The Value of Customer Testimonials and Why You Should Request Them from Your Clients
As freelancers and small business owners, we often find ourselves jumping from one project to the next with no time for anything in between. Developing our own business and working on our marketing can easily get left until last as we prioritise our clients and what they need from us instead.
However, this can hold us back and can cause our business to grow at a slower rate than it would have done otherwise. One of the most common pitfalls I see among my mentees is not finding the time to ask for testimonials from their clients. While we know that customer testimonials are good for our business, we often don’t treat them as a priority and forget to request them once we’ve provided a service.
The problem with this is that we’re missing out on all the benefits we can get from customer testimonials. Testimonials can be really valuable, not just for our marketing but also to provide us with support when we want to increase our prices.
In this blog post, I’m explaining why testimonials are beneficial, and I’m describing how we can use them in a way that maximises their value.
Why client testimonials are useful
1) Customer testimonials provide your business with social proof
Social proof is one of the most effective ways of converting a potential client into a paying client.
Think about your own purchasing behaviour. When you’re buying a product on Amazon, do you look at the reviews before you proceed to the check-out stage? I bet you do the same before deciding to go ahead with services too. When choosing a new hairdresser or looking for someone to do work on your house, you probably ask for recommendations or search for previous client testimonials first.
Social proof in the form of positive testimonials convinces others that they are likely to achieve similar outcomes. If your business has lots of happy customers, a potential client can feel confident that they’ll be satisfied with the service you provide as well.
2) Customer testimonials can give you a confidence boost
All freelancers and small business owners have moments when they doubt themselves. Having lovely customer testimonials to hand to remind you of how well you’ve done and how happy you’ve made your clients in the past can provide a much-needed confidence boost every now and again.
However, this is even more beneficial when you need to take difficult action in your business. For example, if you want to raise your prices and you’re really worried about taking that next step, having client testimonials to remind you of the value you’re providing through your services can give you the encouragement you need to move forward.
3) Customer testimonials can offer you insights into your USP
Once you’ve received several client testimonials, you might find that you see a pattern emerging. Your customers might all mention one specific thing you do really well that you hadn’t noticed or had simply taken for granted.
To give you an example, the content writer I work with suddenly discovered that her ability to emulate her client’s voice was something that set her apart. She’d always assumed it was something all content writers did. But after finding out that adopting her client’s voice made her different, she reworked all her marketing to focus on this as her unique selling point.
Customer testimonials can give you the kind of valuable insights that you might be blind to as a result of experiencing your business from the inside rather than the outside.
4) Customer testimonials tell you what your clients value about your service
When you receive a testimonial from a client, you’ll find out exactly what it was about your service that they appreciated. Perhaps it was your responsiveness, your attention to detail, the quality of your work or the communication you provided throughout the project.
Better still, knowing what your clients appreciated will tell you what’s important to them. You can then use this in your marketing to better target the kind of clients who will enjoy working with you and who will value the service you provide.
How to use client testimonials
As I mentioned above, you can use customer testimonials to gain valuable insights into what matters to your clients so you can adjust your marketing accordingly.
However, you can also use client testimonials physically. What I mean by this is that, as long as you have permission from your customers, you can share their comments along with their name, position and company in your marketing. Alternatively, you can publish their words anonymously, although this does carry slightly less weight when it comes to social proof.
Sharing positive client feedback anywhere you’re trying to make a sale is a great idea. Customer testimonials help convince potential clients that they’re making the right decision. In particular, I would recommend using them on your website and sales pages to back up whatever it is you’re saying about your service or yourself. If you’re launching an offering on social media, I’d also suggest posting client testimonials there. Your followers are likely to see these positive comments, giving them another reason to check your services out further.
Another way to use customer testimonials to help you convert a sale is to include them in your quotes. I’ve put together some free quotation templates you can use to help you create a strong client proposal. But if you’re looking to add something extra to persuade your potential client, you could include one or more customer testimonials that would be relevant to the client or the project you’re quoting for.
How to increase prices using client testimonials
You can also use customer testimonials to help you raise your rates with existing clients. Before telling a client you’re increasing your prices, I always recommend asking them for a testimonial if you haven’t already. If they provide you with a nice testimonial, it proves that they value the work you do for them. Not only this, but it will also tell you precisely what it is they value most about your service.
You can then build this into your messaging when you inform your client you’re raising your rates. For example, if they appreciate the amount of research you put into your work, you could say that you’re increasing your prices to reflect the time you spend on research for them. Or you could consider saying that you’re putting your rates up to enable you to continue spending the time necessary researching their projects.
Client testimonials can give you valuable insights you can then leverage to raise your rates. And if your client says no to your price increase, at least you’ll have gained something from the relationship first!
I hope I’ve managed to convince you of the value of customer testimonials, and I hope you’ll make requesting one a priority at the end of your next project.
If you’d like to put a plan in place to request customer testimonials from your current clients, you might want to join us for my free Reflect and Reset challenge. During the challenge, we’ll do a client assessment that will consider which clients you’ve already asked for a testimonial and which you haven’t. To join the waiting list, click on the button below.
Hi, I’m Susie
I mentor freelancers on pricing and business finances so you can earn a decent living doing what you love.
I’m a translator, editor, chocoholic, crochet addict, animal lover, and budding gardener (get it?) who loves empowering others to achieve their goals.
