Believe it or not, your top sales rep isn’t even on your payroll. I’ve seen it firsthand — the most persuasive sales pitch for your company comes straight from your loyal customers.
In fact, 77% of shoppers actively look for websites with ratings and reviews, and 69% of customers feel good about a business when its reviews share positive experiences.
You need word-of-mouth recommendations and testimonials to win over new customers. But how do you ask for a testimonial? Let’s dive into the basics, and then I’ll share proven email templates that will get your customers to say “yes.”
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To take full advantage of testimonials, you'll want to have lots of glowing reviews. Here are the steps for asking a customer for a testimonial.
First, analyze your customer base and the journey they take with your product or service to determine when might be a suitable time to ask for a testimonial.
Ideally, you can ask when customers are happy with your product or service — right after they've seen some great results. For a marketing agency, this could be after helping a client crush their monthly goals.
For a SaaS company, it might be after a customer has been using your product for 30 days. Work with your team and dig into your customer data to pinpoint these success moments.
Pro tip: Consider timing your requests at the end of a quarter or year, especially if your projects align with these periods. Personally, I’ve found that end-of-year requests often catch customers in a reflective mood, making them more likely to respond positively.
Next, decide whether to automate your testimonial requests or send them manually. For example, if your customers use a free tool and don't interact much with support, automated emails can be perfect. Just set them to go out when customers hit that success point with your product.
On the other hand, if you‘re a customer success manager who chats with clients regularly, you’ll probably want to send these requests manually. You‘ll have a better sense of when they’re ready to give you glowing feedback based on your conversations.
Let‘s face it: everyone’s inbox is overflowing. To make sure your customers open your email and actually send a testimonial, give them a reason to say yes.
I always find that showing mutual benefit helps in getting positive responses. Think: a gift card of their choosing, or company swag. If that isn't possible for you or your company to do, write out a compelling request email (hint: use one of our templates) to explain how you'll both benefit from their submitting a testimonial to convince them.
Give your customers a choice: let them write or film their testimonials. Some people love being on camera, while others prefer typing out their thoughts. I’ve found that catering to both preferences makes it easy for everyone and increases the chances of getting a response.
Here are a few options:
You could also take a more hands-on approach. Offer to visit their office with a camera crew for a formal interview. Or, if you’re working remotely — set up a Zoom meeting to record the testimonial. Make sure to have a colleague ready with a list of questions to guide the conversation.
What your customers say matters, so ask the right testimonial questions to get impactful testimonials. Open-ended questions work best because they avoid one-word answers and get to the heart of why customers love your service.
Here are a few to consider:
These questions help customers tell their story, making their testimonials more relatable and effective for prospects. I always find these stories resonate deeply with prospects.
If you don’t have a testimonial page on your website yet, now’s the time to start. It can be a long page with all the testimonials or a gallery that links to individual ones. When I was starting out, I looked at various testimonial pages online for inspiration.
Pro tip: Check out HubSpot's testimonial page examples guide. It features a curated list of real brands, showing you what works and what doesn’t.
I also recommend highlighting different aspects of your product with each testimonial. For example, HubSpot showcases testimonials praising its Marketing Automation System to highlight its effectiveness as well as testimonials for Sales Hub Enterprise to demonstrate its value.
Each testimonial should help potential customers see themselves in your current customers, envisioning how they might benefit from your product.
This strategy can open new doors. It‘s often more natural to bring this up during a phone conversation. Ask if they know anyone else who might benefit from the work you’ve done together. Ideally, this conversation takes place after helping your customer achieve great results — use these tips for asking for a referral.
If your customer says “yes,” use the steps in the article above to secure a new customer referral.
Pro tip: If your customer says “no,” they don‘t have a referral they can introduce you to, pivot to requesting a testimonial instead. Here’s how I‘d phrase my request: "I’d love for more people to learn about our great work. If you don't have anyone to connect me with, could you leave us a review so others can hear about our partnership?"
Either way, you'll get a positive result that will (hopefully) generate new customers.
Many “no's” come down to time constraints. Always give them the option to keep it brief. For instance, you can tell them to give you one to two sentences, which can be doable for even the busiest of executives.
Also, get creative with your ask. Here are my top tips:
When asking for a testimonial, I always mention that I'll provide a backlink and share it on our website and social media. This kind of publicity often secures a “yes.”
Here's how:
Templates are a good starting point, but take the time to customize them for each customer relationship. You've built a rapport, so ensure your email reflects that.
To help you get started, check out some of my most effective email templates for securing testimonials below. I've also covered the basics of “How to Ask,” but these personalized touches can make all the difference.
Client testimonials help get people to buy from or look at your company. There are many ways to ask for a testimonial. However, getting customers to create them is another story.
I use the following tactics to successfully collect testimonials:
Emailing is one of the top ways to communicate with your clients. Reaching out via email is a great way to get customer testimonials because it's:
When asking for testimonials via email, I like to use a sample testimonial letter or a testimonial request template to make things easy for my clients. Plus, it saves me from having to recreate an email every time I reach out to clients for testimonials.
I also interview clients about products or services to obtain quality testimonials.
Start by asking open-ended questions to gather helpful, qualitative feedback. Something like this: “Can you tell us more about your experience with [your product or service] so far?”
Remember, you need to ask the right questions to receive the right feedback. I like to ask about their reasons for buying my product, how it helped them, and their experiences before the purchase.
Pro tip: Request a picture of the client using your product or service for an extra touch.
Some clients might panic about saying the right things in a testimonial. By co-writing it with them, I can help ease their worries. I ask them about their experience and the results they’ve seen, then summarize their words for my website or social media. This approach also lets me address any negative feedback directly, turning potential issues into positive outcomes.
Receiving testimonials on social media is another viable way to get organic feedback that can be shared with existing and potential customers quickly and easily. When customers are happy with your product or service, they will rave about it on their social media pages without any extra effort from you.
SMS messages or text messages are a great and effective way to get customer testimonials. They are less likely to be reported as “junk” or disregarded, unlike emails, so your request for a testimonial is less likely to get lost. Like these ones:
Before sending your SMS, make sure you have explicit permission to send the text. Nobody likes unsolicited messages, even if they’re for glowing testimonials. Also, keep your messages short, and if you're sending multiple messages, space them out to ensure they’re well-received and orderly.
Pro tip: While you can craft and send messages manually, I highly recommend using an SMS app to automate the process. It helped me save lots of time.
Now that I've covered the basic ways to receive testimonials, let’s cover some effective email templates you can use when reaching out to customers for testimonials.
Regardless of my relationship with customers, these tried-and-true email templates have consistently helped me secure strong testimonials.
Happy Holidays!
Hi [CUSTOMER NAME],
Happy Holidays!
As this year winds down, I wanted to say thank you for your partnership using [PRODUCT] this year. You‘ve achieved fantastic results in the time we’ve been working together, and I wanted to reach out to see if you'd be interested in sharing a testimonial about your experience using [PRODUCT]. You can click this link to share some of your thoughts that we might feature on our website.
Thanks for your consideration of my request, and thanks for being a loyal [COMPANY] customer. I hope you have a warm and happy holiday season with family and friends, and I'm looking forward to chatting again in the new year!
Cheers,
[YOUR NAME]
In my opinion, this testimonial email request works because it catches customers at a time when they might have more availability to respond. They’re often summarizing their yearly performance metrics, and if they’ve done well, they can easily add that success story to their testimonial.
Thanks for being a loyal [COMPANY] customer
[CUSTOMER NAME],
I wanted to reach out to thank you for being a loyal [COMPANY] customer. I noticed you achieved your goal of [MILESTONE] last month, and I wanted to reach out and congratulate you on your success! It's been great working with you on this project.
We want to share customer success stories with [PRODUCT/SERVICE] on our website, and I was wondering if you'd be interested in being featured in a testimonial. You can follow this link to submit a written or video testimonial. As a token of thanks, I'll send you a gift card for a cup of coffee, on [COMPANY].
Congratulations again on reaching your goal, and thanks for your partnership! Let me know if you have any questions about submitting a testimonial.
Regards,
[YOUR NAME]
I love congratulating the customer first and then sealing the deal by offering an incentive. It’s effective year-round and even suggests what the customer should talk about in their testimonial.
RE: May results
Hey [CUSTOMER NAME],
You crushed it this month! You worked hard on [PROJECT], and the numbers definitely reflect that.
Now that we've hit our goal, would you be interested in submitting a testimonial about your experience using [PRODUCT/SERVICE]? You can submit a short written or video testimonial here talking about how we helped you achieve your goals.
Let me know if you have any questions, and congrats again!
Cheers,
[YOUR NAME]
When I’ve been in direct contact with a customer for a while, I use this email template to strike while the iron is hot. We’ve achieved something together — so the next natural step is to share that with other potential customers.
Your Feedback Is Appreciated
[CUSTOMER NAME],
As a gift this holiday season, [COMPANY] is offering a 50% discount on your January [PRODUCT/SERVICE] subscription.
All you have to do is submit a written or video testimonial about why you love using [PRODUCT] here.
It should take just 15 minutes, and your discount will be applied as soon as you submit your testimonial. Let me know if you have any questions about this promotion!
Happy Holidays,
[YOUR NAME]
I love this email template because it works for any customer. I don’t have to think long and hard before sending this one. (For instance, I don’t have to go fishing for the customer’s performance data.) While it might seem less personal, the incentive included makes it hard for recipients to resist.
Tell us what you think
[CUSTOMER NAME],
We hope you're enjoying using [PRODUCT/SERVICE].
Now that you‘ve had a few weeks to try the product, we’d love to know what you think. You can click this link to share some of your thoughts about using [PRODUCT] that we might feature on our website.
Your feedback means a lot to us! Thanks for being a loyal [COMPANY] customer.
Regards,
[YOUR NAME]
For collecting testimonials on a larger scale, I use this quick, easy, and automatic email request. It's perfect for companies with a large customer base. While it’s good to reach out directly to high-profile customers, an automated email can collect testimonials from a broader pool of clients more efficiently.
Re: Share your experience?
Hi [CUSTOMER NAME],
It was a pleasure talking with you earlier today, and we‘re so glad that we’re exceeding your expectations. As I mentioned earlier, you can share your thoughts about the experience here.
We get that leaving reviews can be difficult, so if you need to beat writer's block, here is some inspiration as you tell your story:
Your feedback means a lot to us!
Cheers,
[YOUR NAME]
I find this testimonial request email fantastic because it includes prompts and references to an earlier conversation. This way, the request doesn’t feel out of the blue. Plus, it’s perfect for following up on a brief chat where I’ve already mentioned the testimonial verbally.
I firmly believe marketing alone can’t carry the entire weight of a company’s growth. Social proof — especially in the form of testimonials and word-of-mouth referrals — is priceless. When I implemented a customer testimonial strategy, I saw how it could truly fuel my company's flywheel, turning our existing customer base into evangelists.
The key takeaway for me is that leveraging testimonials isn‘t just about collecting positive feedback; it’s about integrating these voices into our marketing efforts to build trust and authenticity. Customer experiences resonate more deeply with potential clients than traditional marketing tactics ever could.
Editor's note: This post was originally published in January 2019 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.