How To Get Testimonials For Your Business With Feedback

One of the best ways to get testimonials is to ask for “feedback” ;) rather than a testimonial. I know asking for testimonials always gives off that “tell me how great I am vibe” and it’s difficult to ask for one. There are ways “around” it. It’s Surveys!
 
Yes, I completely get that a survey companies are easy and efficient to use.  But, if you are starting out, just starting to think about testimonials and have a small business ~ this will be a great way to get them. (& for people to answer them because you got creative with it!) I added both fun imagery and fun illustrations to mine.

➤➤ DAY TWO of TESTIMONIAL SERIES ➤➤  Ask For Feedback Not For Testimonial

So, let’s chat on how to do this:

(1)  FEEDBACK WILL GET YOU TESTIMONIALS.

Ask for feedback and input on your work/service instead, not just what they liked.  It’s really great to get (& be open to) feedback on our work at whatever stage we are and seek ways to continually improve.  But look for those “compliments” in the feedback that you can use for testimonials in your biz.

I have received compliments while styling in studio and I will just say . . .  Ohhhh, Thank you!  I appreciate your compliments on my work!  Ohhh, I would love to share your thoughts on my Testimonial page!  Key here is to kinda be “easy breezy” about it in a way.  You don’t want to appear sale(sy), pushy,  or intense about it. 

(2)  SEND FEEDBACK SURVEY.

You, KNOW I’m not talking about a vanilla, business”ey”. bland, boring typeform! Oh to the NO!  Know to stand out in business (& gain attention for ANYTHING you do) you need EVERYTHING to have YOUR brand touchpoint.  And that included surveys!  This means . . .

▪︎  It’s branded to YOUR colors!
▪︎  It’s branded to YOUR imagery!
▪︎  It speaks like YOUR brand voice!
▪︎  It’s FUN to fill out!

(3)  IT’S COMPLETELY WIN-WIN.

Yes, by sending a survey you are opening up yourself to some critiqued.  BUT, that will only help you make your product/service BETTER to get BETTER testimonials in the future. (& through the survey you WILL get great testimonials as well.)

(4)  ASK OPEN-ENDED QUESTIONS.

Also, instead of saying “What do you think of this”?  you could say “How can I make this better?  You are more likely to get a truthful and more in-depth answer if asked this way.

(5)  I ASK ONLY 6 QUESTIONS ON SURVEY.

These are a few of my questions.

Did you complete Workshop with a better understanding on (state what you did)?  My best testimonials come from a “better understanding” questions.

What topic or experience would you suggest for future workshops? (Give examples for them of what else you could do.)  Great info to expand your biz/services AND go back to them and say . . .  “I created the workshop you wanted! ;)

Please share your overall thoughts on the Workshop(s) you experienced with us, responsiveness, follow-up, etc.  Another great one to receive testimonials.  It will speak to your character/work ethic traits.

** I do workshops / but, adapt to what you do. **

(6)  YES, YOU COULD SEND A TYPEFORM SURVEY.

But, would that be fun, creative, unique and have your brand voice AND for a client to say “WOW”, I love the effort and attention to detail they put into their business . . . that’s the kind of person/company I want to continue to work with!

(7)  GET ON’ OVER TO CANVA. 

Get on over to Canva, Indesign, Adobe ~ whatever you use! The survey I send asks 6 questions all done in a funny and creative way!  It shows your personality and creativity!

“Creative” is what we do for a career. You want to ensure EVERYTHING you do shows your clients your capability and reminds them of you and your brand! 

Make your survey unique and fun to fill out!  You WILL stand out doing this!  Not sure you can do a survey like that?  It’s the Gig Economy!  There are so many sources you can outsource to (with reasonable price points!)

(8)  YOU HAVE TO FOLLOW UP.

Has every single person I sent my survey to filled it out right away?  NO!  But, I keep asking!  You have to be tenacious when following up.  So, you might be thinking . . .  they must not have liked me, my product, my service.  I don’t want to be a “pest”  Don’t overthink it.  Don’t give up.

People do get busy.  They do forget. Some of my best testimonials have come from people I had to remind several times.  They are worth the wait.  And as I said in Part One of this testimonial series ~ it’s a necessary business task we have to get in habit of doing on a regular basis.

Keep on gettin’ those testimonials!

 
Bonnie ~

Want to save this "How to Get Your Testimonials" post for reference? Hover over and click image above to Pin it!

PART One of Testimonial Series.