PLAYBOOK: How To Collect Awesome Testimonials From Your Clients & Customers

Intro From Brian Webb

Collecting testimonials is crucial in modern marketing because they provide social proof for your brand and builds trust and credibility with prospective clients. Testimonials should offer authentic feedback from real customers, making it easier for new prospects to believe in the value of your product or service. Testimonials can influence purchasing decisions by reducing doubt, showcasing positive experiences, and humanizing your brand.

Brian Webb

CEO, Whatbox Digital  |  Fractional CMO
Marketing Guy  |  Investor  |  HOST: Business Growth Show Podcast

(832) 281-6088  |  TEXT ME
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4 STEPS: How To Collect Awesome Testimonials

  1. Write an email or ask your customers and clients to get on a call with you (or a member of the team). PRO TIP: Send them your request within 1 day of an inflection (aka success/win) point. This is a time when the customer (or client) has got a great result or experience from you.
  2. In the email, use a Calendly (or similar) booking call link to schedule a 15-minute ZOOM meeting that works well for both parties within the next 2 business days.
  3. On your call (or in-person meeting), walk the client through the Epiphany Bridge testimonial framework. (See below)
  4. Remember to ask the question: ‘Can we use parts of this video in our marketing?’ This gives you permission to use the video.

Testimonial Video Example

Why You Should Use This SOP Playbook

Make sure to watch the video example above.

BIG PICTURE: Every testimonial should have a before state and show people what happens next. So you don’t want to just grab a quote out of context that says, ‘They made us $1 million!’

To give more impact you need a before state to create contrast. See below to understand what happens when we add contrast in the example below:

‘We had lots of issues at that time. Customer acquisition being one of them. Managing a team being another and just not knowing what to work on. We had this constant struggle of…

Are we doing the right thing? Fast forward, here’s what our workshop helped them accomplish: “We added about $1 million in recurring revenue since that workshop. It’s only been about 3 months.”

Can you see the difference? It feels different, right? And that’s why asking your clients about their previous state is essential.

If you have any clients (or customers) you want an awesome testimonial from, test this SOP and see if it doesn’t make it better.

Perfect Testimonial Framework

FOR INDIVIDUAL TESTIMONIALS

Walk through the scripts below. The goal is to show:

  1. Internal/external circumstances before that caused them to move.
  2. What they saw that got their attention and why.
  3. Their hesitation to believe the promise but why they ultimately did.
  4. What they did immediately.
  5. Internal/external circumstances after the change.

Question Sets

SET 1: (General Info)

QUESTION: Please say your name and business name, as well as where your business is located.

PRO TIP: When interviewing customers, be sure to get them to speak in complete sentences. Below are examples of good and bad responses.

QUESTION: What is your name, business, name, and where are you located?

⛔️ BAD ANSWER EXAMPLE: John Doe. Acme Rentals. Houston, Texas. WHY IS THE ABOVE A BAD ANSWER?: When you use this video on your website… or more importantly, in advertisements, it doesn’t make sense to the viewer/listener of someone just utters their name or location in the video or audio… because there’s no context.

REMEMBER: You may or MAY NOT even include your questions (your portion of the audio/video) when editing the final video/audio. So the customer has to speak in complete sentences for their words to make sense.

QUESTION: What is your name, business, name, and where are you located?

✅ GOOD ANSWER EXAMPLE: Hey, my name is John Doe. I’m the CEO at Acme Rentals. We’ve been serving the Houston, Texas Metroplex for over 22 years.

SET 2: (Before State, External Leading Question)

QUESTION: How was your situation before working with us/getting started?

PRO TIP: This should be 1 to 2 brief statements. Don’t ‘just’ ask them how life was before they started working with you. Ask them for their ⛔️ worst moment.⛔️

SET 3: (Internal Leading Questions)

QUESTION 1: How did that make you feel?

QUESTION 2: What were you unable to do that you wished you could?

QUESTION 3: What negative impact did that have on others around you?

SET 4: (Bridge Leading Questions)

QUESTION 1: How did you find us? (or find out about) our company?

QUESTION 2: What were your thoughts going through the process?

QUESTION 3: What were your doubts and fears about this?

QUESTION 4: What made you say yes anyway?

SET 5: (External Leading Questions ~ After State)

QUESTION 1: Where are you now?

QUESTION 2: How does that make you feel?

QUESTION 3: What are you able to do now that you couldn’t before?

QUESTION 4: What positive impact did that have on others around you?

SET 6: (Call To Action)

QUESTION 1: What would you tell someone who is watching this right now and is unsure about taking the next step?

QUESTION 2: Would you recommend [YOUR BUSINESS NAME] to other business owners and leaders?

BONUS TIP: If you’re using this testimonial in the SOCIAL PROOF part of your website, have your video editor add a pleasant music bed and animated logo outro for a little extra finesse and professionalism.

OBJECTION: But I’m not a video editor, and I can’t afford to hire one!!!!

NOT A PROBLEM: You can use sites like RenderForest.com.

(In 10 minutes or less and with little to no skills, you can have an animated logo that looks like you spent thousands or tens of thousands of dollars to get it produced. And VOILA! Look at you… you’re a pro.) #LikeABoss

LINK: https://www.renderforest.com/logo-animation

End of Playbook

Do you want to generate higher-quality leads more affordably for your business?

About the author.

Brian Webb is a 23-year entrepreneur, private investor, business & profit growth mentor, a B2B marketer, and the host of the Business Growth Show podcast.

In addition to managing a growing portfolio of businesses, Brian is the CEO of the award-winning marketing and business growth consulting agency in The Woodlands, Texas (Greater Houston Metroplex), Whatbox Digital, LLC.

You can find Brian on Apple, Google, Spotify, Pandora, iHeartRadio, and Amazon. Brian’s writings have been published and featured on NBC, ABC, CBS, FOX, and MarketWatch, and he has been approved as a Forbes Business Council member and content contributor.

You may also recognize some of Brian’s anchor clients, such as Coca-Cola, Comcast, Coldwell Banker, Entrepreneur’s Organization, Hospital Corp of America, and Karbach Brewing.

Brian has had the opportunity to speak and share the stage with business legends like Daymond John, Suzy Welch, Roland Frasier, Metta World Peace, and Jay Abraham.