Instilling trust in recent clients is one of the simplest ways to achieve consistent growth as a freelancer. The beginning is essentially the most difficult, however it shows your expertise because the client list keeps growing. It’s vital to leverage your successful history by requesting testimonials out of your previous clients, but do how to ask for testimonials?
Over 88% of consumers read online reviews, and 72% of them find that positive reviews help them construct trust from the beginning of shopping for or working with someone. That signifies that getting those testimonials can make it easier to stay on the freelancing success road.
The excellent news is you could establish a testimonial acquisition strategy. It’ll make it easier to get to more customer testimonials to construct trust along with your recent potential clients. In any case, that’s why businesses incorporate video testimonials of their marketing strategies. As freelancing is close to running a small business, deploying the identical tactics may be helpful.
Before answering the query of how to ask for testimonials and strategy details, let’s start with why client testimonials are so powerful.
Why are client testimonials vital?
Several reasons make customer testimonials an integral a part of your freelancing business growth. Analyzing them allows you to pause and look back at your enterprise performance. At the identical time, it helps you get recent clients. Here’s how.
- Builds higher relationships — Every client will appreciate you asking in the event that they’re satisfied. It shows that you just want to provide the perfect services. That sort of effort indicates your professionalism, which is able to likely keep the client coming back for more of your services.
- Creates trust with recent clients — As soon as someone lands in your freelancing site, they will learn all the main points about your services. Why not include how completely happy your previous clients are? It should help make a good higher first impression and construct trust from the beginning.
- Helps improve product and services — When you request feedback out of your clients, you’ll discover which areas you may improve. Some clients will certainly say what might have been higher, regardless that a project was successful.
All these advantages lead to an important one: growing your client numbers. With more people willing to work with you, your options as a freelancer will quickly skyrocket. You’ll give you the chance to pick the perfect clients, and work on projects you’re truly enthusiastic about.
Begin by creating a technique
Creating a technique is the one way to get client testimonials efficiently. There won’t be any proof of your experience should you don’t set testimonial acquisition goals, regardless that you’ve participated in lots of projects. Subsequently, you wish to answer a few questions when you’re creating it.
How will you ask for testimonials?
The primary query is the vital one: how to ask for testimonials. You should utilize several ways to gather feedback out of your clients. These are:
- Forms
- Social media
- Video
Each of those options has its benefits and downsides, as you’ll see in the following sections of the article. The important thing point is to have multiple options at your disposal. Irrespective of which one you choose for, you’ll still give you the chance to get a testimonial in a method or one other.
What is going to you ask?
After deciding on the format, it’s time to consider the questions that you just’ll ask. The goal is to determine questions that may provide answers you should utilize in testimonials. Listed here are some ideas:
- What’s the perfect thing you liked while working together?
- Would you decide me for an identical project again?
- How would you describe my services to your mates and business partners? Would you recommend me to others?
- May I exploit these answers in a testimonial and mention your name?
- Is there anything that you just’d like to add?
These are only examples of how to ask for testimonials. Use them in your creative process once you’re creating your individual. Every client is different, meaning that you must adjust questions for every individual.
UPDATE: Our recent favorite freelancing tool, Hectic is now completely FREE for a limited time. 🎉 Proposals, CRM, invoicing, calendar, client portal, and plenty more. Join for FREE with no catch or hidden fees.
That doesn’t mean you may’t use template questions, but you must personalize your approach for higher results.
When will you ask for feedback?
Throughout your freelancing journey, you’ll get to work with a broad range of clients. Their projects will greatly differ, meaning that the proper time to ask for a testimonial will vary. The choices to select from are:
- The tip of the project — Whenever you’re working on smaller projects that take now not than a few weeks to complete, you may ask for feedback once the whole lot’s complete.
- In the midst of the project — Ongoing projects are different. You possibly can ask for feedback after a few months of working together. By then, you’d have shown your professionalism and given enough time for the client to judge your performance.
- After the project ends — Some projects may be very difficult, and clients may be under a whole lot of stress. Bothering them because the project nears its end may not be the perfect approach. Evaluate the situation and request feedback several weeks later.
Pick the suitable time to have more success along with your testimonials. Each of those times works since the client has spent loads of time working with you and might evaluate your efforts.
Last but not least, where will you share the testimonials? A few ideas to consider are:
- Your website
- Social media
- PPC ad campaigns
- Freelance platforms
Place your client testimonials strategically, so it’s one in every of the primary things they see. Many brands, including Shopify, share their testimonials and success stories on their home page. If big brands are doing it, meaning it really works. Follow the identical principle and use your website to showcase testimonials.
Social media is the proper place to share your freelance client testimonials. Many corporations take social media under consideration while doing research on their next employees or collaborators. It’s the proper opportunity to showcase your previous clients’ impressions.
Use the PPC ad campaigns to share your client’s testimonials. This approach is suitable for freelancers who want to turn their careers right into a full-blown business. Promoting is essential to reach more clients, and using testimonials in promoting campaigns is an efficient approach to constructing trust.
Last but not least, use the freelancing platforms you utilize to get and display testimonials. Lots of them have already got built-in features that make it easier to quickly get a testimonial out of your client. Also, you should utilize those that you just’ve acquired and share them on the platform.
When you undergo these questions, you’ll have your strategy set in place. You possibly can then capitalize on each of the contact method advantages. Here’s how to ask for testimonials in other ways in additional detail.
Use forms
Forms are an awesome way to ask for a testimonial out of your clients. Their primary profit is that you just only need slightly little bit of time to create multiple templates. After you finish, you may send personalized messages to different clients and request them to fill out the shape.
If any adjustments are essential for the project’s specifics, you may easily make them. Then you should utilize the client’s answers and craft a testimonial draft. Send the draft to the client and ask for approval to use the testimonial in your website, social media and marketing campaigns.
When you get the approval, you may start using the testimonials in your website. One of the popular (and free) solutions is Google Forms. Use them to create forms and share them along with your clients easily.
Through email
One in every of the best ways to ask for testimonials is via email. It’s knowledgeable way to reach out to your clients and ask for feedback. This approach, nonetheless, requires providing as many details to your clients as possible. Which means including the questions you’d like them to answer. Moreover, it means including testimonial examples.
Time is a precious asset, and your testimonial request email should navigate your client, so that they lose as little time as possible. You may also suggest providing a draft of a testimonial they may edit, approve and send back.
Don’t forget to ask for permission to use their testimonial.
Social media is one other place where you may construct up your testimonials. LinkedIn supports recommendations, which is an awesome way to keep testimonials in a single place. As a freelancer, it’s a very good idea to make your LinkedIn profile a web based CV.
In case you’re on platforms resembling Upwork and Fiverr, additionally they support requesting and sharing testimonials. Use these features to make a strong first impression with recent potential clients.
Simply reach out to your client and send a link to your profile on one in every of these platforms. Identical to with emails, include examples in your message to make it easier in your client to write a suggestion quickly.
Video testimonials
Getting video testimonials may be difficult, however it brings more advantages to the table. First, they’re short pieces of content that the brand new client can see in a minute. They’ll see the person making the suggestion, which builds more trust. It’s not only a fabricated piece of text on someone’s site.
The undeniable fact that someone made an effort to film a video testimonial shows that the freelancer’s services were utterly skilled. While getting a client in front of a camera is a challenge, some will agree, especially should you’ve been working with them for a very long time.
Every testimonial request should propose a video testimonial option. So the client can go for it in the event that they desire. That way, you’re not forcing anyone to go that route, creating unnecessary pressure.
If the client chooses this selection, create a script and share it with them. Organize a filming session and undergo the questions with clients. The result might be a brief video you should utilize to bring more clients to your freelancing adventures.
3 Sample Scripts on How to Ask for Testimonials
In case you’re wondering what an email message should appear to be, listed below are a few examples you could use as inspiration. Each of them is suitable for various circumstances.
Testimonial request in the course of the project
In case you’re in the course of an ongoing project, here’s what you may do:
Dear [Client’s name],
I’m reaching out regarding our ongoing collaboration. I feel that our work together up to now has been impeccable, so I wanted to see your opinion. I’d really appreciate it should you could answer the next questions and add more thoughts about our work.
- Are you completely happy with my work up to now?
- Would you’re employed again with me in the long run?
- Would you recommend me to your mates?
Please let me know whether I could add your answers to my [website/freelance platform] as a testimonial.
Thanks for taking the time to read my email, I’m looking forward to your answers.
With regards,
[your name]
Video testimonial request
In case you desire a video testimonial out of your client, you could possibly go for a message like this one.
Dear [Client’s name],
I’m reaching out to propose an interesting offer that might profit each of us. As we’ve been working together for over a [amount of time], I assume that you just’re completely happy with my services. It might greatly profit my freelancing profession should you’d be willing to get in front of a camera to share a number of thoughts about my skilled skills.
In case you agree, I’d drop my current rates with you by [percent] for the following [time period]. To assist simplify the method, I can send you the list of questions that I’d like to film your answer. Together with your permission, I’d use the video materials as a testimonial on my website.
I hope that you just’ll say yes. Please let me know what you’re thinking that so I can send you the questions for the video script. Once we prepare the script, I’d gladly visit your office where I’d film our interview. Please let me know should you’re occupied with my offer.
Thanks for taking the time to read my email. I look forward to hearing from you.
With regards,
[your name]
Form fill out request
In case you’re planning to send a form to the client, here’s the way it could appear to be:
Dear [Client’s name],
I’m reaching out to you with a brief form that might take a few minutes for you to fill out. It includes all of the relevant questions on your experience of working with me. It might really mean quite a bit should you could dedicate slightly little bit of your time to share your feedback.
To point out how much I appreciate it, I’ll [insert incentive here].
Together with your approval, I’d like to share it on my website, social media channels and [freelance site profile]. Please let me know what you’re thinking that.
I look forward to reading your feedback!
With regards,
[your name]
Conclusion
As you may see, determining how to ask for testimonials just isn’t that difficult. It requires thoughtful planning and making a step-by-step strategy. After you begin following the strategy, you may expect the variety of your testimonials to grow over time.
Keep in mind that it’s one in every of the steps towards being a successful freelancer. So be sure that that you just make a plan from the moment you begin working along with your first client. It should make it easier to steadily grow and get more opportunities in the long run.
Keep the conversation going…
Over 10,000 of us are having every day conversations over in our free Facebook group and we might love to see you there. Join us!