One of the most underrated copywriting skills is the ability to get GREAT testimonials from customers and clients.
Yes, it’s a skill.
Because it’s something you can learn to do and get dramatically better at with a few quick tips.
But you can’t go about it the way most people approach testimonials.
Most people think a quote like, “great product!” or “awesome stuff!” is good enough to call it a day.
But in my experience, reviews like this rarely move the needle. I mean, what was your first reaction when you saw them?
Maybe, “yeah right” or “prove it” or “okay…”?
On the other hand, I’ve seen first hand that a properly curated review can drive thousands of conversions…
The key is: When done right.
So I wanted to share a couple tips for how to get great testimonials from your clients and customers with a few quick tips below.
First, let’s start by discussing the arch of the perfect testimonial…
The best testimonials show a journey between two worlds.
World 1: The BEFORE state (when the customer had never heard of you or your product)
And…
World 2: The AFTER state (once the customer found you and took a bet on your product or service).
We need to see both places and how the customer journeyed between them or else our skeptical minds start to get suspicious.
Or worse, say, “Good for you… what about me?”
This is why quotes like “I made $1 million!” almost never work.
Without the contrast between the two worlds, it’s unbelievable. And worse, it’s unrelatable.
The journey is key!
Contrast the above statement to this one: “I knew deep down I had a good product idea but it was struggling to sell. We hired consultants, web designers, redid the packaging — none of it worked until we met Click Here Agency. Within 2 months of working with them, not only had they completely put an end to our sales struggles, but they made us $1 million in additional profit.”
Do you see the difference? Better yet, do you feel it?
Of course you do.
That’s why you must always ask your clients and customers to describe their BEFORE state when gathering testimonials.
If you’re gather testimonials about your services as a freelancer, you might say something like, “What it was like to run your marketing before you worked with me?”
Then, discuss the after. Results without context mean little.
For example, you can say, “What happened after we started working together? Any specific results are AMAZING to share? For example, sales increased by $XXX,XXX.”
Next, you absolutely must talk about skepticism.
At this point almost all of us are numb to big claims on the internet. And if you just talk about befores and afters, you’ll miss the core part of what brought your client or customer to work with you… HOW DID THEY OVERCOME SKEPTICISM AND DECIDED TO WORK WITH YOUR BRAND.
It’s a critical part of the story so you should ask about that specifically. “Did you have any skepticism about working with me? If so, what helped you make your decision?”
If we pick up on our previous example, it would go like this:
“I knew deep down I had a good product idea but it was struggling to sell. We hired consultants, web designers, redid the packaging — none of it worked until we met Click Here Agency. Within 2 months of working with them, not only had they completely put an end to our sales struggles, but they made us $1 million in additional profit.
And I’ll be honest, this completely shocked our team. Because we’d been promised the moon, the stars and millions of dollars by other agencies before. And they all came up short. So when we were looking at working with Click Here Agency, we were skeptical. But what put our doubts to bed was the insane amount of proof they brought to the table with past examples of their work. Within a week of working together, it was clear that they were different.”
NOW we’re talking!
Lastly, you want to dig DEEP about what makes you different.
So you should ask your clients or customers to share their experience working with you vs other brands.
If we picked up on our previous example, it would go like this:
“We knew we had a good product but it was struggling to sell. We hired consultants, web designers, redid the packaging — none of it worked until we met Click Here Agency. Within 2 months of working with them, not only had they completely put an end to our sales struggles, but they made us $1 million in additional profit.
And I’ll be honest, this completely shocked our team. Because we’d been promised the moon, the stars and millions of dollars by other agencies before. And they all came up short. So when we were looking at working with Click Here Agency, we were skeptical. But what put our doubts to bed was the insane amount of proof they brought to the table with past examples of their work. Within a week of working together, it was clear that they were different.
Working with Click Here Agency is like having your business’ marketing run itself. They do everything on time and report back with key findings every single week. And if there’s ever an issue — like once we struggled with email deliverability — they come to the table, explain the problem clearly, and have 3 solutions ready to go. They truly are world class. And anyone considering an Agency for their marketing, would be a fool to work with anybody but them.”
Whallah.
How much better is this testimonial than “I made $1 million!”
It walks you through what it’s actually like to make a decision and makes a big difference for attracting potential clients and customers.
If you want to start gathering more powerful reviews from your clients and customers, test out this framework and see if those questions don’t make the copy smoother and convert better
Rob
P.S. Don’t forget! Check your email for a really surprise.
The subject line will be, “🔓 testing something new (LOTS of freebies inside)”.