How to get testimonials from clients
(When Asking for Praise Makes You Cringe)
How do you get better testimonials for your business?
You ask for it.
When it comes to marketing your own business, you might think: I’ll just put on my experienced, [insert persona] hat, and speak to my people, and I’m sure my vibes + experience will make it clear why I’m the best suited for the job.
Except... for most customers who are about to spend any amount of money on anything – especially big ticket items, that’s just not enough.
Because even if you’ve established yourself as the most trustworthy of all the pet-parent West-coast dwelling forest-hiking sushi-loving Gen X tree huggers, or even simply because you’re their mom’s college roommate’s goddaughter’s cousin…
People. Need. Proof.
And that’s where testimonials come in.
The Uncomfortable Art of Asking for Praise
Testimonials, or social proof, are a should-have for any business, and a must-have in website copywriting. At least, any website copywriting that is worth paying for.
But oof, asking for a good, well-written testimonial? How is this one of the hardest things to do in your business??
Most clients I work with say, yes! I have some testimonial…but then they send me some vague slop about how professional they are and how they’ve done a “good job”.
It’s probably no surprise, but that testimonial doesn’t go very far at all when plastered all over a site.
What you need in your business is actual feedback that you can use over, and over, and over again throughout your content and collateral that will acutally speak about what you do and how you work — and that can move your business forward.
But most of us don’t even think to approach collecting testimonials with any focus or importance.
But if you want testimonials that actually help sell your work, you need to carve out some mind space and do it with intention.
Here is a step-by-step framework to get feedback that actually means something.
Step 1: Ask Specific, Directed Questions
If you ask a client a vague question like "Can you give me a review?", you’re going to get a vague response like "Jessie was great to work with!"
And while having someone tell you "You're awesome!" in passing on a Zoom call really makes the day brighter, having them write down specific outcomes will pay back business dividends like no other and help tremendously in convincing your next prospective clients that you are who you say you are.
So instead, draft 5 to 7 intentional questions. Don't tell them to "be specific"—just design questions that require specificity:
What three words would you use to describe working together?
When working on this project, how would you say I tackled challenges?
What did having this service actually mean for your business or peace of mind?
Step 2: Pick Your Delivery Method
Make the experience as frictionless as possible.
After working on a few different forms, I have a huge preference for Tally—it’s clean, simple, and painless for the person filling it out, and it’s great on the receiving end as well.
But if a dedicated form feels like overkill for your workflow, a straightforward email works perfectly fine too. The key is making sure you know your recipient and that they can answer directly without staring at an intimidating, blank text box.
(I even have a template I send after asking for feedback where I provide a fill-in-the-blank option that clients can use if they're short on time.)
Step 3: Use the "Buy You a Coffee" Incentive
Here’s a practical trick that Kristina at Gem Creative Co taught me: add an incentive.
If it’s not directly related to a specific project—for example, when I was revamping my brand and digging deeper into my brand voice and style—I offered a Starbucks gift card in exchange for a feedback request.
I thought of it as virtually buying them a cup of coffee in exchange for their time and mental energy.
This accomplishes two very important psychological things:
For you (the sender): It takes the awkwardness out of asking. Suddenly, it feels like a fair, lighthearted transaction rather than a desperate plea for compliments.
For them (the recipient): It adds a touch of goodwill and creates a small nudge of urgency to actually complete the task.
I say if it’s not related to a specific project, because for my projects, I make feedback part of the offboarding process and it’s time-bound and specific enough to the project that a bit of extra incentive seems unnecessary and socially awkward.
Step 4: Ask for Feedback With a Deadline
In general, I’ve realized that most client-facing emails should have a deadline. Feedback is included.
Open-ended requests seem like just that: invitations with no urgency and no real necessity.
With a deadline—fill this out by [date] or [in one week], form closes on [date], or "if you’d like a gift card, please fill in by the end of the month"—that creates a sense of completion for the person requested to complete the task, instead of letting it linger.
Step 5: Put the Responses to Work
Once those golden responses roll in, don't just let them sit buried in your inbox. (Which is a mistake I’ve made for far too long!)
First, make sure you have explicit consent to use their words publicly (that should be part of the subtext when you send out the form!).
Pull out the punchiest phrases, highlight the transformation, and display them on your website, sales pages, and proposal decks where future clients need to see them most.
Even better, figure out ways that you prefer to display them—in a template, as screenshots, or written out—and build in time regularly (monthly, weekly, or quarterly) to organize testimonials and feedback in a way that makes it easy for you to use.
The Bottom Line
Asking for feedback might feel unnatural, but getting out of your own head—and out of your own way—is the best favor you can do for your brand.
And even if your business is new, seek out testimonials about my work ethic, my acumen and intuition, about whatever it is that will make people want to work with you.
So pull up a chair, send the email, and let your past clients do the talking for a change.