most powerful form of social proof is testimonials. The problem with most testimonials is that they focus on the company instead of the client.  

Here are two examples of testimonials. Which is more compelling to you?

Option 1: “Julie is great to work with. I highly recommend her.” 

Option 2: “I was stuck and about to give up. I decided to give it one more try and follow Julie’s method. In one week, I landed 5 new clients. My entire business and life have changed.”

Option 2, right? Option 1 focuses on the company. Option 2 focuses on the transformation of the client.

To get great testimonials, focus on the story behind the transformation. You can identify these stories by asking the right questions.

7 Questions to Get Client Testimonials 

A great testimonial captures the before, during, and after in working with you. To get a testimonial, you first have to ask.

Here is a list of questions you can ask get testimonials that grow your business:

1. Describe what was happening before you decided to join our program.
2. What did you hope to achieve?
3. What had you tried before?
4. What was getting in the way of achieving your goal and how did this make you feel?
5. What was at risk if you weren’t able to achieve this goal?
6. Tell us about the results you achieved.
7. How is your life different?

These questions help uncover your client’s story. You can easily ask these questions in a phone interview or through a survey.

Testimonial from our Course Create-a-thon Program

What to Do After You Get Client Testimonials: 11 Places to Share Your Testimonials 

Once you get those great testimonials, it’s time to share them.

Here are 11 places you can share your client success stories:

1. Blog articles or mention in PR articles 
2. Written or video case studies to share with prospective clients
3. Your website’s “what we do” or offer pages
4. Webinar leading into your offers
5. Sales page
6. Closing emails in your course launch
7. Check-out page for your course or programs
8. Ads
9. Social media 
10. Live events
11. Email signature

Testimonial from our Virtual Inner Circle Incubator program

Systematically Get Client Testimonials: How to Never Miss a Great Story

It’s important that you have a consistent way to get client testimonials.

Here are a few ways you can do this:

• Chat Log: Ask clients to share feedback in the chat log at the end of a webinar
• Live events: Share a written survey at the end of live events
• Phone calls: Schedule time to reach out to clients to get feedback on the phone
• Course surveys: Include a feedback survey at the middle and end of your online course

Summary and Next Steps

When you think about getting testimonials as storytelling, it’s easy to get excited about reaching out to your clients. 

1. Review the questions and choose which ones you will ask.
2. Reach out to at least one client and interview them. Record, if possible. 
3. Share your ideas and thoughts below in the comments section on how to get great testimonials.